A Dare, Or Something More Sinister?
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS... I wish I did, but I don't!
Author's Notes: Thank-you all for the reviews I'm happy you all like it... as always a few more wouldn't go unnoticed! Please!
I apologize for any errors in the fic in the way of military regulations and structures. I am a university student from Australia- a world away from NCIS, so even though I try to keep this as real as possible, I acknowledge that there will be a few things wrong with it.
Again a gigantic thank you to Kate for her inspiration and fantastic ideas!
Gibbs woke up and looked around, a bit disorientated. Then he remembered, he was at Kate's place, he must have dozed off again. He looked down at Kate's sleeping form, she looked peaceful. Somehow, during the night, she'd cuddled closer to him. He looked at his watch; it was still early, 0400. Carefully, he got up, trying not to disturb her. He looked at how her head was positioned on the couch, and after deciding that she would most likely have a headache and neck-ache in the morning, tried to wake her. She briefly came to, and looked at him confusedly.
"I should get you into bed" He said as way of explanation
Kate smiled, smirking she said "You know, I think I could get to like you without your coffee"
Gibbs grinned, "That's not what I meant. I, um, sleeping in your bed would be more comfortable than the couch. For you, that is," Kate smiled at his slight discomfort, "Ah, what I mean is, you need a good nights rest and you won't get that on a couch. I need my agents to be alert and ready for anything, you can't do that with a headache and a sore neck in the morning"
Kate nodded, still smiling and slowly got up from the couch. Gibbs let her lean on him for support (that they both knew she didn't really need), as they made their way to her bedroom. Kate plonked herself down on her bed and within minutes, was again fast asleep. Gibbs watched her and smiled, he silently closed her bedroom door and left the apartment. He could get a few more hours rest before going to work. He got into his car and reclined the seat, deciding that there wasn't much point going home to his own bed, he could still get to work early and change into the set of fresh clothes he had there before anybody got to the office. He closed his eyes and promptly fell asleep.
Abby looked up from the monitor when she heard the elevator ding and watched Gibbs walk into the lab.
"Hey, Boss-man! Wow…what happened to you?" Abby shouted over the music, noting his pale-appearance and beads of sweat on his fore-head.
"Nothing, I'm fine. What have you got for me?" he asked, turning off the music and turning to her
"What, no caff-Pow? Ok, lets try this again, and this time with a please" Abby replied
"Abby!" Gibbs barked, but Abby ignored him
"Oh, this is that coffee thing" Abby said, straightening up saying, "Ducky told me" with a glare from Gibbs she said, "Ok…well, I analysed the fibers you gave and found something really hinky" Abby pulled up some pictures of the fibers and showed him the moniter
"Put them on the plasma, Abby" Gibbs said, turning to the screen
"Notice anything weird?" Abby asked, bursting to tell him
Gibbs looked back at Abby, "No," Gibbs waited for her to launch into an explanation, "But you're going to tell me…"
"Thought you'd never ask. These hairs aren't human. They're from a dog" Abby announced
Gibbs frowned, "A dog killed Lt Mitchell?" he said, skeptical
"No. I just thought it was interesting… Anyhow, I also analysed the blood found in Srg Dowling's cabin. Most were Lt Mitchell's, but I also found that some was Lt Patterson's"
"How much? Could it have been caused by something else, maybe he cut himself shaving"
"Unlikely. Unless he was a haemophiliac," Abby said. Gibbs raised his eyebrow and Abby continued, "But he's not"
Gibbs nodded, "Anything else?"
"Not yet. I'm still waiting for a couple of results. I had a system breakdown yesterday, and today the system is still slow"
"Ok, call me when you get something" Gibbs said, walking out
"Will do" Abby shouted after him, as she turned her music back on.
Tony looked up from his work, and looked at Kate's desk. The corners of his mouth turning up as he realised what Kate's ringtone was, Sex in the City. He got up and scanned the bullpen, then moving to Kate's desk, he looked at the caller's ID. He picked up the phone as Kate ran in…
"Tony! Give me the phone" She said, glaring at him
Tony shrugged, "It's Shane"
Tony sat on the edge of her desk as he listened to the one-sided conversation. "Hello…no…oh, really? Is that right?...Your mum…I see…"
"DiNozzo! Don't you have work to do?" Gibbs walked in, glaring at Tony
"Cancer…right…I'm sorry…" Kate said looking up
Gibbs glanced at Kate, questioningly raising his eyebrow, then looking back at Tony
"It's Shane" Tony replied to the unasked question, "He's about to ask her out"
Gibbs turned around and walked to his desk, tuning in to Kate's conversation
"Yeah…I know…tonight? Okay…at seven. You choose where…ah huh…okay, cya there" Kate flipped her phone closed, looking up at the two men, "What?"
