Enormous thanks to every single one of you who has reviewed or messaged me ^^ Big kisses to you all :P
Abby's phone was ringing. She'd just finished putting her hair up, about to start on her make-up when the phone started. Reaching over, she opened it and answered,
"Hey?"
"Hey Abby, it's Kate. I was just wondering if you wanted to come swimming with us? It's just, Gibbs invited me, and I really don't want to be on my own, in a swimming pool with Gibbs and Tony." Abby laughed, and answered,
"I understand why Kate. Cool, I'll come, lemme just switch to waterproof mascara. I guess I'll be keeping Tony occupied as you and Gibbs grill the suspect?"
"Hardly - we have to keep a low profile apparently, so we need to appear like a... well, family I suppose." Abby grinned and asked,
"What time should we go over to Bossman's?" She could almost hear Kate shrugging,
"I don't know, he just said to come round in the morning."
"I bet your suspect'll be in there really early. The local swimming pool, it's got this offer thing called 'Earlybirds', and kids get in for free if you get there before nine." Kate sighed, she'd only just gotten dressed and started to make her breakfast.
"Want me to come and get you? You're on my way to Gibbs' anyway." Abby agreed and Kate put the phone down.
--
Driving to Gibbs', Abby asked,
"I thought the roommate called the police, why is he a suspect?"
"Arthur Lacey has no alibi, a motive, they had a fight before the petty officer we found left, and that was the last he saw of him." Abby furrowed her eyebrows,
"But why would he call the police if he killed him?" Kate shrugged, pulling up to the kerb outside Gibbs' house,
"Maybe he didn't want to be suspected? Anyway, I'm sure your tests'll find whether he is or not." Abby beamed as the conversation turned to her beloved forensics, if only for a second. She bounded up the front path and knocked on the door, holding a carrier bag that had a towel and her swimming costume in it. Kate came up the path as well, clutching her own bag that had these things, as well as a gun.
Soon, the front door opened, and Gibbs grimaced at them, holding Tony in one arm, who was still in his sleeping suit,
"When I said 'morning' Kate, I didn't mean this early. I haven't even had coffee yet. Plus, I was sat up most of the night with him." Kate raised an eyebrow, but as neither male elaborated on that statement, she simply replied,
"Abby said it would be more likely for him to be there before nine, they have an offer that children go free." Gibbs nodded and stood aside so they could come in. He glanced at the lab tech and asked,
"You here for the ride Abbs?" She grinned at him and answered,
"I wanted to see Tony, and I haven't been swimming in ages. Plus, I thought, if you had to act like a family, I would fit in perfectly with the dynamic. Y'know, the older sister who people don't quite understand, and think maybe she's going through a stage..."
"I get it Abbs." Gibbs groaned. God he needed caffeine. Abby smiled and added,
"I thought, if you got the chance to talk to Lacey at all, you'd need fake names, so I made some this morning. What?" She asked, as Gibbs Kate and Tony all looked at her, with curious expressions on their faces, "I was up from six, I had way to much sugar, and felt like making you some new characters. I even gave you all backgrounds."
"How about you just tell us the names Abbs?" Gibbs asked, knowing he was probably going to explode when Tony tried to shuffle away from him. He stuck him on the kitchen bench and quickly ruffled the baby's hair before putting the kettle on,
"Right. I thought Kate, would like the name Elizabeth, obviously Liz for short," She looked to Kate for approval, who smiled, "And I thought for you Boss, what about Edward?" Gibbs looked round in disgust, to which Abby hastily defended, "Too late Gibbs, I already made the ID!"
"This is a lot of work for just one undercover case that might not even be with a guilty man." Tony remarked, having been listening from where Gibbs had moved him to the high chair, happily drinking orange juice from a sippy-cup. Abby smiled and said,
"Ok, so maybe I under-exaggerated the amount of sugar I had, but he can't know your real names! If he is the man who killed Petty Officer Green, he might have links to the mafia. How do I know this?" She asked, seeing their shocked faces, "There are a number of killings that have exactly the same MO, and they all somehow trace back to a couple of the mob's well known associates. This Arthur Lacey would be hard-core if he is involved Gibbs. You have to be careful."
"I'm always careful Abby." Gibbs replied, to which Tony pointed out,
"What about last night when you dropped that sander on your foot when you were trying to make sure I didn't fall off your boat?" Before Gibbs could say anything, Abby intervened, for which Gibbs wasn't sure whether or not it was just so he didn't have to answer the quip brewing in Kate's mind.
"Why were you sat on his boat last night Tony? You should have been asleep." He shrugged and answered,
"Couldn't sleep." That was all they could get out of him, so Kate just shrugged to Abby and left it, deciding wisely to change the subject,
"Are you two ready then?" She asked Gibbs, "It's eight now, Lacey will want to avoid crowds, so he'll go early, but earlier still than he would have done anyway." Gibbs motioned towards Tony, who had a huge orange juice stain down his sleeping suit and asked sarcastically,
"Do we look ready to you, Agent Todd?" She didn't answer, and waited for Tony to helpfully drop the cup that was now empty, allowing Gibbs' attention to jump to Tony. Thankyou she mouthed at him, and he was about to mouth something back, but Gibbs had already picked him up, and was heading for upstairs,
"We'll meet you out front in five minutes." He yelled down to them.
