Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! Been sleeping on the floor for the last two nights, and have finally persuaded my visitor to let me have the bed tonight - hurrah!

Chapter 5: Revolt

Lily topped up Jenny's drink without saying a word. The afternoon had finally turned into evening, and she was desperate to get some sleep.

As luck would have it, Jenny had managed to get completely stressed out after a few rounds with the SECNAV. Being a wonderful sister, Lily had decided to get her drunk and watch a movie.

A typical girl's night in.

The twins had been dispatched to their usual babysitter and Alex had called from the CIA to say he was going to be very late back. In return, Lily had put some Bailey's Irish cream in a blender with some ice cubes, to make a kind of intense milkshake. The sisters had managed to become rather drunk while trying to watch one of Lily's favorite programs.

It wasn't a movie, mainly because Lily had not been able to rent one, but it did the trick. Jenny was struggling to follow the finer points of the plot, while laughing at an American in World War Two uniform charging around Wales in the present day. The sisters had immediately agreed that he was hot, and were happier to ogle him than figure out why everyone was sleeping with each other.

Strange British programs.

They sat on the floor, backs against the couch. For some reason, they found it easier to sit on the floor while drunk. They were snuggled up close, sipping their strange concoction.

"Don't go down there!" Jenny screamed at the TV.

"Don't be stupid, JL," Lily smirked. "The beautiful woman has to be caught by the goons or the story would get boring."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Relax. Drink more alcohol."

Jenny sighed as she finished her glass again. "I'm going to have one serious hangover in the morning."

Lily shrugged her shoulders. "You won't be worrying about other things then."

"Are you really going to get him?"

"I am going to get him and put a bullet in his tiny skull. Quit worrying about him. Abby wants to know why you and LJ aren't talking."

"What did you tell her?"

"The usual. Not my place to say and all that rubbish."

"It is your place to say. You do realize that Abby is going to be on my back now?"

"Give her a Caf-Pow; she'll be happy. Spin her a story. Tell her Suicide Commando have released a new album."

"I should tell Jethro."

"If you tell LJ, he'll overreact. I guarantee it. Do not tell him anything."

"Deal with it then."

"I'm trying! In case you haven't noticed, I'm a little busy running after classified software at the moment! I've got people working on it."

"Tell them to work faster."

Lily snorted. "I told each and every one of them that this was a test of their abilities and if they didn't do well enough, I'd kill them for being potential security leaks. Believe me when I say they're working as fast as they can."

They settled down again, laughing as the American man on the screen tried to boss someone around.

The next morning, Lily sat in the squad room, head in her hands. All the alcohol the night before was now rebelling against her in the form of a hangover. Still, Jenny had drunk more and would be suffering exactly the same effects.

And she had a meeting with Condi a bit later.

Lily had thrown the ice cream tubs away before driving into work. Rocky Road was perfect for banishing the blues. She wondered if she should send Darlene a few tubs. Just to help out, of course.

LJ had been surprised to see her in so early, but had hidden his shock well. She had ordered him to keep her supplied with coffee, while he had smirked at her hangover.

Ziva had arrived next, throwing her bag onto her desk with a brisk "Morning." Lily could not understand how anyone could be so chipper at 0630. No one should be awake at that hour, let alone happy.

McGee had shown up with five minutes to go, running into the squad room as though he was being chased by a pack of wolves. His computer had been up and running within seconds of his butt hitting his chair. It took another thirty seconds for him to deal with his email.

Tony had been the last one to arrive. This did not surprise Lily. He had emerged from the elevator, singing a song at the top of his voice. LJ had glared at him, cutting Tony off mid-note. To his credit, Tony had winked at her before sitting down and checking his phone line still worked.

Same old Tony.

"Oi," LJ grumbled in her direction. "What was your take on the interviews yesterday?"

"Any one of them could have done it," she replied.

"Even the one you were flirting with?"

"I didn't get any bad vibes from him."

"Bad vibes," Tony commented. "You sound like Abby."

"And yet you trust his coffee-filled gut," she retorted, jerking her head in LJ's direction.

"We need to know more," LJ pointed out. "You need to read us in better."

"We've had this argument," she warned. "I am not reading you in any further than you already are."

"We know nothing! It's going to revolutionize warfare. So what? Every project going on is going to revolutionize warfare if you listen to all the hype."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"What's so special about this one?"

"Erm, it really is going to revolutionize it?"

LJ slapped his desk in frustration and stood up. "I will go over your head," he remarked.

"Arbourne will give me a raise then. I'm doing my job if you guys are in the dark."

"Not this in the dark! Your job is to help us find the tech."

"No, my job is to keep you guys from knowing what's on the tech. I'm doing my job well if you haven't a clue."

"We need to know what's so special about it so we can find it."

"You only need to know that we consider it special and a lot of people would love to get their hands on it."

"If you don't –"

"What will you do? You can't touch me and you know it. You can scream at me all day, correct, but Arbourne already does that. You could get your pet Mossad Officer to torture me, but I'd just clam up. We're playing this by my rules, whether you like it or not."

The team were somber when they entered Abby's lab a few hours later. The argument had only raised the tension between NCIS and the CIA.

Abby's music did not reflect this. It pounded away, far louder than it should have been. Lily's head began to pound along with it, and she continued to curse her idea of drinking the previous night.

All she really wanted to do was curl up into a ball and die. Or harass Arbourne until she felt better. She wondered what she'd be doing if she was over at the CIA. She guessed it would involve tormenting some more Probies. Or perhaps inventing a new language for the translators to puzzle over. They had gone crazy with her last Navajo file, and she debating whether to write another eternity code.

Not writing it herself, but finding someone who could do it for her.

At least Jenny would be in as much pain as she was. Whose bright idea was it to use Baileys? Agent Wofford had mentioned it, now she thought about it. Something about seeing it in a commercial? Regardless, Wofford was going to have to take care for the next few days. Lily had more than one idea of how to get back at her.

Lily gave in to her urge, and turned the CD player off. Peace at last.

"Hey!" Abby objected.

"My hangover trumps your happiness every time," she replied.

"No it doesn't."

"Option one: the music goes off. Option two: I start shooting up the lab. Take your pick."

LJ rested a comforting hand on Abby's shoulder. "Let the ass-kisser have her way," he soothed. "You're smarter than her."

The Goth beamed.

"Why don't you ever praise us?" Tony whined.

"Because you don't deserve praise?" Lily mused aloud.

Everyone glared at her. "I have a hangover. Be nice," she warned.

"What have you found, Abs?" LJ asked her.

Abby smiled again. "Well, oh great one, I have found an interesting deposit in one of your suspect's accounts."

"Translating 'interesting' into 'suspicious' would be accurate?" Lily checked.

"Oh yes," Abby confirmed. "Take a guess as to whose account is was?"

"Boxall," she suggested.

"Bingo! And Lily wins the prize! Hang on, are you Lily? You aren't really Jenny are you? Because she was here earlier and she had a hangover too, and she was wearing the same clothes as you and –"

"It's Lily," LJ interrupted.

"But you called her an ass-kisser, and you normally call Jenny that."

"They're both capable of kissing ass."

"But –"

"Stakeout time?" Tony asked, cutting the Goth off.

"Yes," LJ replied. "Stakeout."