disclaimer: I don't own NCIS or its chracters...

Author's note: This isn't the greatest chapter, but this isn't the greatest story so...Anyway, I think I will be able to wrap this up in about 1 or 2 more chapters. YAY!

Abby swung the door open with an audible creak of its hinges. The smell of antiseptic and death washed over her in a wave of repulsive odor as she entered the room. However, she often dove into this particular sea of overwhelming olfactory sensation, so the onslaught of smells didn't slow her down a bit. Besides, she was on a mission. She began to walk the perimeter of the morgue, craning her neck to investigate its upper reaches and crouching down to seek out its lower limits. She even pulled some coolers open and peered inside. She decided against that particular course of action since most of them were occupied. She wasn't really sure that she wanted any of the others to try and squeeze in there with her either.

"Are you looking for something in particular, Abigail?" Ducky asked from where he was standing over a corpse laid out on one of the cold metal tables. He was currently attempting to remove the dead man's stomach contents. Mr. Palmer was standing on the opposing side of the table and attempting to assist Dr. Mallard by holding out a beaker to catch the mostly liquid stomach contents.

"No... not really," Abby responded, still walking around the morgue hunting for a good hiding spot. Satisfied but not pleased that the morgue contained no sufficient place to serve her purpose, she walked up to look over Ducky's shoulder.

"What happened to him?" she asked as she bounced up and down with energy. "Root Canal gone wrong?" she added, playfully winking at Mr. Palmer. He smiled back at her awkwardly.

"I'm afraid not, young Abigail," Ducky answered her question. "Nothing so obvious, at least."

She gave him a slightly puzzled look. She really didn't feel like thinking at the moment. She was starting to hate standing still, too. Thankfully, Mr. Palmer came to her rescue by butting in. "Dr. Mallard thinks that he was poisoned."

"Actually, we're removing the man's stomach contents as we speak, if you'd like to..." he let himself trail off as he heard the morgue door swing shut. He checked over his shoulder to confirm that she had run off.

"That was curious," he said to Mr. Palmer just before he heard the door creak open again. He turned around scalpel in hand to find Abby's head poked through the partially opened door.

"Hey, if McGee, Tony or Kate come down, please don't tell them I was here," she said so quickly as to be almost incomprehensible, adding "Thanks, Ducky!" before disappearing again. Ducky shook his head in bemused puzzlement and then returned to the task at hand.

Back in the lab...(for lack of a better section break)

Tony had finally caught Kate and they were struggling when his watch alarm went off. They stopped their almost-wrestling match as they now struggled to figure out why his watch was beeping at them. After almost a minute, they finally realized its message.

"Abby!" they said in unison. Kate ran for the elevator laughing. Tony sighed as he looked around the lab to find McGee asleep on the floor. "I guess it's up to me to take care of the Probie, as usual," he griped to himself.

"McGee!" he shouted. There was no response. He nudged him with his foot, probably a little harder than necessary. The sleeping man started awake.

"What!" he asked sharply, in more of a reaction than question. Tony sniggered at the more-than-usually bewildered McGee.

"It's time to find Abby," Tony informed him