A Dare, Or Something More Sinister?
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS... I'm just taking the characters for a spin!
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!
And yay! That exams have finished!
Again a huge thank you to Kate for her great work and inspiration!
The ride back to Gibbs' place was silent and uneventful. Gibbs was just falling asleep again when they arrived at his house.
"Thanks, Kate." Gibbs said, getting out of the car, "Do you want to come inside, have a drink or something?" Gibbs asked
"No, thanks, I'm right. My auntie decided to invite herself over for dinner." Kate replied, also getting out of the car, "Do you need help getting to your door?" she asked as she watched him sway a bit. But without waiting for his reply, she went over to his side of the car and went under his arm. She put her arm around his waist and his arm over her shoulder. They walked together up to his door, where he patted down his pockets, then looked at her.
"You still have my keys, Kate" he said
"Oh, right" Kate replied, removing the keys and unlocking the door.
They moved inside and headed towards the couch, where the both sat down, with their arms still around each other. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, before Kate's cell rang.
"Todd" She answered, "Abby?...Yeah…um, Abs, can I call you back later?" Kate flipped the phone shut and looked up at Gibbs
"The power come back on?" Gibbs asked
"She didn't say. She asked if you had gotten home safely" Kate replied
"And?" Gibbs asked
"What?"
"What else did she ask?"
"If I was looking after you." Kate replied "Anyway, I should probably head off. I'll see you tomorrow"
"Okay, take care Katie" Gibbs said
Kate got up from the couch and left. Gibbs watched from the window as he saw Kate get in her car and drive off. He smiled to himself and made his way to his basement.
He stopped sanding as another wave of nausea hit him. He looked down at his hands which were still uncontrollably shaking. This was unbelievable, he thought to himself, it was just coffee. He couldn't believe how the lack of caffeine was affecting his body; he had always been in control of it. He remembered telling his team how he'd never had allergies, never had a cold and never had the flu. It was true, he'd never been sick, he kept himself fit and ate the right foods; well, most of the time anyway. But this… He took deep breaths as he could feel bile in his throat, which eventually went back down. He looked at his boat and wiped the layer of sweat off his forehead. He sighed and put his tools away, there was no way he would continue working like this. He went upstairs and turned the light off, heading for his bedroom, he'd just have to sleep this one off. As he reached his bedroom, he felt the bile rise again. Starting to take deep breaths, Gibbs hurried to his bathroom and promptly threw up. He stayed hunched over the toilet as his stomach rejected whatever else was in there. After what seemed like hours, it was over. He sat back on the floor and leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths. Grabbing some toilet paper, he dabbed at his eyes, where tears had formed, but he would never allow them to fall. He wiped his mouth and closed his eyes. He felt like a naive teenager who'd drank too much, too fast. Slowly, he got to his feet, closing his eyes as he saw black dots fill his vision. When he opened his eyes, the dots were gone; he flushed the toilet and dragged his feet as he got back to his room. He took off his clothes and collapsed into his bed, immediately falling into a fitful sleep.
McGee looked up as he heard the elevator ding, he saw Kate and Tony walk off together animatedly chatting about something. He looked back at his computer only to have it freeze again.
"And then this tall hot blonde chick came in and started talking to Ben, but he could barely stand up straight and fell forward into her…" Tony was saying
"Tony, I don't wanna know what you did last night or what happened" Kate said, putting her bag down and turning her computer on
"Hmmph," Tony sighed, then looked at McGee, "Hey Probie! Do you wanna hear about what happened, it was great. After we left that nightclub, we moved onto…" Tony started again
"No Tony, I don't want to hear it" McGee answered
"Hey McGee, where's Gibbs?" Kate asked
"Dunno, hasn't shown up yet. Um, the system's still slow from last night, I'm gonna see if Abby and I can get it running again" McGee said, getting up and going to the elevator
Tony went to his desk and turned on his computer. "So, Kate, what did you get up to after you left here?" he asked as he sat down on his chair
"I went home Tony. And had to endure the most boring four hours of my life" Kate replied
"Really? Told you you shoulda joined me" Tony said suggestively
"I wouldn't go clubbing with you in a pink fit Tony." Kate replied
"Ow, that hurts Kate" Tony replied. "Say, why were you so bored? You have no reports to finish or anything"
"My auntie came over and gave me a detailed account of why I should be married, then tried to set me up with some guy she knew. Then she went on to trying to get me to quit my job here and get a 'real' job" Kate replied
"But you're not going to quit are you?" Tony asked, a bit concerned. From a look from Kate, he knew he didn't need to worry, "Well she was right about one thing, you do need a man in your life"
"Tony!" Kate said
"What? It's my job to see that you hook up with some nice, young guy who makes you happy." Tony replied
"Yeah, and to annoy me. My personal life is exactly that, Tony, personal. I don't go telling everybody I know about it" Kate responded
"It's part of my charm, Kate" Tony said, then returned his attention back to his computer, "You know, McGeek was right, these computers are screwed. Say, did we get Ducky's autopsy thing?"
"I don't think so. We all left early. Let's go see Ducky now" Kate said, getting up
"Ah, Caitlin, Anthony, nice of you both to see me. I gather you both also want to know how our young marine died" Ducky announced
"Hey, Ducky" Kate greeted him
"Hey, Duck! What do you mean 'also'?" Tony asked
"Jethro came in yesterday." Ducky replied, walking to the table, "Well, our Lt was brutally bashed before he died, with a blunt, hard instrument, most likely a baseball bat. The cause of death seems to be this cut" Ducky pointed to a gash on the dead marine's neck "which severed some fundamental arties. The killer let him bleed out before beating him again. Then he was put in a large freezer for four days." Ducky stepped back and looked at the body, "Yes, it reminds me of one of my first cases at NCIS. A petty officer was beaten until he was unconscious and then dragged into a meat freezer. The local PD found the young man three months later when he turned up in an abandoned warehouse. It turns out that…"
"Ducky!" Tony and Kate simultaneously exclaimed
"Oh, right, yes. So how is young Jethro? He didn't look good yesterday" Ducky asked, frowning
"We don't know, he hasn't turned up yet" Tony replied
"If he's not in the bullpen when we get back up there, I'm going to phone him" Kate said
"Ok." Ducky responded, "Kate. Don't let him come into work; today will be his worst day. And he may need somebody to be with him"
"Right" Kate said
"Well, we don't have much happening today, except for those interrogations in an hour, probie and I can handle them." Tony said, thinking aloud
"What are you suggesting Tony?" Kate asked
"Well, Ducky needs to be at that conference later and probably has other work to do. And you and Gibbs are kinda…" Tony said
"Kinda, what? Tony" Kate asked
"Caitlin, he will listen to you" Ducky said simply
They were interrupted from discussing the matter further when Ducky's phone rang.
"Hello?" Ducky answered. Tony and Kate listened intently, they could hear the person on the other end.
"Duck, it's Gibbs" Gibbs said. Tony and Kate exchanged a glance
"Jethro, how are you?"
"I'll live. Look, I'm running late, I'll be in the office in an hour"
"No you won't. You sound terrible, you need rest"
"Ducky, I'm fine. See you in an hour" Gibbs said as he hung up
Ducky replaced the phone and looked at the two agents. Kate thought for a moment, then slowly smiled
"You think this is funny Kate? In less than an hour, we are going to have a very grumpy Gibbs enter the office" Tony said
"No, we're not. He doesn't have his car" Kate said, her smile widening as she looked at Ducky, "I dropped him home last night"
That's it for chapter 8... I hope you like it! Please review, please!