"I'm getting a coffee" Gibbs said, grabbing his coat
"Ooooh, I'll pay" Tony said eagerly, getting up
"For Abby! DiNozzo!" Gibbs responded
"Boss, Abby doesn't drink coffee, she…" Tony stopped as Gibbs slapped him over the back of his head.
Tony rubbed his head and watched Gibbs leave. He turned to Kate, "Somebody didn't get enough sleep last night. He must've seen one of his ex-wives last night, they always bring out the best in him" he said walking back to his desk
"No, but one of them called him" Kate replied off-handedly
Tony stopped and turned around "How do you know?" he raised his eye-brows. When Kate didn't answer, he put things together, "He was with you last night, wasn't he?"
"No" Kate all of a sudden found her computer very interesting
"Kate, I'm a seasoned investigator. I know when people are lying to me and you're not a good lyer. Now, spill…"
"Don't be stupid Tony" Kate said
"You two slept together, didn't you" Tony sat on the edge of her desk
"No, nothing happened. Ducky said he didn't want either of us alone" Kate said. Tony raised his eyebrows, smirking, "Nothing happened Tony"
"What didn't happen?" Abby asked, walking in
"Gibbs and Kate slept together" McGee said, joining the conversation
"Kate" Abby said, grinning "wow, girl. We gotta talk"
"Nothing happened" Kate insisted
"Did you screw his brains out?" Abby asked
"Abby, that is so much more than I needed to know" Tony said
"Tony, don't interrupt, we're having an important conversation" Abby replied, looked back to Kate
"Nothing happened! He fell asleep on the couch and left before I woke up" Kate said
The elevator dinged and Gibbs walked into the bull-pen, mumbling something about forgetting his wallet. He walked to his desk, then stopped and looked at his team who were staring at him, "What! Don't you all have work to do?"
Tony and McGee went back to their desks as Abby quickly made a bee-line for the elevator, "Abby! What are you doing up here? Don't you have test to run?"
"Looking for you" she responded, "The system broke down again"
"So fix it!" he snapped, walking away
"Gibbs!" she called after him, but he'd already gone. She sighed and rang his cell
"Gibbs!" he answered
"I found something" Abby said, hanging up. She looked at Kate, who simply said that it'd been over 2 days since his last coffee. Abby looked up as she heard the elevator ding and Gibbs walk out, looking more grumpy than he had before, if that was possible
Abby launched into her findings before he could ask. "Ok, so before the system crashed again, I managed to crack some of Lt Mitchell's files. They were stored in a secret file hidden in the depths of his hard drive, which would delete itself if…" Abby said, gloating
"Abby, I think he just wants to know what you found" McGee interrupted carefully. Gibbs glared at him, then back at Abby, pursing his lips
"Yes, McGee, I know, I'm getting there. Anyways, I hacked into his files and retriefced some really interesting stuff – and not just porn" She said, glancing at Tony, then looking back at Gibbs, "He kept a diary" she announced
"Of?" Gibbs asked
"Everything" She replied, bouncing forward onto her toes
"Anything relevant to the case Abs?" Gibbs asked, clearly frustrated
"Yes and no. Kinda depends. But I read some of his entries and found that he'd been with Srg Dowling on a personal level"
"Yeah, we know that already Abby" Gibbs stated
"But you don't know that they'd been seeing each other whilst they were on the ship" Abby replied
"Whilst she was with Lt Patterson" Tony voiced what was on all their minds
"Yep" Abby confirmed, bouncing on her toes
"That's a pretty good motive for murder" Kate said
"Get Srg Dowling and Lt Patterson off that ship and down here. I want them both in interrogation at 0900 tomorrow! Abby, I want those diary entries!" Gibbs rattled off, going back to the elevator.
That's it for chapter 6... I hope you like it! Reviews please!