Disclaimer: For the usual disclaimer, please see the proceeding chapters. In sum, not mine and I'm too broke to be worth suing. I also don't own Jimmy, who someday is going to show us he's not a hapless dweeb, but not today.

Author's Note: I was asked if I am a Tate 'shipper. Kate will answer that for me. Also, the "Namibia" reference is in homage to a very well-done musing by McGee on this board. CharlotteB and I seem to have adopted it as a short-hand expression for "don't go there." And yes, she is still at fault for this story, especially the last quote.

Jimmy heard Gibbs' voice from Abby's lab, which really wasn't so unusual. Abby was laughing about something; Jimmy smiled to himself. She had such a pretty laugh, he thought.

The laughter stopped when he walked in the lab with the samples Ducky asked him to take to her. Gibbs took a step away from Abby, his face suddenly clouded with displeasure. Abby seemed to blush and stepped in front of Gibbs, blocking Jimmy's view of the agent.

"Jimmy," she said, sounding surprised. "What can I do for you?"

"Dr. Mallard asked me to bring these to you," he said, pushing his glasses up. He had a dopey grin.

"Gee, thanks," she said, taking the samples from him. Abby stood there, waiting. "Anything else, Jimmy?"

"No, I just thought, I'd –" Jimmy stammered.

Gibbs moved forward, eying the coroner's assistant. "Doesn't Ducky need you?"

"Oh, no, not right now," Jimmy assured Gibbs. "He said I could wait for the results."

Abby and Gibbs exchanged looks. "Jimmy," Abby said firmly, "I have too much work to do right now. I'll bring the results over to Ducky's lab when they're ready."

"I won't be –" Jimmy began. He was cut off by Gibbs.

"That means go, Mr. Palmer," Gibbs informed him.

Jimmy sighed and turned around to leave. He had really hoped he could visit with Abby that morning, especially since Dr. Mallard was in such a talkative mood. When he heard the word "Namibia" mentioned, he immediately volunteered to take the samples to the lab for study. He would have taken them to any lab at NCIS but enjoyed Abby's company the most.

The elevator seemed to take longer than usual to arrive. Jimmy shifted from foot to foot. He checked his watch. He wondered what was for lunch that day at the cafeteria.

The doors opened and he stepped forward. Jimmy suddenly found himself shoved into Kate, who caught him easily. McGee had pushed him out of the way in his hurry from the elevator. Tony followed, moving nearly as quickly as the younger agent. Kate righted Jimmy, grabbed his arm, and pulled him back down the hallway to Abby's lab.

Jimmy and Kate arrived just in time to heard McGee shout, "With my boss!"

"McGee," Gibbs began, his voice controlled and patient. "Lower your voice."

Abby and Gibbs stood in the middle of the lab, with Tony to the left by Gibbs and McGee standing in front of her. His face held an expression of disbelief. Kate took a position behind McGee, ready to grab him if he lunged at either Gibbs or Abby.

"Sorry, Boss," McGee snapped, the sarcasm thick in those two words. His voice was back at a conversation level but his tone wasn't. "Abby, are you having an affair with my boss?"

Abby's new red hair swayed as she shook her head. "McGee, this isn't the place to talk about it."

"Talk about it?" McGee's voice climbed an octave. "Right, just after when we're we going to talk about it? I can't believe I have to hear this from Tony – Tony! – and I come in here see you – you kissing –"

"Who's Abby kissing?" Jimmy asked, trying to catch up.

Kate smacked him upside the back of his head. "Pay attention, Jimmy," she hissed.

Jimmy rubbed the spot where she hit him. "Abby's kissing Agent Gibbs?"

"This morning," Tony informed him, grinning and stepping a healthy distance away from Gibbs. "When they got out of his car in the parking lot."

"That's enough, DiNozzo," Gibbs threatened. "I am still capable of shooting you."

"Yes, Boss," Tony automatically responded. He took Kate's elbow. "Maybe we should leave them to work this out?"

"That's the first sensible thing you've done all day," Gibbs told him.

Kate gave Abby a sympathetic look. "You going to be okay, Abby?"

Abby folded her arms and nodded. Kate and Tony left, closing the door behind them.

McGee opened his mouth to continue his tirade and Jimmy sustained his look of surprise. All this meant, so McGee and Abby – his Abby – but then Agent Gibbs and Abby – it was making Jimmy's head hurt.

Gibbs waved McGee silent and picked up a plastic bag from the sample table. He inflated it and walked to the crack of the door. With a sharp motion, he popped the bag at ear level.

"Ow!" was the muffled cried shared by Kate and Tony. Gibbs opened the door, very self-satisfied. They stood on the other side, each rubbing at an ear.

"Either go up to your desks or stay and watch the show," he demanded.

"We were just going," Kate said and as Tony pulled her down the hallway. Gibbs left the door open.

McGee was now pacing the room. Abby watched him march from one workstation to another, his face red and covered in a scowl. Jimmy had drifted to a seat at one of the work stations, his eyes following McGee as if in a tennis game.

Gibbs rubbed at his eyes, wondering just when it was he that landed back in high school. "McGee, I was under the impression that you and Abby were no longer a couple. Was I wrong?" he asked.

