Tropical Nightmare- Chapter 24: Rolling again (Gibbs´ POV)

Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything!

Summary: Tony and Kate are sent to Argentina for an undercover mission, but they have to take a detour.They are bound to find out that atropical island can be a real nightmare -at least if you´re on your own out there...

Additional note: I usually don´t write 1st-person narrator, but it seemed to fit rather well for this little story as the POV changes with each chapter.Also, the use of present-tense is wanted here, eventhough it may seem a bit odd. I hope it´s still readable.

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It´s barely 7:50 am, but time seems to pass especially slow this morning. I look over to the elevator as Dinozzo and McGee come in. Both are talking about something and come over to their desks. Tony grins at me. "Morning, boss." He calls over and I just nod back. Today is the first day that feels normal in almost a whole year. McGee starts up his computer and continues to ask Tony about the weekend. It´s just a normal Monday morning at the bullpen.

I flip through some files until the elevator doors open again. It´s Abby, followed by Ducky. It´s an unusual sight to have both of them up here, but today, there´s a good reason for it. "Hey, boss-man." Abby calls over and hops onto McGee´s desk.

I raise an eyebrow, but don´t say anything about that. Normally, I would shoot a sharp remark at her or at McGee, but today, I´m not. "Good morning, Jethro." Ducky says as he walks up to my desk and takes the spare chair that´s standing behind me.

"Morning, Duck." I return the greeting and put the files away. "Abbs, did you get the reservation for tonight?" I ask her and she just nods. I put a check-mark behind that point on my calender and lean back. "Dinozzo, did you make sure we´re not on call tonight?"

"Yep, double checked that with Director Shepard." He replies and looks satisfied with himself. It´s 8 am sharp now and the elevator opens again. I can´t explain why, but this moment seems to be completely normal to me. It feels like it is supposed to feel at 8 am on a Monday morning.

Kate walks up to her desk and throws her backpack on the ground. She drops into her chair and glances at everyone in the bullpen. "Uhm...morning, everyone." She says and smiles. Abby smiles back at her and then retreats towards the lab, as does Ducky. McGee looks after Abby for a moment, then turns his attention back to his computer. Tony has his arms crossed in front of his chest and looks at her. "Red is not your color, Kate..." He says and grins when she tosses a pencil at him. "Yeah, office fight!" He exclaims and tosses an eraser at her, which she dodges in a fluent motion while she tosses another pen.

I´m about to intervene when my phone starts ringing. "Gibbs." I answer the call and listen to the voice on the other end of the line. I look around while I listen to the person on the phone. Everything is back to normal. Tony told me he won´t take any assignments that have to do with riding a plane or tropical islands, but I can live with that. There are enough cases around here, waiting to be solved and the next one just walked in on us. I put the phone into my pocket and jump up. "We got a dead sailor in the Goldriver lounge. Tony, gas the truck. McGee, call up Ducky. Kate, get the gear." I tell them and fasten the gun on my belt. We´re ready to roll again.

END