"Are you looking up my skirt, McGee?"
"Um .. no."
"You so are .."
I am so not" he countered
McGee shifted and the ladder wobbled slightly.
"Well you'd better watch that ladder. Or she'll be flat on her back and you won't need to look up her skirt."
He looked up at the goth.
"Hey Gibbs!" Abby said contentedly as he stopped at his desk.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"What does it look like I'm doing?"
"You plannin' on hangin' anyone?"
He took in the pieces of wire hanging from strategic places in the bullpen.
"Only those adorable mistletoe balls" she said, pointing to a box on McGee's desk that was overflowing with greenery.
"Uh-huh" Gibbs muttered as he pulled badge and gun from his desk drawer and headed for the elevators.
"Where are you going?" she called after him.
"Home."
"Gibbs ..." she whined, "you can't go home. The party starts in half an hour. It's the night before the night before Chris - "
But Gibbs waved without looking round and disaappeared behind sliding doors.
Abby huffed.
"I hate when he does that. I mean the Award thing, that I totally get. But it's Christmas and .."
She was cut off by the sound of McGee's cell phone ringing.
"McGee" he said into it, and his eyes widened as he realised who it was. "Hi ..."
As his tone softened and his eyes grew wider still, Abby jumped down off the ladder.
McGee scribbled a name on a piece of paper and pushed it over to her, and smiled when Abby's face lit up.
"You're welcome. I wasn't sure whether to leave it wi – where are you?"
He hunched slightly and covered his other ear as he tried to hear her voice over the background noise.
"Guess I shouldn't keep you then. Thanks for calling."
He winced when Abby elbowed him in the ribs.
"How's .. uh ... Senator Shepard? Oh, he's ... uh ... he's -"
McGee ran a hand across his face, not really sure how to answer her question about Gibbs. They'd essentially stayed out of his way – something which hadn't been difficult because they'd all been taken up with the run up to Christmas in their own way. He hadn't been more or less talkative than usual - but that was Gibbs. Everybody knew that Christmas was a hard time for him, but they'd learnt a long time ago that the best thing to do was not acknowledge that. This year had been no different.
"He's good" Tim said at last, when he realised that the long pause might create confusion. "As good as can be expected."
When he saw Abby nod he knew he'd been right to make the clarification.
"I'd love to hear what you think when you finally get to see it" he said into the phone when Peg thanked him again for the package he'd left for her.
His brow furrowed for a moment, and then he took the plunge.
"Is this a good number to reach you on?" he asked. "Maybe we can have coffee in the new year?"
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Abby's eyes widen a bit further, and then a smile spread over her face.
"Great. I'll speak to you soon then. Merry Christmas, Peg."
He ended the call and looked over at Abby. She punched him in the shoulder.
"That was so sweet, McGee" she said with a dreamy smile on her face.
"What?" he asked. But he knew what she meant.
Abby linked her arm with his and kissed him on the cheek.
"You're hoping to advocate for Gibbs through Peg."
McGee smiled, and then looked at his watch.
"We have twenty-five minutes. Still wanna hang up that mistletoe?"
"Yup" she said as she headed up the ladder again.
A few minutes later she looked down at him as she held out her hand.
"Did Peg say where she was?"
"New York."
"Wow. Pass me the last ball. What's she doing in New York?"
"I couldn't really hear her very well" he said as he handed it up. "I think she said something about a live show from the Rockerfeller Center."
Abby paused just as she was about to hang the ball in place.
"What kind of show?"
"Fundraiser. I wonder if ZNN's covering it."
Abby positioned the ball and jumped down from the ladder just as McGee reached for the remote control.
"Hey .. what's going on?" Tony asked as he hung his coat up and came to stand by their side.
Abby looked at him and then looked up, a big grin on her face. She puckered her lips.
"Kiss me Tony. Kiss me like you mean it" she said dramatically.
Tony placed a kiss on her lips, and hugged her back hard when she threw her arms around him. Then he looked over her shoulder at McGee.
"You should be grateful I didn't meet you under the mistletoe, probie. I would have kissed you like I meant it, too."
McGee rolled his eyes and busied himself with the remote control.
"That is a beautiful tree" Ziva said wistfully as she stepped up to them – looking up just in time to see the mistletoe.
"Hey!" said Tony as she sidestepped him.
Ziva rolled her eyes at him, and when she did he pointed out all the other balls hanging everywhere.
"I will get you before evening's end."
"Is that a threat or a promise?" she asked with a mischievous smile as she hung up her coat and watched the way his eyes ran over her figure-hugging dress.
"A promise" he said with a smile.
"Is that the tree at the Rockerfeller Center?" she asked as she looked away from him.
"Yeah."
McGee turned up the volume as the screen split into two.
"Quite a crowd there already, Jimmy" a male anchor for ZNN said to another man huddling in winterwear on the outside of the building.