--
Driving to the swimming pool, Tony and Kate arguing in the back, Abby asked Gibbs quietly,
"Why were you up all night with him?" Gibbs kept his face neutral and trained on the road but answered,
"He woke up around 11 and asked for a drink, then he said he had a nightmare. Wouldn't even attempt to go back to sleep." Abby frowned. It was horrible when you couldn't help someone when whatever was disturbing them was inside their heads.
"Did he tell you what it was about?"
"A few things," Gibbs said, "The petty officer's body, normal childish things, monsters under the bed, his father..." Abby sighed and didn't say anything else until they were getting out the car,
"So Gibbs, are you gonna use my names?" She sparked up, eyes glittering,
"Abbs, if for some bizarre reason I need to tell Lacey my name, it'll be Leroy Jethro Gibbs. But," He added, seeing the look on her face, frightened for him, "If you're serious about this whole 'family dynamic' crap, then you can change your last name to Gibbs." She grinned,
"That sounds so cool! Abby Gibbs. Hey, did you notice I have two 'B's in both my first name and my last name? Kate Gibbs, I think that sounds kinda cool." She said, looking at Kate. Tony snorted and said,
"Boss, are you sure he'd believe you were married to Kate?" Gibbs ground his teeth, already sick of the whole idea. Tony wisely decided not to pursue it and stayed silent, clutching Abby's trousers as he toddled with them, Gibbs holding his bag.
--
"Eurgh, I should have just bought a new swimsuit, I look like a hippo." Kate moaned in the changing rooms.
"Relax kate, hippos aren't red, Bert is living proof of this." Abby soothed her, standing next to her in front of a mirror in her swimsuit. Kate's was just a plain red colour, whereas Abby's was black with purple spiderwebs on it.
"And just think," Abby added as they made their way towards the pool, "I really doubt that Tony, even in a small body, will think the same." Kate grimaced but had to laugh. She was sure Tony was more likely to perve on Abby, but didn't say anything, and followed the goth to the pool.
"Hm, they're not here yet." Abby said, glancing around,
"Yes they are Abbs, look, right there." Kate said, pointing to a tall man and a small boy in the little kid's pool,
"No, not Lacey Kate, I mean Gibbs and Tony. Whenever I've been swimming, it's always the guys who're ready first. What's taking them so long?" Kate glanced over to the suspect, and sighed,
"Well we can't go in that pool without them. Let's just swim for a while, it'll do your nerves good Abbs." Kate advised, and soon they were both swimming up and down the normal pool, wondering where Gibbs and Tony were.
--
"I don't know Boss, I really prefer my boxer shorts for swimming." Gibbs rolled his eyes. They were the only ones in the changing room and Tony could talk freely,
"Yeah well Tony I don't think you'd be very happy if you had an accident in those." The toddler swimsuit was specially made to act like a diaper, but on the inside, so none of the pool water would absorb into it. They were a bright blue colour, with cartoon fish on the borders,
"These are so clearly Probie's taste," Tony whined, and shrank back as he saw Gibbs coming towards him with the arm bands, "C'mon Boss, please don't. They really chafe, and I've had bad experiences with them before." Gibbs snorted but left them off,
"Fine, but if Abby or Kate say you have to have them on, I'm not arguing." Tony deflated, knowing one of them (Probably Abby) would insist on the bands. Gibbs still held them as they made their way towards the pool. The entrance came out to the pool, where the normal sized one was. Flicking his eyes up and down, Gibbs didn't see either Kate or Abby, which didn't surprise him, as women always took longer. But he saw Lacey, just getting in the kid's pool.
"Alright Tony, let's go," He started to walk closer to the pool, but felt a pull at his legs. Looking down, he saw Tony whimpering slightly, staring at the pool with huge eyes, "What's wrong?" he asked, checking no one was looking at them as he bent down to look into Tony's eyes, which were glazed over with tears. The kid mumbled something that he couldn't quite hear,
"What was that Tony?" He whispered, running his fingers through the toddler's hair. The gesture calmed him, and he mumbled,
"Don't throw me in the pool." Gibbs raised his eyebrows, but decided now was not the time to attempt humor,
"Why would I do that DiNozzo?"
"'Cause I'm supposed to be really brave and a big boy and if I don't jump in I'll have disappointed you, and you'll throw me in." He said, clearly reciting something that was drummed into him once when going swimming with his family.
"Hey," Gibbs murmured, picking Tony up and taking him back to the changing rooms; they needed privacy, "Just because you don't want to jump in Tony, doesn't make you a coward. I know you're brave, but I don't expect you to jump in now. Hell, I wouldn't expect a kid of about 6 to jump in. I won't throw you in."
