Title: Women Scorned

Rating: T, for language, though nothing we don't hear on the show.

Disclaimer: Mostly not my characters. Jasmine McGee and Caitlin McGee are my creation, and I don't knowwhat Gibbs' ex-wives names are supposed to be, so I faked it for one of them. :)

Summary: The team – what's left of it anyway – must find Ducky and Gibbs, when they mysteriously disappear after an extended coffee break.

Pairing: McAbby for sure, Tony and Faith Coleman are mentioned.

Author's Note: I may be posting more than one chapter a day depending on the chapter, since a couple of them are obscenely short.

Chapter 1 - The Stage is Set

The woman behind the coffee shop bar glanced over as two men entered the establishment. Her icy glare followed them as they found a table and sat down.

Jethro.

That bastard.

And who was that with him? An older man, glasses… 60's or 70's, she really couldn't tell from where she was. He looked vaguely familiar… but she just couldn't place him.

She flipped her long red hair and turned her attention to two customers.

"Guess who just walked in," she said, motioning with her eyes. The two red-haired women sitting at the other side of the bar turned their heads slightly to look at where their glances were being directed.

"That bastard," they muttered.

"Well, that plan we talked about, girls. Was that just so much red wine talking, or should we actually do it?"

"When opportunity knocks," one of them pointed out.

"What about Ducky?" one of them asked. "Ducky never did anything to piss us off," she pointed out, almost regretfully.

The one behind the bar sighed. So that's who that was. God, he'd changed over the years, she hardly recognized him. "Collateral damage, girls. We'll be gentle with Ducky. Let's go."

……………………………………………………………………

Abby was going stir-crazy at home. Maternity leave was up next week, and for as much as she loved her daughter, she missed her lab terribly. Tim had tried to comfort her, ease her restlessness, even going so far as to bring work home with him for her to help with.

But it just wasn't the same.

Tim, in the meantime, was still at work. He and Tony were wrapping up a case that had taken many hours of grunt work, and they weren't sad to see the end of it nearing. Ziva had stopped by many times, bearing Caf Pow, and had stayed awhile, to help with little Caitlin - always on the pretense of getting forensic advice, of course. Abby was always grateful for the company, and loved showing off her baby girl. Ziva tried to pretend otherwise, but Abby always thought she looked damned good and natural with a baby in her arms.

Even Jimmy had stopped by on occasion, with Jasmine - his fiancee, and Tim's younger sister. Judging by how enamoured he was with Caitlin, Abby knew he'd be royally hooped if he and Jaz ever had kids of their own… more specifically, if there happened to be a little girl in the family mix.

But, in spite of the team's efforts to make her feel included, and not left alone and forgotten at home, it would be wonderful to get back to work again.