Tuesday

Chapter 7

It's Tuesday morning, around the start of work. McGee and Gibbs are already up in the work area doing a couple things. Tony steps off the elevator and walks into the area. He looks at Ziva's desk as he comes in.

"Where's Ziva?" Tony asked.

"She probably got caught in traffic." McGee stated. "There was an accident along the route she takes to get here."

"Hey Boss." Tony greets Gibbs.

Gibbs glances up at Tony from behind his computer. Then he looks back down at what he's working on. Tony shakes his head and continues walking to his desk.

"McGee, did you finish running down the list?" Gibbs asked.

"Everyone on the list has an alibi for where they all were yesterday." McGee stated.

"You confirmed it?"

"All alibis are confirmed."

"So we have nothing?" Tony asked.

Gibbs glares at Tony from behind his computer.

"What do you mean, WE, DiNozzo?"

Tony slams his stuff onto his desk. He then walks over to the front of Gibbs' desk. McGee goes to his desk and sits down before a war is started.

"What the hell is your problem Gibbs! Why did you re-hire me if you're not gonna treat me like part of the team! If you have a problem with me and Jamie being together… Then I'll bend over and pull my pants down so you can kiss my ass!"

The two of them stare each other in the eyes. Finally, Gibbs stands up. They continue their eye-stare with only Gibbs' desk separating them.

"I see Jamie finally made you grow some balls. It's about time DiNozzo." Gibbs stated.

Gibbs sits back into his chair and Tony is left perplexed.

"That… That's it! Yesterday, I completely insult you and threw your coffee away. And now I just told you to kiss my ass. And you're not gonna do anything about it!"

"Nope."

Tony snatches Gibbs' coffee cup from the desk. Gibbs looks up at Tony. Tony grabs the trashcan and pours the contents of the coffee cup into it. Gibbs shrugs his shoulders and looks back toward the computer screen as if what Tony just did, didn't bother him at all. Tony puts the trashcan back down unto the floor. He then grabs a paper-towel, cleans the coffee cup of all left-over liquid contents, then throws the empty coffee cup at Gibbs' head. Gibbs turns his head to look at Tony. Both of them just stare at each other.

Suddenly, Ducky steps off the elevator and walks into the area. After Ducky walks to Gibbs' desk, Tony walks away in order to go back to his own desk.

"Ah, Jethro… I've been looking for you."

"Yes Ducky?"

"Last night, I remembered about something that happened back in London about ten years back."

"Ducky… Right now isn't a good time for a story."

"But this story may give you an answer as to what's going on here."

"Alright Ducky… Continue."

"Ten years ago in London there was a young man who was targeting empty shops and stores. He made weak bombs that would mostly just destroy the inside and blow some debris to the outside…"

"Ducky, does this story have a point?"

"Yes it does Jethro… You see, when they finally caught the man who was doing this, the reason he did it wasn't to kill anybody."

Tony and McGee walk over to Gibbs' desk where Ducky is standing.

"Why would someone set off bombs that aren't going to kill anyone?" McGee asked.

"That was the million dollar question… The man didn't want to kill anyone. His 17 bombs may have occasionally injured a couple people, but the injuries were never major. He would wait until someone got close enough to the store that had the bomb in it. If a person was way too close, he wouldn't detonate…"

"Then why?" Tony asked.

"He only wanted to scare and shock people. If you take a regular person, who has no military background, never encountered guns or any type of weapons and isn't too familiar with terrorism… Then a bomb that goes off right in front of them would be the scariest thing in the entire world. News reports would interview the people who were around when the bombs went off, they were all scared and shocked about what happened."

"So it was only a scare tactic…" Gibbs said.

"Precisely." Ducky said.

"The only person in the area when the bomb went off was Jamie." Gibbs stated. "Oh my God… The pictures that were sent to me… This bomb going off… Someone is after Jamie." Gibbs looks at Tony. "Did Jamie sleep at your place last night?"

"No…" Tony shakes his head. "She wasn't at your place?"

Abby runs into the area all excited.

"Abs! Did Jamie stay at your place last night?" Gibbs asked in a hurry.

"No... Why?" Abby's excitement quickly dies.

"Jamie's missing."

"What!"

Gibbs looks toward Tony.

"I hope you're happy DiNozzo cuz this is entirely your fault!"

"How is this my fault!"

"Since she never came home last night, I thought she was at your place! I could've been looking for her all night!"

"Like it's my fault you just assumed she was at my place last night! That's nice Gibbs… I guess I'm good for something! Being a damn scapegoat!"

"Guys! Abby tries getting their attention.

"If she wasn't so in love with you, then she wouldn't be missing!"

"So love is to blame! If you wanna blame anyone, you should blame yourself! If you weren't so overprotective, then maybe she wouldn't have gotten into trouble in the first place!"

"Guys!" Abby tries getting their attention again.

"Now you're saying it's my fault!"

"Yes!"

"She's been sneaking around with you this entire time! Most of the time I thought she was doing one thing, when really she was doing another! My own daughter was lying to me about where she was going all the time!"

"She had no choice! You wouldn't have accepted us being together and you still don't! And most likely never will!"

"You keep asking if I have a problem with you and Jamie being together… Well here's the answer you've been so dying to hear… YES, I do!"

"I knew it! You're never gonna approve of us! You're such a self-righteous hypocritical bastard!"

Abby smacks Gibbs and Tony on the back of the head.

"Will you guys stop it! For one minute forget about this stupid pissing contest and focus on the fact that Jamie is missing!" Abby exclaimed.

Both Gibbs and Tony look downward as they felt ashamed of themselves because they knew Abby was right. After a couple seconds, Ziva finally runs into the area.

"We have a major problem!" Ziva exclaimed. "Ari has Jamie!"

The team is left shocked at what Ziva just said.