"Yes there is Bob. The atmosphere's electric. There are a lot of parents with young children, but also a lot of teenagers and senior citizens. People have really turned out to support this cause and it's just great. Really really great. I've hosted a lot of fundraisers but I have to say I've never seen anything quite like this."
The camera panned as he carried on talking.
"People are here waiting to donate, to share their stories, waiting to see and maybe speak to Senator Shepard. Her aide Peg Muldoon is here, and she assures us that the Senator is very keen to talk to people over the phone and to come down here when she's done with you in the studio. For people who are just joining us now, this is Jimmy Romero, coming to you live from the Rockerfeller Center in New York City. Back to you, Bob."
"Thanks Jimmy" Bob replied as he turned to the woman sitting next to him at the table. "Senator Shepard ... is this even remotely what you were expecting when you agreed to this? People have really taken to the idea of being able to talk to you in return for a donation. The phones have been ringing off the hook, money is pouring in from all over the country, people have been lining the streets for over twenty-four hours. Did you anticipate this kind of a response at all?"
"In all honesty, Bob, no. I didn't."
"You wouldn't be selling yourself short there, would you Senator?"
Jen smiled and blushed a little.
"I'd like to think it's the places that will benefit from the donations, and not me" she said diplomatically. "But I am surprised, and touched, that so many people want to speak to me."
"Would you care to tell us why you chose these particular beneficiaries, Senator?" the anchor asked.
"Oh my God" Abby said, as Jen started to talk.
"Wow. Guess you made quite an impression" said a newly-arrived agent.
Abby beamed. As the team watched, the bullpen continued to fill up around them. People huddled around the plasma, eating and drinking, stealing kisses under the mistletoe, rubbing and patting shoulders. Enjoying the moment.
Suddenly the noise level dropped a notch.
"Boss!" Tony said warily as the man stepped through the sea of people and stepped up to his desk. "We got a case?"
"Director called me in" Gibbs replied as he placed his badge and gun in his desk.
"Problem, Boss?" McGee asked.
"Maybe" Gibbs replied. But his eyes were glued to Jenny on the screen as he answered.
"Bob ..."
The scene cut back to the outside location.
"Our volunteers are counting up the donations we've taken on the streets. Senator Shepard, it's amazing. Our most ambitious goal out here was fifty thousand. We've collected over sixty-seven. What's it looking like where you are?"
Jen shared a look with Bob and smiled at Rob as he handed her a sheet with the figure. Her hand flew to her mouth and tears glistened in her eyes.
"We've raised one million, three hundred thousand, seven hundred and forty-eight dollars."
"We have enough time left for one phone call. We'll be opening up the phone lines one last time in five minutes. And here's the kicker, folks. The person who gets through will get to ask Senator a personal question. Isn't that right, Senator Shepard?"
Jen looked at camera.
"That's right" she said.
"Very brave of you, considering the interest your private life has generated in the past week" the anchor joked.
"Well ... I'll just have to trust that the caller won't want to embarrass me" she said with a small laugh. "There's more to me than who I date. Or don't."
"Any chance you'll talk about that if anyone does ask?"
Jen pondered the question for a while.
"I don't think there's really anything to talk about," she said with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "My life is very busy at the moment and it wouldn't be fair to ask anyone to sign up for all the attention and madness that seems to go along with the position. "
The ghost of a smile that had flashed across Gibbs' face when he'd first set eyes on her faded.
"I'll be in MTAC" he said before he slipped through the crowd and headed up the steps.
Abby followed him with her eyes until he disappeared from sight, before settling against McGee.
"Well this sucks" she complained.
"Four minutes" the anchor said on the screen, turning to Jen again. "I have to confess, I'm really rather curious about what the question's going to be, and who's going to ask it."
"That's it ..." Abby said suddenly. "That's it!"
"That's what?" asked McGee.
"I'm going to make this right."
"How?"
"I'm going to be the final caller."
There was a silence in the bullpen for a moment – and then one of the team leaders raised his voice.
"Then we're gonna need money. Fast."
He looked at his watch.
He pulled $100 from his pocket and placed it in Tony's hands.
"Di Nozzo!" he said. "You're the team's senior field agent. Make yourself useful."
Tony grinned.
"You heard the man. Come on people. It's Christmas. It's a good cause. It's personal. Lets go."
He gave Abby the thumbs up sign as people pushed money into his hands.
"How many minutes till they open the lines?" Ziva asked after a while.
"One minute and forty-seven seconds" McGee replied as he punched in the numbers on his desk phone and handed it to Abby.
"What if we don't get through?" she asked suddenly. "There's probably thousands of people calling this number right now. Do something McGee. We have to get through."
McGee stared back at her.
