Chapter 16

Gibbs knew that was what did it for him. If she had been hurt, sad, or even angry, he might have resisted returning the bracelet, but with her showing no feeling at all he knew he wouldn't be able to change her mind. He took the box she was holding out to him and slid it back into his jacket pocket. "Sam I think…"

Before Gibbs could say anything more, their food arrived at the table, Sam gave him a tired grin and said, "Saved by the food." Then she started to eat. Gibbs wouldn't have described it as 'shoveling' her food in, but it was a controlled steady process that left no room for talking. Once one forkful was in her mouth she was filling her fork again so the moment she was done chewing she was ready for another bite. There was no conversation and the evening ended early.

At her apartment she simply said, "Good night Gibbs. See you at work tomorrow," and closed the door between them.

You would think, because of what had happened at the restaurant, that her thoughts that evening as she got ready for bed would have been about her father, but they weren't, they were about the same person they had been about since she had seen him last, AJ Chegwidden.

The next morning AJ was in the break room when Mac arrived and warned her, "You might need a splash of water in there this morning Mac."

She looked at him in surprise. "Sir after all this time you must know I like it as strong as you do!" she told him as she poured a mug full and then took a sip before he could get another warning out…

"But this morning…"

Her eyes widened as the brew hit her tongue and without another word poured a bit out in the sink so she would have room for some water. After taking another sip in the hopes of taking the coating off of her tongue, she asked, "Why Sir?"

"I didn't get much sleep last night and figured I would need the extra kick to keep me alert."

"Sir that kick would keep a corpse alert!"

AJ almost spewed the drink he had just taken all over her. Barely managing to keep the mouthful he had taken contained he managed to swallow just in time.

"Oh good! You guys haven't finished the pot yet," Bud exclaimed as he rushed into the room and went right for the coffee. Before either of the two could warn him about the strength of the brew Bud added, "I was up all night with Little AJ. He was running a fever and I figured I could use the stronger stuff that you guys drink today." Taking a sip from the mug he'd just poured his eyes widened to saucers and he dumped the rest of it down the drain.

"Too strong Bud?" AJ asked suppressing a huge grin.

"Not at all Sir," Bud gasped out. "But that one sip should keep me awake until Sunday."

"Bud its only Thursday," Mac replied.

"I know," he muttered as he left the room.

The two left behind tried to hold their laughter until Bud reached his office but they didn't make it. He heard them before he was halfway there. They headed to their own offices just a few moments later.

Other than the staff meeting that morning AJ stayed in his office. He even had Tiner reheat the meal he had gotten from Callisto's the night before and had put in the break room fridge that morning.

AJ had just gotten in his Escalade to go home when his cell phone rang, "Chegwidden," he answered.

"Well I hope so since that's who I called," Webb told him.

"What do you want Webb? I'm off work for the day."

"Okay, I won't bother you. Agent Blaze and I will take down Davis-Marciniak on our own."

"Agent Blaze?"

"You might know her as Major Bell," Webb said with a sneer.

"I know Major Bell was really Agent Blaze! I just didn't know you did," AJ snapped.

"I'm CIA Chegwidden, I know everything."

"You've broken Grant? What did he tell you?" AJ demanded, changing the subject.

"So now you want in…still interested in Agent Blaze aren't you?"

To be continued…