This one shot continues directly on from the second fic in my memo series but is not a memo fic. It's not necessary to read them to understand this. Thanks to Scouse for inspiration.
NCIS Squad Room. New Year's Day. Around 7:00 am.
"Are we sure about this?" Tim asks from his desk nodding at the email displayed on the plasma. The team responds with a chorus of nods, yeses and a grunt from Tony. "Sending now." He presses a button and the message disappears from the screen.
"So are you sure you don't want to tell us what it is? Abby asks as she playfully elbows Jimmy who is standing beside her in the middle of the bullpen.
"It?" Palmer squeaks blushing furiously.
Tony raises his head from his desk and starts to speak very slowly.
"The email we just wrote. You promised not to do it anywhere on the Navy Yard ever again." He takes a long swig of his DiNozzo Defibrillator. "But you didn't say what it actually is."
"Is it something hinky? Sexy? Could it be..."
"Ah. Abby. I..."
"You can trust us Jimmy" Ziva chimes in from her desk where she is sharpening her knife. She smiles in a way that somehow (though he'd never tell her this) seems to totally contradict her words.
"I think I'll go and clean some...that is..." Jimmy turns and starts to hurry from the room but bumps into Ducky coming the other way.
"Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. So sorry Dr Mallard."
"It's perfectly fine my dear boy" his mentor replies as he wheels a chair from the nearest cubicle to join Gibbs by his desk.
"This latest email from Human Resources seems to have everyone in the building in a spin."
Gibbs merely grunts before inquiring "Can we help you Doctor?"
"Since traditionally today is a qu..."
"DUCKY" they all shout causing him to put a hand to his heart and glower.
"There is no need to shout."
Abby bounces over to hug him. "You know you shouldn't say the q word."
"I thought that I would come up and share a story that I was reminded of by the memo."
Almost all the team reacts enthusiastically to this idea.
"I'm going for coffee." Gibbs walks out.
"Campfire" suggests DiNozzo and they all gather in the center of the bullpen.
"This was one of my first cases as a medical examiner. It happened at a costume party in old rundown mansion. There was a magnificent storm. The place was lit by candles and..."
"And?" Tony as usual is impatient to move on with things.
"Fairy lights. I never realized how deadly they can be. When Human Resources mentioned decorating in their memo it reminded me of this case. How much I didn't know. I carefully examined the body. I checked and double checked. Sadly there was only one conclusion I could draw."
"Which was?" this time it's Ziva keen to return to her knife.
"His was an accidental death."
"Caused by?"
"Mr Palmer the victim was strangled."
"Strangled? You said it was accidental though. How do you accidentally strangle someone?"
"He strangled himself with the fairy lights."
The team mutters various comments like "how sad" and "that's unusual."
"We should get back to work before Gibbs returns."
"I am working" Ziva snarks as she takes another knife from her ankle holster.
"You are so right McKilljoy." Tony starts to tidy his desk.
"I'm going to put up some more baubles" Abby declares linking arms with Ducky and Jimmy as they all walk from the bullpen.
Up in his office Vance rereads the email, sighs and steps away from his computer to gaze out the window for a moment. "Never going to happen" he chuckles. "Only when pi..." He turns away from the window letting go of his exasperation with HR's total removal from reality re the actions of team Gibbs. With his back to the window and his focus returned to the computer he fails to notice the pig flying by.
Hope you liked the whimsical ending. The memo fics are A Fresh Start,We Are Who We Are, Healthy Agents Healthy Agency and Don't Forget.