Disclaimer: My best friend is a lawyer and says I need to tell you that Tony, Gibbs, Kate, Abby and McGee (who's has shown up now) are not mine, although if McGee comes up for bid, then maybe I can do something about that. I am making no profit on this (see the sad state of my students loans and you'll believe me) and certainly no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note: I didn't expect so much enthusiasm for my little fic. So here's the next chapter. CharlotteB is still at fault, since she's helped me craft an outline to finish this up. I never intended to write a Gabby fic, but hey, it happens.
Gibbs and Abby stepped from the elevator. For a moment after the doors opened, he held her hand but she slipped it away when Kate looked toward them. Gibbs marched into the bullpen, followed by Abby. She tugged at her hair and fidgeted for a moment, then squared off her shoulders.
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked. Tony snapped his head up from his computer. He saw the anger on the lead agent's face and shifted backward slightly in his chair.
"Yeah, Boss?" he asked, looking from Gibbs to Kate to Abby and back to Gibbs.
Gibbs glared down at Tony. "Apologize, DiNozzo."
Abby stepped backward. Kate stood up, glancing from Abby to Gibbs.
"Uh, Boss?" Tony hesitated.
"I said apologize, DiNozzo," Gibbs ordered, pointing toward Abby. "Or do I have to shoot you?"
Kate stepped around her desk, brushing the hair from her face. "Gibbs –"
Gibbs waved her silent. "I'll deal with you next, Agent Todd." He returned the glare to Tony, his hand moving to the sidearm under his jacket. "I've had just about enough of your childishness. The women on this team deserve to be treated with respect, not ridicule. Now, either you apologize for calling Abby names or I'll shoot you and explain it to the director later."
Tony stood up at his desk, his eyes wide at the reprimand. He glanced again at Kate for support. She returned his surprise and shrugged her shoulders.
"Abby," Tony began, licking his suddenly dry lips. "Abbs, I'm sorry for, uhm, for calling you 'Strawberry Shortcake' and, uhm, I'll never do it again?"
Gibbs turned his attention from the stuttering agent to the forensics expert. Abby nodded to him.
"You better believe you won't do it again," Gibbs growled. He turned sharply. "Agent Todd!"
Kate jumped. "Yes, Gibbs?"
"Your turn," Gibbs ordered. "I won't hesitate to shoot you either, at this point."
"Abby, hon, I'm really sorry," Kate said, her words were rushed but her sincere eyes focused on her friend. "The new color and style just took me by surprise. I think it looks really good on you. And I hope we're still having lunch this afternoon."
Abby squealed and hopped to Kate's desk to hug her. "Of course we're still having lunch this afternoon!" she exclaimed. Kate gasped as the air was squeezed from her lungs. There was more to this than hair color involved, she thought.
Gibbs surveyed his team, his gaze landing on the now-babbling lab rat. He tried to contain the slight smile as he watched the two women work out their lunch plans. Gibbs shook his head and went back to his desk. He still needed to call Ducky.
"Ah, Jethro," Ducky greeted as Gibbs entered the autopsy lab. He chuckled. "I hear our young lady has a new hairstyle."
Gibbs raised his eyebrows. "To say the least, Duck."
Still chuckling, Ducky said, "It's about time you noticed her, Jethro."
"I noticed Abby quite a while ago," Gibbs corrected. "Now, what have you got for me?"
Nodding, Ducky led Gibbs to the autopsy table. The current occupant was a young sailor. "It seems our midshipman, here, did not die of natural causes."
"Of course he didn't, Ducky," Gibbs said. "Why else would we be called to investigate his death?"
Ducky gave his friend a patient look. "Jethro, someone wants us to think he had a stress-related heart attack. He was, in fact, poisoned. It appears he somehow ingested potassium chloride, which triggered the coronary stress."
Gibbs studied the dead man's face. He looked to be about 25 with sandy-blond hair. "Induced a heart attack while he was playing basketball."
"Exactly," Ducky said. "I would suggest examining his water bottle or anything else he may have drunk from. I suspect you'll find residue there."
Gibbs nodded. The midshipman was too young to be on this table from a heart attack.
"Thanks, Duck," Gibbs said, turning to leave. "I'll be upstairs."
Ducky watched him leave and chuckled again to himself.
"What so funny, doctor?" Jimmy asked, entering from the opposite door. He carried a box of medical supplies. The box was heavy and he balanced it poorly in his arms.
"Oh, just the turns life can take on a person, Mr. Palmer," Ducky told him. "Why, I remember, when I was a young man, practicing medicine in London, there was this woman – she had the most startling hair color –"
Jimmy dropped the box. It crashed to the floor, spilling rolls of gauze and sterile bandages. He quickly knelt, gathering the pieces back up. "Have you seen Abby yet?" Jimmy asked breathlessly, keeping his eyes on the scattered items. "Her hair is the prettiest color. It looks better than the black."
Ducky shook his head and bent down to help. "Yes, I have, Mr. Palmer," Ducky told him. "But what is most attractive in a person is the courage to be true to herself, not her hair color."
Together they filled the box again and Jimmy took it to the storage cabinet. He really liked Abby's new haircut, he thought, blocking out Ducky's lecture on the virtues of a person who has learned to know himself.
"Hey, guys," McGee said, coming into the bullpen. He dropped his bookbag behind his desk and automatically took his gun from under his jacket and locked it in his desk. "How are things today?"
Kate and Tony exchanged guilty glanced. McGee watched them, his forehead furrowing at their silence. "What?"
"Nothing, McGee," Kate told him, shuffling some papers. "Do you have those reports? Gibbs is not in a good mood."
McGee opened a file on his desktop computer. He clicked a few buttons and the printer started. "I have them right here," he told her.
At that, Gibbs stomped into the bullpen. "Our midshipman was poisoned," he announced. "Kate, DiNozzo, I want you back at the scene. Find anything he could have drunk from; cups, bottles, water fountains, whatever. McGee, go over our interviews, see of there's anyone who would have wanted to kill him or at least make him sick."
"What about you, Boss?" Tony asked, packing up his bookbag while Kate collected her notebook.
"I'm getting more coffee," Gibbs told him.
McGee had been through the interviews and biographies twice. His head rested in his hands. Kate and Tony had gotten back an hour ago from the scene with various objects. Kate left shortly after that, presumably with Abby, for lunch. Gibbs was no where to be found. McGee had tuned Tony's jabs out and tried to work but found he couldn't.
"I'm getting lunch," he told Tony. "I'll be back in an hour."
"And you're not inviting me, probie?" Tony asked, his voice filled with false-hurt.
McGee narrowed his eyes at his co-worker, also known as the source of most the misery in his life. "No."
He passed Gibbs in the parking lot, holding a tall coffee and an oversized Caff-Pow for Abby. The two men nodded to each other.
"Lunch, Boss," McGee said. "I'll be back in a little bit."
"Alright, McGee," Gibbs said. "How's the interviews coming?"
McGee sighed. "Not as well as I'd like," he admitted, hoping he'd still be able to get something to eat. "I'll be back on it when I get back."
Gibbs studied him for a moment. "Is DiNozzo still on your back?"
The concern surprised McGee. He choose his words carefully. "Nothing I can't handle, Boss."
Gibbs swore. "Probations nearly over. You shouldn't have to handle any of it." With that, he continued toward NCIS, leaving a confused junior agent in the parking lot.
