Disclaimer - I do not own NCIS.
A/N Guys I want to thank you so much for all of your reviews. You are just the best!
"This is a final boarding call for passengers DiNozzo and McGee travelling on flight ATR304 to London Heathrow. Please be advised that your plane is currently boarding at gate 26A. If you do not board within the next five minutes, your luggage will be removed, and, you will be denied access to travel. That's a final and urgent boarding call for passengers DiNozzo and McGee travelling to London Heathrow, on flight ATR304"
"Where the hell are they?" Gibbs growled as he stood with Abby and Ziva at the security podium at the gate.
A few moments later, Tony and Tim raced towards them. The stopped in front of Gibbs and were breathless from running. Tony gasped,
"S...sorry boss...McGee needed uh...some...uh...flying medication...and I got stuck in the head...sorry."
Two particularly hard head slaps later, the five of them were making their way down the walkway heading towards the plane.
"McGee, where you sitting?" Tony whispered as they made their way up the aisle.
"I'm sitting next to Abby," came the reply with a satisfied smile.
Tony looked at his boarding card and his face fell.
"Aw man, no! There is no way I can spend seven hours sitting next to Gibbs! The back of my head will look like something from the elephant man by the time we land in London."
McGee continued to grin, "And there is no way I am swapping with you. Abby and I are sitting in one row and then you and Gibbs and Ziva are sitting behind us."
Tony felt the familiar thud once more on the back of his head. Gibbs growled softly in his ear.
"If you prefer standing I can sure as hell give you a good reason to."
Rechecking his boarding card, Tony quickly found his row and sat in the seat nearest the window. Gibbs took up the middle seat and Ziva sat at the aisle.
After a few uncomfortable moments as they settled in, Tony retrieved the in-flight magazine. He immediately thumbed through it to find out what movie would be showing and as he scanned the page he beamed a wide smile,
"Hey boss, they're showing 'Snakes on the Plane'. That's a really cool movie. It's not exactly one I'd actually show on a plane, but it's a great movie. You see there's this guy who is taken on board and what they don't realise is..."
It took only one look, and Anthony DiNozzo's face fell. He calmly and silently replaced the in-flight magazine back into his seat pocket and folded his arms, turning cautiously, to stare out of the window.
The evening flight pretty much guaranteed a peaceful journey and it wasn't too long into the flight when all of the team were sleeping soundly. Gibbs, of course, had been the first to fall asleep, his Marine training kicking in instinctively. He was quickly followed by Ziva who buried her face into a small pillow and then began to snore gently. Tony had wrestled with drowsy eyes and decided to annoy Tim and Abby however, when he stood up and peered over, he found them cuddled up together, sleeping soundly. He sat back down in his chair and as Ziva's increasingly louder snores began to drum in his head, just a few decibels over the engine noise, he forced himself to close his eyes and think about what they could possibly get up to in London. Recalling his internet searches of the previous day, his mind slowly drifted from one tourist attraction to another. Before long, the Senior Field Agent had his head slumped on his boss' shoulder and his mouth was hanging open, leaving a trail of dribble onto the former Marine's shirt.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are beginning our descent to London"
Gibbs had blinked awake as soon as they announcement had blared through the cabin. He jerked his shoulder and Tony woke up, startled at the jolt to his neck. He then turned his attention to the snoring Ziva David,
"Officer David!"
She awoke instantly and glanced at both Gibbs and Tony with wide eyes.
"I am awake. I assume we are approaching our destination," she said quietly.
Gibbs nodded with a wry smile and began stretching his neck. With his body awake, he licked his lips, already feeling the need for coffee.
Tony unbuckled his seat belt and stood up taking the half full bottle of water from his seat pocket. He leaned over to Tim and Abby and was about to trickle some water on them to waken them when he felt a sharp pain in his ankle.
"Ow!"
"Don't you dare DiNozzo! Now sit down and buckle up, just like the nice lady told you to do."
Tony sat down and rubbed at the side of his ankle, just as Gibbs stood and gently tapped Tim and Abby's head to rouse them.
"Oh Tim, did you know, that's the first time we've slept together in ages?" Abby yawned, stretching her arms upward.
Tim blushed and quietly responded, "Well, technically, we didn't sleep together, Abby. Generally you would only use that term if we had actually slept together as in slept together, not sleeping side by side together but actually sleeping together, together."
She chuckled and leaned in closer, "Relax McGee, I know what you mean."
She turned her head in the direction of the seats behind her and whispered softly just as McGee put his bottle of water to his mouth.
"That would be like saying that Ziva had just slept with Gibbs and Tony!"
McGee choked and the water spilled from his mouth all down his front. With a red face he scowled at Abby and she sat with a beaming smile on her face.
"Please do not do that again Abby!" he growled.
With only carry on luggage, the team made their way to the Heathrow Express Train bound for Paddington station. As they spilled out of the train and into the bustling station, they gathered around Gibbs.
"Where to now boss?" Tony asked, his head still twitching back and forth, trying to make sense of his surroundings.
"We'll get a cab to our hotel," he replied as he thumbed through his paperwork looking for confirmation of the hotel.
They soon found the line for the cabs and stood patiently. Soon, they progressed to the front of the line.
"Westminster Thistle Hotel," Gibbs snapped at the driver as the team bundled into the back of the big black taxi-cab.
"Americans huh?" the driver smiled excitedly as he peered in his mirror.
"Uh...yes, we are from...uh...America...sir," Tim spluttered, keen to avoid the silence.
"I had a Yank in my cab yesterday, there seems to be a lot of you lot around these days. You seem to come like good weather, some times it rains and you get a whole bunch of Americans and then its sunny and you never see you lot for months. First time in London?"
Tony leaned in and whispered closely to Abby.
"Did he say yank or...ooof!"
He put his arm around his rib cage where Abby had thumped him hard.
"Be nice Tony!" she pouted indignantly, "He's English!"
"He's crazy! I can't understand a word he's saying, I feel like Ziva!"
Abby whacked him once more and earned a glare from Gibbs.
Tim rolled his eyes, regretting responding to the drivers initial question.
"Well...it's uh...my first trip to London...yes."
The driver nodded and then made eye contact with Gibbs. The resulting glare was enough for him to keep his eyes firmly on the road, and not on the occupants of his cab. Arriving at the hotel came as a relief to all them and Gibbs paid the driver after shuffling through a small packet of British notes.
Gibbs led the way to check the team into the hotel. Tony and Tim both mumbled protests at the prospect of having to share. Abby hugged Ziva excitedly as they realised they too would be sharing. Ziva's only response was to roll her eyes.
"Listen up! Go rest and freshen up, we've got a couple of hours before the Conference starts and it's not far from here. I want everyone to meet here in the lobby at 0930 hours."
He narrowed his eyes, tired and weary from the journey.
"Do...not...be...late!" he said slowly.
In his own quiet room, Jethro Gibbs dumped his bag onto the bed and scanned the room. He quickly found what he was looking for and, having fixed it, waited patiently. After the few minutes, he put the small cup of coffee to his mouth and sipped it slowly and then quickly spat it back into his cup.
"What the? Where the hell is the nearest Starbucks?"
To be continued....