"Promise?" Tony asked weakly, this obviously meant a lot to him,
"I promise." Gibbs replied, and said, "Now, we're going to walk out of here and into the kid's pool and we're going to check Lacey out. Don't try and interrogate him, just study him, see if there's anything suspicious about him. Got it?"
"I got it Boss." Tony answered, now standing up straighter and not being so quiet now that it was more like work. He wouldn't let Gibbs down.
--
"Gibbs! There you are! What took you so long?" Abby asked, floating on her back and staring up at Gibbs and Tony. Gibbs looked down at Tony, but said,
"Argument over the arm bands Abbs." Abby's face became stern and she climbed out of the pool, Kate following suit,
"Tony, you need these on. If you drown, I'll be sad, Kate'll be sad, Gibbs'll be sad, McGee'll be sad, Ducky... did McGee choose those shorts?" She asked glancing down at the shorts on Tony's small body. He nodded and she tutted, but grabbed the arm bands from Gibbs' hands and started to roll them up his arms, her chest getting a bit too close for comfort for Gibbs' liking with Tony's face,
"I like your swimsuit Abbs." Tony said to her, causing Gibbs to give him a minuscule smack on the back of his head,
"Don't be cheeky," He admonished, and glanced over to the kid's pool, "Alright. Let's go." He added, and they went in.
--
Gibbs shuddered. He hated crowded swimming pools, and with kids squealing and splashing, it was quite easy to see why. Thankfully, Tony wasn't really a squealing, splashing kid, and he stayed quite close to Gibbs, who was just resting by the side, near the steps and nearer to Lacey. Abby stayed near as well, who, although she looked quite wistfully over at the pool floats, she kept Tony with her, bobbing him up and down in the water gently.
Kate meanwhile, had swum (Well, walked; the pool was tiny) nearer to Lacey, and could hear him bouncing his nephew up down, like Abby was doing to Tony, talking to him softly,
"Yes Davey, it'll all be fine just as soon as they stop looking. Then we'll be able to go out more, and when that happens, I'll show you the ropes, and if your parents don't like it, then... Can I help you?" He drawled, stopping when he realised how close Kate had become. She cursed herself, not intending for him to notice her. Thinking quickly, she said,
"Er..., sorry, didn't mean to intrude, but er... where do you get those pool toys from?" She asked, wincing at her lame question, but pointing at the toy in 'Davey's' hands. He glanced at her for a second before saying,
"You here with anyone?" She motioned over towards her 'family' and said,
"I've got a boy about your boy's age, I think, and I'm here with my...sister and... uncle," She thought it best to say 'Uncle' rather than 'Husband'. If she could maybe get involved with this man further, it might lead them to something, he was definitely suspicious, with what he said to his nephew,
"He's not my boy, he's my nephew," Lacey explained, "Though I wish he was! I'd have loved a kid, spoilt him rotten. Hey, does your kid go to nursery?" He asked, leering at her, but it wasn't really in a shuddery kind of way. It was almost interest. She shook her head and he smiled at her,
"How about you come to this one? It's free for a morning session, and the staff are so helpful, and friendly. They make loads of friends there as well." Kate snorted as she thought of Tony interacting with other toddlers. Maybe it would be good for him. In some way. So she smiled and said,
"That would be nice. I think we're going to get out the pool now," She said, glancing over to the other three. Abby and Tony were splashing each other gently, but Gibbs was looking over, narrowing his eyes in suspicion, "But if you meet me outside, I'll give you my number, and maybe we can go on the same day." He grinned at her and started to get out the pool. Kate immediately went over to Gibbs and muttered,
"He might be our guy Gibbs, he was telling his nephew that they'd get out more when 'they stop looking'. I might have made a date with him," She said, blushing, "But he suggested taking Tony to a nursery where he takes his nephew. I'm going to meet him outside and give him my phone number." Gibbs didn't look happy, and she guessed he was waiting until they got back to NCIS for him to shout, but he said nothing right now, and they all got out, and into their respective changing rooms.
--
"Wow Kate, look at you, going after a possible murderer!" Kate blushed as she sat in the back of Gibbs' car, the other three witnessing her giving Lacey her number, and name,
"I completely forgot to ask your name." He'd said, smiling at her,
"It's Kate," She replied, "Kate... Gibbs."
"Arthur Lacey." He introduced himself and she gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"He might not be the murderer Abbs," Kate said valiantly, but all three looked at her with pity. She'd relayed what he'd said to his nephew and they all thought he was guilty, "Well, he was very...charming." Tony snorted and said,
"I'm charming." She rolled her eyes but said nothing, and bit her lip as Gibbs sat in the front, not saying a word and glancing at both her and Tony every so often, as if afraid for them.
Review? Nursery=Kindergarten :P Sorry there's barely any baby Tony swimming here, but the conversation kinda spiralled. And I promise there'll be more McGee and actual NCIS as time goes on ;) xx