"There's nothing I can do, Abs. There's nothing to override, and it isn't something we can hack into. We're just going to have to wait in line with everybody else and hope for the best."
"Not good enough" she snapped. "I have to talk to Jenny, Timmy. I have to speak to her tonight."
"Maybe if we all try" an agent whose name she didn't even know suggested, as he whipped his cell phone out of his pocket and peered at the number scrolling across the plasma. "We'll have a much better chance that way."
Abby felt tears spring to her eyes as every single person in the room punched numbers into their cells phones and every desk phone within their reach. As the last few seconds ticked down the tension in the bullpen was palpable. Everyone held their breath.
"I believe we now have our last caller on the line" Bob said on the screen.
A whoop went up from somewhere in the vicinity of the elevators, and people gesticulated wildly as a young agent came forward. He had one ear covered as he spoke into his phone.
"We're in" he said proudly as he handed his phone over to Abby.
She smiled and hugged him tight. And then she took a deep breath.
"It's a sign" she said before she spoke into the phone.
On the screen Bob beamed.
"And our next caller is Abigail – who's in DC."
There was a low cheer from the agents in the bullpen at the announcement that she was actually through. Tony quieted them down at once - worried that the noise would attract the attention of the Director or, worse still, Gibbs.
"Now Abigail – I understand you were recently a patient at George Washington Hospital – which is one of the places we'll be donating the proceeds of tonight's event to?"
"That's right," Abby gripped the phone tighter as she saw the flicker of recognition in Jen's expression. "But I'm feeling much better now – and everyone was very kind to me. I'm happy to help them raise money."
"I'm glad you're recovered, Abigail." Jen said, a smile dancing in her eyes. "This isn't a good time of year to be ill."
"How much money will you be donating, Abigail?" Bob asked.
"Um ..." Abby looked around as Tony frantically counted the pile of bills in his hand.
"Four thousand one hundred and ninety-six" he mouthed at her.
Abby's jaw dropped.
"Abigail?"
"Four thousand one hundred and ninety-six" she replied, still stupefied.
"That's a pretty amazing sum."
"I work with some pretty amazing people" she said proudly, looking over the room.
"Do you have a question for the Senator?"
"Yes, yes I do. It's the reason I called."
Abby knew she couldn't ask about Gibbs – not after what Jenny had already said on the subject.
"I'm here at my office Christmas party and so I was wondering what the Senator has planned for Christmas."
Bob chuckled, "That's a little less taxing than our relationship with the other members of the Security Council or the military, right Senator?"
Abby thought that Jenny's smile in response seemed just a little forced. She hoped she would be forgiven for any pain she caused – because she did have a plan, sort of.
"Well, there are some events on Christmas Eve that I am attending – but Christmas Day itself is a quiet day. Sometimes I cook, more often friends remind me that I am a terrible cook and I have dinner with them. I'm not sure if I'll be in DC or in Maryland at the moment."
It was a careful answer, one worthy of a politician – and though other people, like the anchor, interpreted that to mean she'd be attending lots of ritzy parties on Christmas Eve, Abby only heard a woman with no real plans for the day itself and nowhere that she really belonged.
"How's your Christmas party going?" Jenny asked and Abby was sure that somehow she was asking whether Gibbs was there.
"Well – we're having a good time, but some of our colleagues are having to work. My boss is still working, things have been difficult here lately and I don't think he's enjoying the season much. We're going to try to have a little party especially for him tomorrow evening."
"I'm sure he'll appreciate your thinking of him." The little catch in Jenny's voice was proof that she knew exactly who Abby was talking about.
"We just want him to be happy," Abby whispered before Bob announced that her airtime was over and she found herself listening to a dial tone.
"Another party, Miss Sciuto?"
Abby whirled round suddenly to find Vance standing there with a smile on his face. There was no way of knowing how long he'd been there or how much he'd heard.
"Um ... we .."
"That us?" he asked as the dollar amount they'd collected appeared on the screen.
"If I can just explain .." she began.
But Vance simply smiled and put his hand in his pocket.
"Add this to it" he said, as he peeled two hundred dollar bills from a billfold and put them in her hand before turning on his heel and going back upstairs. Someone handed him a drink as he passed by.
"So what's with the party?" Tony asked. "Do I know about this?"
"Tony," Abby sighed, "there isn't really a party – it's a ploy, to get Jenny here. All you have to do is keep Gibbs in the office tomorrow evening."
"Oh is that all?" At her expression he backtracked rapidly, not prepared to disappoint her. "We'll do what we can Abs, but it is Gibbs we're talking about." He looked over at Ziva, who shrugged in what he hoped was an offer of support. But even knowing how difficult it would be to get both of the people involved in the right place at the right time, still the idea appealed to him. "When you think about it," he said, "this is like the world's biggest secret santa. We're basically trying to get Gibbs the US Ambassador to the UN for Christmas."