A/N: My brother, Ryan, used to wear the outfit I put JJ in a lot. Or at least something like it. The shirt went to a pair of pajamas I used to have. He wore it to Christmas one year. Sorry, reminiscing. I miss him.
At 6:10, Gibbs knocked on JJ's door. He heard a grunting noise come from the other side. "Leaving in 20 minutes," Gibbs announced. Another groan, and Gibbs went downstairs to refill his coffee. He was already showered, dress, and ready to start the day. He skipped this mornings jog, not wanting JJ to wake up and discover he was home alone.
He heard one door open and close. Then another. Soon the shower was running. Five minutes later, it was turned off. Door open. Door close. Door open. Door close. Five more minutes and JJ was coming down the stairs.
Gibbs froze when he saw what the boy was wearing. It was much different from yesterdays regular blue jeans and long sleeved shirt. Today it was a pair of tight jeans, and a slim-fit black shirt with small, red cap sleeves. There was a red star in the middle of his chest with a skull and crossbones design inside that. It looked like something that came straight from Abby's closet. And he was pretty sure they were girl's clothing.
JJ saw Gibbs staring at him. "Don't flip. Its how I usually dress. I just didn't want you to freak yesterday." He filled a mug of coffee for himself. He didn't even search for cream or sugar.
"You can't wear that."
JJ looked down at his outfit. Looking back up, "Why not? Its not anything different than what Abby wears."
"Abby's a girl."
"That's kind of sexist, don't ya think?"
Long story short, JJ didn't change and they left the house with 2 minutes to spare.
On the way into work, they stopped for coffee and Caf-Pow!. As JJ was putting the lid on his own drink, he asked Gibbs, "So, you gettin' with her?"
"What?"
"Abby."
"What about her?"
"Are you hooking up with her?"
Gibbs may have been a little 'out of the loop', but he knew what that meant. "Not that it's any of your business, but no."
JJ smiled. "But you want to, right?"
"Get in the damn line."
They stepped off the elevator and walked through the squad room to Gibbs' desk. They set the drinks down, Gibbs started up his computer. Tony walked up to his own desk with his own coffee. "Good morning," Tony said perched on the side of his desk. "Hanging out with us today, JJ?"
"Going down to Abby. Think she's here yet?" JJ turned to Gibbs, asking eagerly.
"What is this obsession you have with her?" Gibbs just hoped it wasn't the obvious.
"Its not an obsession. Its just…there's no one like her where I live. She seems so much like me. Its comfortable to talk with her."
"Plus, she's hot," Tony interjected.
"You're the popular kid with a different girl every week, aren't you?"
"Alright," Gibbs said. He moved around the desk. "Let's get this to her before the ice melts."
The lab's lights were on and the machines warming up, but Abby wasn't in. Gibbs checked all three rooms before letting JJ take a seat at her desk. "I can still come up and visit you throughout the day, right?"
"Come on up whenever you want. If I'm here. I'll let you know if I leave though."
"Hey, JJ!" said Abby. "I'm so glad you're hanging out here today! You are hanging out here, right?"
"Only if you want him to," said Gibbs.
"Hell, yeah! Killer outfit, too, by the way."
"Thanks."
"I have that same exact shirt. I never thought to wear it as anything besides pajamas though. Cool." Gibbs looked to JJ, who just shrugged.
Gibbs stepped off the elevator. He wasn't in much of a rush. He heard Tony and Ziva quipping back and forth to each other, but didn't pay much attention to what they were saying. When he got to his desk, he sat on the edge facing McGee. He was busy thinking about JJ, not focusing on anything. He was looking past McGee who was concerned about his boss' uncharacteristic behavior.
"Boss?" Gibbs didn't respond. McGee stood up. "Boss?"
He caught his attention. "What?" Gibbs asked. It wasn't an angry tone, which weirded McGee, and Tony, out more. It was more of a 'I-didn't-catch-that' tone.
"Are you alright?" McGee moved to the other side of his desk. "You don't look so well."
