Hey guys! I'm back! Sorry it took me so long. First life happened, and then after that, my muse stopped working and I didn't up to writing until a little bit ago. One thing I need to do though is thank you guys for all your support! Seriously, I let out this little squeal whenever I get a review, follow, or fave. Just ask my mom.
Anyway, here is the next chapter as promised. Enjoy!
Exciting as the morning was, the agents found themselves returning to their quiet day-to-day routine, either going over cold cases or archiving files. The only difference was the enthusiasm of the new agent and the smile on the face of the old one, leaving McGee, Tony, and Ziva to pass subtle looks behind the backs of the other two agents.
Eager to share the office's latest gossip with NCIS's greatest forensic mind, McGee quietly excused himself from the squad room, gathering up his laptop and some files on his way out. The rest of the team looked after him curiously before shrugging off his mysterious actions and returning to work. Only Gibbs gazed longer than most, knowing exactly where he was going.
The elevator couldn't stop quick enough for McGee as he struggled to keep papers from falling out of the files and at the same time keep his laptop from smashing onto the floor. The second the door opened, he rushed out in a brisk walk, nearly colliding with Abby who had heard the elevator ding and came to see who it was. He sidestepped around her and immediately emptied the contents of his armload onto her desk.
"Whoa there McGee, you didn't stain Tony's Armani suit again, did you?" Abby probed, still slightly startled from his sudden entrance. McGee's face broke into a wide grin as he sat on the spinning stool and turned to face her. However, he refrained from saying anything and merely sat there grinning at her.
Placing both hands on her hips, Abby gazed at him expectantly before pursing her lips and letting out an impatient huff. "Well?" she demanded. McGee continued to grin at her, amused at how irritated she began to look as she ran every worse-case scenario through her head.
Her expression morphed into one of intense frustration. "McGee, you're really scaring me. Either tell me what terrible happened or I will be forced to torture it out of you." McGee's grin widened.
"Oh, you're going to love this," he smirked, his eyes glistening with excitement. Abby's raised eyebrows urged him to continue. "The FBI really screwed Gibbs over and now he's pissed," he quickly added, piquing her interest.
"That's not surprising. What did they do?"
McGee's grin widened again and he paused to build up suspense. "They faked Gibbs's wife and daughter's death," he blurted finally.
A blank expression crossed Abby's features before her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. From her expression, McGee could sense all the questions that were racing through her mind, and yet her mouth remained silent.
"You remember Fornell's probie that helped us on the Langer case? She's Gibbs's daughter, and she was transferred over to our team today," he added. Abby continued to gape in silence, causing McGee to glance at her curiously. Waving his hand in front of her face, he asked, "Abby?"
Immediately pulled out of her funk, Abby let out an inhuman squeal, causing McGee to cover his ears. He opened his mouth to protest but he was immediately enveloped in a bone-crushing hug. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, McGee! That's so amazing!" she exclaimed, never letting go of poor Tim who let out grunts and groans. She suddenly let him go and her face went serious. Grabbing him by his shoulders, she demanded, "Tell me Gibbs knocked Fornell senseless."
"No, Abby, he did not. Gibbs said he looked just as upset about it," McGee clarified, shrugging her hands off his shoulders.
"Eh, missed opportunity," she shrugged. Her attention suddenly snapped into focus again, startling McGee slightly. "So, tell me what Kelly's like," Abby said excitedly.
~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~
Unlike the noise and commotion it typically hosted, the squad room was quiet, essentially due to the decrease in body-count present. Kelly Gibbs sat silently alone at her computer typing away the keys on the keyboard clacking and clicking every time her fingertips applied pressure to them. With music playing through her earbuds, she almost completely aloof of the outside world, bobbing her head to the rhythm of the beat. Occasionally a pause would interrupt her tapping foot, and a new piece of information would cause her eyebrows to furrow, but for the most part, she was jamming.
With her eyes fixated on her monitor screen, she was oblivious to the new visitor who stood beside her desk. A gentle poke on her right shoulder caused her to jump in surprise, spinning around and at the same time yanking her earbuds from her ears. In mere seconds, she was face to face with an exuberant young woman with dark makeup and darker hair, tattoos, and a spiky dog collar. From her unusual appearance, Kelly assumed either gothic or emo. The young woman smiled at her like she was about to burst from excitement.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she apologized, fidgeting like a hyperactive child on sugar.
Kelly smiled. "It's fine," she replied, shrugging it off. Making a quick and almost nervous glance around the bullpen, she added, "If you're looking for the other agents, McGee left a while ago and hasn't come back, Ziva and Tony just barely took file boxes down to evidence, and Gibbs is on a coffee break."
"Oh no, I'm not here for any of them, I'm here for you," the woman explained, occasionally making movements with her hands as she talked.
Puzzled, Kelly's face scrunched up in confusion. "Oh um, and you are?"
The woman's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, um I'm Abby Sciuto. I work down in the Forensics Lab."
Kelly's perplexed expression melted into a soft smile. Standing up, she stuck out her hand. "Special Agent Kelly Gibbs. I'm the newest member of the MCRT," she introduced herself.
To her surprise, Abby gripped her hand and instead pulled her into a tight hug. "I know, and it's so amazing to finally meet you!" She then suddenly pulled away, leaving Kelly slightly startled. "I mean, Gibbs told me stories about you," she rambled, "so I feel like I kinda know you already, but I don't know you know you, know what I mean?" Before Kelly could answer, Abby cut her off unintentionally. "And I know I'm rambling, and I kinda have a bad habit, so feel free to interrupt me or tell me to shut up because I can be quiet when I need to. I just like to talk, ya know?"
With Abby's mouth moving at a hundred miles an hour, Kelly had trouble keeping up with what she was saying, almost getting nauseous from watching her lips move so fast. Her head stopped spinning when Abby quit talking, but she still leaned on her desk for support.
"Yeah, I know the feeling. Sometimes you need to talk, to get it all out," Kelly responded, smiling.
Abby grinned even wider. "I know, right? And even then, there are so many interesting things to talk about that you just can't shut up! I mean, I could spend days talking about science or animals, or even just telling stories!" she exclaimed excitedly.
Kelly thought for a moment before a curious look crossed her face. "Speaking of stories," she said, "You know pretty much everything about this team, right?"
"Oh yeah, of course. I mean, not everything everything, but I know a lot. Why do you ask?" Abby asked. Kelly began to grin mischievously, causing Abby's eyes to widen. "Uh oh, I know that face. That's the 'I'm up to no good' face."
"I wouldn't call it 'no good', but I'm wondering if there's any dirt you could give me on my team member, ya know, just so I can have a little leverage over them in case they try to pull any newbie crap," Kelly explained, her sly smile never leaving her face.
Abby's eyes lit up and the same sly smile that Kelly wore passed over her lips, giving her almost an impish expression. "Oh, the stories I could tell," she responded.