"Just because we broke up again last week didn't mean we were going to get back together," McGee told him. "When did this happen?'

"Yesterday," Gibbs told him. "There has not been an affair –" Gibbs bit the word out "— going on behind your back. And yes, we were going to tell you today, but it seems DiNozzo beat us to it."

"McGee, I'm really sorry," Abby told him. She sounded sorry and took a step toward him. She laid her hand on his shoulder but he quickly shrugged it away.

"Tony and Kate knew before me," McGee said, his voice angry and hurt as the situation began to register. "I had to learn this from Tony. Tony won't stop calling me 'probie' and playing dirty tricks on me, and he's the one to tell me that I've lost my girlfriend for good. To my boss."

"I was going to tell you this morning," Abby said.

"Yeah, well, that didn't happen, did it?" he snapped at her.

Gibbs stepped forward. "McGee," he warned. "You know now."

"Is this how you knew about the coffin-bed?" McGee asked him. "Because I wondered about that at the time."

"Coffin-bed?" Jimmy asked.

McGee glanced at him. "She sleeps in it."

"You sleep in a coffin?" Jimmy asked Abby. She tugged at the edge of her hair.

"I thought you had somewhere to be, Jimmy," Gibbs said, remembering he had thrown the assistant out not ten minutes earlier.

"I really like your new hair color," Jimmy said to Abby. "I came here because I wanted to tell you that. And – and to not have to hear Dr. Mallard tell me about his adventures in Namibia, again."

McGee stopped his pacing to face Abby. He gently touched her newly dyed hair and a ghost of smile crossed his face. Abby returned the smile.

"It looks really nice," he said to her. "I guess it worked. I hope he makes you happy."

With that he pecked her on the cheek, thinking it would be the last time he could, and walked out of the lab.

"I think – I think Dr. Mallard needs me," Jimmy stammered and retreated through the door as Gibbs' glare came to rest on him.

Abby and Gibbs were alone again in her lab. He rubbed at his eyes and dropped into the chair Jimmy had left. Picking up Abby's Caff-Pow! cup, he slurped the remainder of her drink. Abby rested her hands on his shoulders and gently kneaded.

Gibbs put down the cup and took one of Abby's hands, lightly kissing the palm.

"So much for discretion," he said. "I really am going to shoot DiNozzo."

(break)

Kate deftly snatched the last fried dumpling from the plate with her chopsticks. With a grin at Tony, she dunked it in the ginger sauce and popped it in her mouth.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Tony told her, spearing at his chicken chow mein with a fork. "You win, you are the master of eating Chinese."

"Thank you," Kate told him. She dug into her container of Hunan beef with vegetables. They were sitting on the floor around the coffee table in her living room. The space was littered with empty Chinese food containers and there were two wines glass and a half-empty bottle on the table.

"So, do you think they'll really date?" Tony asked her. "I mean, isn't Gibbs a little old for Abby?"

"I dunno," Kate told him through a mouthful of broccoli. "You'd have to be blind not to see that they've had something for one another. Come'on, she called him her 'silver-haired fox' last week."

"Yeah, and he calls to 'flirt' when we're in the field," Tony added. "Well, I guess it's about time, then."

Kate nodded. "Poor McGee."

"What do you mean, poor McGee?" Tony asked, trying to unwrap his spring roll to discover what was really inside. "He'll be fine."

"I hope so," Kate said. "Maybe we shouldn't have told him like that."

"Now you get an attack of conscious," Tony accused. "If I remember correctly, you were the one bouncing on one foot and saying, 'we have to tell McGee, we have to tell McGee.'"

Kate made a sour face and said nothing. Tony grinned in return and leaned closer to him.

"So, now that the Boss is getting it on with someone in the office, what about us going out?" he suggested, make his voice sound its sexiest.

Kate laughed and almost choked on her wine.

"Never in a million years, Tony," she told him. "I wouldn't want to risk the friendship we have now. It would spoil all our fun."

(break)

The clock on the wall read thirty-minutes past ten. Jimmy and McGee clinked glasses and downed the shot of tequila. The bartender shook his head as he heard the two men sputter and cough. Recognizing the universal signs of heartbreak, he set two well-mixed rum and Cokes before them and left them.

"I just can't believe it," McGee moaned, resting his head in his hands.

Jimmy nodded and sipped at his drink.

"She's going out with Gibbs," McGee continued. "Gibbs. My boss. Our boss. Isn't there some rule against that?"

Jimmy shrugged.

"I should have realized it when I saw her new hair," McGee continued. "Gibbs is known for dating women with red hair." He looked over to Jimmy. "Do you think it's the hair? Maybe, if she dyes it black again, he won't be interested in her anymore."

Jimmy swirled his drink and shook his head.

"Yeah, they're both better than that," McGee answered himself. "Red hair. Black hair."

Jimmy looked up. "I really thought it was pretty," he slurred.

An older man entered the bar and waved the bartender over. After a few words, he paid the young men's tab. Shifting his folded raincoat over his arm, he approached the them.

"Come, gentlemen," Ducky said. "I think you've spent too much time with Lord Dionysius for one evening. Let's get you home. This will all seem better in the morning."

With a sigh, McGee stood up from his barstool and put on his trench coat. Jimmy gracefully slid from his seat and to the floor.