Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Spoilers: 'See No Evil'

A/N: Why yes it's me again. Hehehe! :D

All The Elevators In Between

Chapter 22

When Gibbs and Kate reached their floor, he stepped out, but she didn't follow. He looked back at her questioningly.

"I need to see Abby. I'll be back up in a few minutes." Kate answered. He nodded in acceptance and walked into the bullpen to find McGee crawling around on the floor. It was sweltering with the air conditioners turned off, and the younger man was sweating profusely.

"McGee! What are you doing?" Gibbs asked, startling him.

"I'm upgrading the network connections. The workers won't do it until the air conditioners are back on, union thing. I wanted to get it done before I returned to Norfolk." McGee answered, his voice almost going into a squeak on the last word as Gibbs stared at him, and Tony glared over his shoulder.

"You know where thinking like that will get you?" Gibbs asked, eyes narrowing.

"Man asked you a question." Tony prompted. McGee tried to formulate a response, but nothing came out. Gibbs took pity on him.

"Promotion, McGee." He said with a smile. He could almost hear him sag in relief. "Continue." Tony looked shocked and headed to his desk as McGee began crawling around on the floor again. Gibbs headed up to MTAC for a quick check in with the Director.

Kate stepped into Abby's lab and was washed in tranquil music. That in itself was unusual. She looked around for the woman in question, finding her atop a table meditating, which really through her for a loop. Well, she was attempting to meditate. Every few seconds she would twitch, causing her pigtails to sway. Rather than barging in, Kate knocked on the door frame to get the younger woman's attention. Abby's eyes shot open and a happy smile appeared.

"Kate!"

"Abby!"

"Do we have a case?"

"No yet. I came to talk for a few minutes."

"Ok. What about?"

"Have you told anyone about me and Gibbs?"

"Well, Ducky kind of figured it out on his own. Does that count?" Abby bit her lip in worry.

"No, that doesn't count. Anyone else?"

"No, not even Tony. Why?"

"Gibbs and I could get into a lot of trouble. We want to keep things quiet for now."

"Ok. Got it. My lips are sealed."

"Thanks, Abby. I don't know what I'd do without you." Kate smiled happily, as she hugged the other woman.

"You'd all be lost." Abby answered returning the embrace.

"Most definitely."

Kate headed back up to her desk, but when the elevator stopped on the ground floor, she was motioned off by a guard. A distraught woman was standing next to him, clutching a piece of paper. Kate read the note.

Contact NCIS and no one else.

The woman rambled on about her CO being held hostage. Kate sighed and had the guard escort her to the conference room, while she went to get Gibbs.

Kate stepped off the elevator and to her desk, quickly dropping her things next to it and sat for a moment to boot her computer, and screamed. She had seen Tony smirking but didn't think anything of it.

"Ah, morning, Agent Todd." McGee said politely, looking up and realizing that she was wearing a skirt, quickly shut his eyes tightly.

"McGee?"

"Yeah?" She had to admit he was trying very hard not to look, but it was a struggle to keep his eyes closed.

"You have 2 seconds to tell me what you're doing down there."

"I'm upgrading the computer network, and, ah…" His eyes opened.

"Times up!" She practically snarled are him, pulling him up by his ears.

"Ah! AH! I wasn't looking. I swear! Ow! OW! I wasn't looking. OW..." She gave his ear a vicious twist. Tony winced in sympathy. He wasn't getting anywhere near her though. McGee was on his own. Gibbs walked into the bullpen and paused in front of his desk. He didn't turn around, because he knew Kate would see the amusement in his eyes.

"Tony." He called.

"Yeah?"

"Did I just see what I thought I saw?"

"Out of respect for my co-workers, boss, I'd have to say yes, you did, and it's very disturbing."

"I agree. Put your damn shirt back on. This is a federal office building, not a gym." Gibbs sat down at his desk, throwing his phone down on it. Kate who had stopped torturing McGee for the moment, walked up.

"We have a woman in the conference room who claims her CO is being held hostage by his computer. She as told to only contact NCIS."

"And you wonder why I don't like these things." He gestured to the phone before tossing it to McGee. "Here. Reboot it or whatever." Gibbs headed toward the conference room. Tony reached into the file cabinet and handed McGee a new phone.

"You can always do what we do." Tony said before he followed Gibbs. McGee looked intimidated by Tony and Gibbs, and stilled eyed her warily as she stalked up to him.

"Don't let them intimidate you, McGee. That's my job today." Kate said almost sweetly to him. He gulped audibly and she turned to follow Gibbs and Tony.

McGee studied the box and the phone in his hands. He could handle Tony's brand of torture. It wasn't anything he hadn't dealt with before, especially in high school. Gibbs was like dealing with a parent or any other adult. Respect and politeness went a long way. But he'd never learned how to deal with angry women, not even his sister. He sighed to himself. He was doomed.

As they got information, the case was becoming more and more desperate. The Captain wasn't allowed to leave his desk as the kidnappers of his wife and daughter were watching him. Gibbs managed to get in with a camera so that they could see the Captain, and Tony came in as a delivery boy with and ear wig. Kate was researching as best she could, but all in all she couldn't do much. None of them could. They asked Abby to hack into the Captain's computer so that they could see what he was seeing, and suddenly they were all thankful for McGee, who had stayed instead of returning to Norfolk.

They managed to secure the release of the Captain's daughter. Kate spoke softly to her, asking if she was ok, and letting her feel her badge, before scooping her up and putting her in the car. Tony drove them back to NCIS, while Kate sat with the girl, Sandy.

"Is my Daddy ok?" Sandy asked.

"Yes, sweetie, he's at his office. We're doing everything we can to make sure that you, and your Mommy and Daddy are going to be just fine."

"Thank you." She paused for a moment. "You smell nice, like something sweet, and spicy at the same time. And sawdust." Tony looked up sharply, eyes wide in the rearview mirror

"Thank you Sandy." Kate answered giving the girl a little hug around her shoulders, and shaking her head slightly to tell him 'not now'. He nodded in acceptance, but he wasn't going to let it go. They wouldn't discuss it then, on their way back to NCIS, with a case in their hands, but they most definitely be talking about it later.