The Night With Gibbs
"Sit on the couch and sit still," Gibbs told them. He wondered how much they drunk but knew they probably didn't even know how much. Kate seemed to be the most responsible out of the others but she seemed the worst for wear. "How much did you lot drink?" Gibbs asked them.
"I don't know," Abs answered.
"I drank as much as those two I think," Kate answered.
Abs turned to Tony and both began laughing uncontrollably. "We actually swapped a our full bottles for your empty ones a couple of times... So you actually drunk more," Tony told her. Kate's face went serious.
"You did what?!" Kate shouted. She pulled a couch cushion and whacked Tony at the back of the head hard.
"Hey," Tony said rubbing the back of his head. He picked up the other cushion and went after Kate but only managed to hit Abby on the back.
"Hey," Abby said in return.
"I'm going down to the basement," Gibbs told the tipsy trio who were now engrossed in the cushion fight. He really wanted to yell at them but they were past taking any notice of him. The best course of action was to let them ride this drunken behavior out and hoped they were sober enough to know not to break anything.
"On it... Ow," Tony said as he was whacked in the back of the head. "Oh, you're dead Kate," he said as he wildly swung his cushion again.
Gibbs decided to work on the boat. However he was still listening to the ruckus going on upstairs. It sounded as if they had gone from brawling with the cushions to singing ninety nine beers on the wall very loudly and very badly. He shook his head and wondered how far they'll get into the song. Suddenly three voices turned into two as Abby and Tony began singing on the way down the stairs.
"Seventy two bottles of beer on the wall... Seventy two bottles of beer on the wall... If one should accidentally fall... There'd be seventy one bottles of beer on the wall," Abby and Tony sung loudly as they reached the bottom of the stairs.
Gibbs found himself sanding the wood on his boat harder. He was really looking forward to getting some work done on the boat. "Oh, damn I forgot the lighter fluid," Tony commented. This earned him a glare like none other. Gibbs realized that this was a threat to his boat.
"Where's Kate?" Gibbs asked in annoyed tone.
"She's upstairs," Tony answered the question as Abby clumsily pointed to the top of the stairs. "Yeah, in the dining area," Tony added.
Gibbs rubbed his neck as he began to climb the stairs. "Look. You two," at first he didn't receive a response. "Hey!" He shouted. Tony and Abby turned to face him. "Don't even think about touching the boat and don't touch the tools," Gibbs ordered them.
"Yeah, Boss," Tony answered for them both.
Gibbs ran up the stairs and Abby immediately started examining everything around her until her eyes locked on a tall bottle. "Hey Tony," Abby said with a smile. "Feeling dry?" She asked.
"Parched?" Tony studied the bottle for along time.
"It's alright, Tony," Abby said with a cheeky grin. "Gibbster told us not to touch his boat or the tools," she explained what Gibbs had told them specifically.
"Righty," Tony responded.
Gibbs wasn't sure what he had expected to find once he was in the dining room. He wished that they would have stayed together. "Ah, hell," Gibbs cursed as he noted Kate kneeling on the dining chair with the rest of her body slumped on the table. He wondered how the hell she could have fallen asleep in such a position. "I should have left them at the station," Gibbs shook his head
He lifted Kate to her feet and wrapped her arm around his neck and dragged her over to couch while he tightly held her hand. Gibbs made sure to keep one ear listening for any trouble coming from downstairs. "You come to pick me up, Mandy?" Kate slurred as she tried to lift her head.
"No," Gibbs answered as he tried not to laugh.
"Your voice sounds funny," Kate giggled. "Have you been smoking too much? Ooh, Daddy's going to take you out and teach you a lesson," Kate said in a sing-song tune.
"Shut up," Gibbs growled.
"Oh oh," Kate almost whimpered. "Mandy?"
"I'm just taking you to the couch," Gibbs tried to keep his cool. Unfortunately he didn't recognize the sound in Kate's voice as she turned around and emptied some of the contents of her stomach. Gibbs almost dropped her as he noted that a mixture of alcohol and semi-digested beer nuts now stained the front of his shirt. He dragged her to the sink. "Damn it Kate," Gibbs cursed.
After Gibbs was positive she was finished... Gibbs dug out a bucket from beneath the sink and placed it near the couch after he was sure that Kate was comfortable. Fortunately it seemed that one was down and there were two more to go.
"Always look on the bright side of life with NC... IS. NCIS," Tony sung to Abby.
"Always look on the light side of life with NC... IS. NCIS," Abby returned.
"If life's getting you down... Better not give a frown... Things are looking up, they're getting better now. Here comes Gibbs with another cup of Caf Pow," Tony continued. "Always look on the bright side of life with NC... IS. NCIS," he laughed.
Tony waited for Abby to come up with next verse. "Ok, I got one. When things are looking down and things are pretty hinky don't do too much thinky. When things look pretty bleak and you start feeling like crap… Everything will be put right with an almighty headslap!" Abby sung and looked very proud of herself.
"Always look on the bright side of -," Tony and Abby's singing was cut off by Gibbs double timing it down the stairs. "NCIS?" Tony asked.
"What the hell?!" Gibbs was mad that they had dug into his bourbon while he was tending to Kate. "What do ya think you're doing?" Gibbs asked.
"We didn't touch your boat," Tony said in defense.
"Or your tools," Abby made sure to add. Their boss had specifically told them not to. And Gibbs didn't say anything about the bourbon. "Yeah Boss-man?" Abby looked up at him.
"You look like you should really get to bed Abs," Gibbs had noted that she couldn't stand upright and looked like she was going to pass out right there. "Come on," he snaked her arm around his shoulders and dragged her up the stairs. "DiNozzo?!" Gibbs barked as he noticed that his senior field agent was at the base of the stairs studying it closely.
"I thought you only had one staircase," Tony stated. He found himself staring at at least two of them though they seemed to meld into each other. "I'm right… I think," Tony said with such intense concentration. "Give me a moment," he carefully put one foot on a step.
"Wait down there DiNozzo," Gibbs was still particularly annoyed at being the one who had to try and keep the peace and continued to half drag Abby upstairs into a spare bedroom. Tony somehow stumbled halfway up the stairs and crawled the rest of the way.
Much to Gibbs' protests Tony followed him back down to the basement and he sat down at the bottom step after almost falling. "I thought you were going to bed," Gibbs sighed as he continued sanding some of his boat. "You look dead on your feet," he observed.
Tony looked at his feet and then continued to watch Gibbs work away. "You know you're so great with them," Tony slurred and spoke slowly. "Too bad you're not a dad… You'd make a great dad," he watched the older man work away. There was a sudden change in his mood which only lasted a second.
"Any particular reason you got so drunk DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked without turning around.
"Just being me," Tony answered him. "You know me. Love to drink Boss," he made sure to add. He never wanted to lose his frat boy ways. "No reason," Tony assured his boss.
Gibbs shook his head without turning around. "I know you DiNozzo and you don't do anything for no reason," he told him.
"Just the time of year," Tony rested his head against the wall. "I wasn't thinking Boss…"
Gibbs waited for Tony to explain himself silence only followed. He turned and saw Tony slumped against the wall with his mouth slightly open. "Come on DiNozzo," Gibbs said as he eased the younger man to his feet and led him upstairs. "You lot are going to go through hell in the morning," Gibbs grinned as he led him to the second couch.
A/N: Gibbs rallies his troops in the morning when The Night With Gibbs concludes