"McGee!" Tony whispered urgently. McGee looked over to see Tony shaking his head. The look on his face said 'are you stupid?!'
"Where are we on the case, McGee?" Gibbs asked. He was still perched on the edge of his desk.
"Nothing new since last night."
"Did we check her cell records?"
"We didn't find a cell phone, Boss."
"A teenage girl without a cell phone?" Tony asked unbelievably.
"Just because we did not find one does not mean she does not have one," Ziva stated.
"Call her parent's and get her cell number," Gibbs threw out to no one in particular. Ziva picked up her phone. "What else do you need to track her phone, McGee?"
"Luck that her cell is on or the battery isn't dead." Gibbs sat in his desk chair. He stared at the top of his desk. "Can I get you anything, Boss?"
He looked up. For a second Gibbs considered making a smart ass remark but decided to ask for something he really needed. "Got any Tylenol?"
"Will Motrin work?"
"Whatever you got, McGee."
"Got the number," Ziva announced as McGee handed Gibbs his bottle of pills. She gave the scrap paper to McGee who quickly went back to his desk.
10 minutes later, he announced he had nothing and had exhausted all options of locating it. There wasn't even a record of who the cell number belonged to. All they had was Mrs. Conway's say and Gibbs wasn't holding that to a high standard. She hadn't even noticed her daughter's drinking habits over the last few years. Nor had they noticed their daughter wasn't even home.
JJ came up stairs nearly an hour later. He had thrown on a dark grey zip-up hooded sweatshirt. He pulled up an empty chair and sat at the end of Gibb's desk. He listened to them discuss what to do next. He was sitting in the campfire position in place of Gibbs when he came up with a suggestion. "Has anyone checked her MySpace or Facebook page?" McGee, Tony, and Ziva looked at each other. They suddenly dispersed to their own desk. JJ was left sitting in the middle of the squad room.
"Checking Facebook," said Ziva.
"I got MySpace," said McGee.
"Google-ing," Tony said.
Gibbs looked around at his team and the teenage boy who had just directed them. He wasn't too surprised with himself that he hadn't thought of using the internet. But McGee, Tony, and Ziva? He hadn't even thought of asking JJ for his opinion. Who better to know what's going on with a teenager than a teenager?
"Got her MySpace," called McGee.
"Put it on the Plasma."
"Sweet," said JJ eyeing the crisp screen. McGee stayed at his desk while everyone else gathered in front of the television. A picture of Private Conway popped up on a plain looking screen. "She's got her profile set to private."
"What's that mean?" Gibbs asked.
"You have to be a friend to see the profile."
"Not a problem," McGee said. A few keystrokes ad pages JJ didn't recognize later and her profile was visible. "Got it."
"How'd you do that?" JJ asked incredulously.
"Don't tell him," said Gibbs. "What's it say? Is there anything here?"
McGee started. "Her status says she's going to 'hang'. The last time she was logged on was the night she died." He scrolled down the page.
"Check her Top Friends," Tony suggested. "Maybe they have something on their profiles."
"Let me check something," JJ said walking over to McGee's computer. He refreshed the page and saw a list of totally different top friends. "She has it set on 'Random'. Every time the page is loaded or refreshed," JJ refreshed the page again to illustrated his point, "a random selection of friends are listed and in no real order."
"So, we do not know who her real friends are," Ziva said.
"You should start with her," said the teenage boy. JJ had scrolled down to the comments section. 'Livin' it Up!' had said she would see Private Conway at the party that night. "She'll most likely know something. McGee, could you find out her real name?"
"You know it." Keystroke, keystroke, keystroke. "Melinda Jacobson." More keystrokes. "Address is 141 E. James R."
"Let's go!" Gibbs said. He patted JJ's shoulder. "That's great work, JJ." He went to his desk and grabbed his gear.
Abby walked into the squad room as everyone gathered their things. "What's going on?"
"JJ may have just helped solve the case," Tony said heading for the elevator.
Abby gave JJ a big, surprised smile. "They don't call him Jethro Junior for nothing!" she called before the doors closed.