Abby left the classroom, her pigtails bouncing, to use the bathroom. She skipped down the hallways, whistling to herself. Suddenly, she hit something. "Oh, shoot!" She cried as she fell. She heard another groan from right in front of her. She looked up to see a young boy. He had light brown hair, brown eyes, and was blushing redder than a tomato. "I'm sorry. Man, I'm such a klutz." He said, scowling. Abby stood up. "It's okay. I'm fine." She said cheerfully. He grinned sheepishly."I'm Abby." She said, holding out her hand. "Timothy McGee." The boy shook it.
Ziva and Tony were sitting on the playground while the other children mulled around them. "I'm bored." Ziva groaned, picking some grass. "Where is the Abby girl you talked about?" he asked, and idea striking him. Ziva looked across the playground. She saw Abby emerge from the hall, leading a young boy by the hand. "Found her!" she cried, running across the playground to Abby and her newfound friend. "Hey Ziva, Tony! This is Tim McGee." She said, gesturing to the shy boy. Tony and Ziva smiled. "Do you know what to do, Abby? I don't know what to do." Ziva said, starting to slip back into a bored stupor. "Hey, I've got something." Tony said, grinning mischievously. Ziva's excitement lifted. "Let's go get the Ball." He said. The other three gasped. Ziva cocked her head. "What?" The other three turned and stared at her. It was Tony who began to speak.
"It was a normal day. The first graders, that day, had been given a brand new bouncy ball. It was bright red, not a spot on it. To celebrate, they decided they would play a game of dodge ball. One had thrown the Ball, and it went soaring. It flew…
Right over the divisor line, and into the third grade sector.
Well, of course, they refused to give it back. A terrific battle of first-on-third ensued, until it was overruled that the third graders would keep the Ball. To this day, it sits, untouched, in the furthest corner of the sector, behind the basketball court." He finished.
Ziva nodded. "I get it. And you want to…" she trailed off, staring at the sector. "Yep. We'd be heroes!" he cried gleefully. Abby nodded determinedly. "I'm in." Ziva shrugged. "I guess I'm in." she sighed. "Me too." McGee said softly. "And so, Operation Retrieve The Ball is underway." He grinned. The team huddled, and began to speak in low voices.
The huddle broke after about ten minutes. "Everyone clear?" Tony asked. "Crystal." The new team replied. Tony ran to the further most right corner of the playground; Ziva, the left. Tony had cover from the swing set, which bordered the third sector; Ziva would have the wall corner. McGee would keep an eye out from the sandbox, and signal the two retrievers for trouble. Abby, of course, had to do distraction.
Ziva kept to the wall, slinking in the shadows. A boy glanced around, staring at her. She gave McGee a panicked look. "Abby!" he whispered hoarsely. "Trouble!"
"Got it, Tim. Distraction, distraction." Abby muttered, trying to figure something out. "Uh, um…LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!" she began yelling. Nearly the entire playground turned to stare. She felt all the eyes on her. "LA LA LA! I LIKE BATS AND SPIDERS AND THE COLOR BLACK AND FARTING HIPPOS NAMED BERT AND SINGING REALLY, REALLY LOUD!" she yelled. She giggled. Okay, now everyone with fifty yards was staring. She couldn't stop giggling.
Ziva herself could barely keep from falling over in laughter as she snuck towards the bush that hid the ball. She thanked her immensely, because it had provided her with enough time to sneak past the basketball game. She felt her stomach jump when she saw the bright flash of red in the dark green. Tony glanced at her and nodded. She nodded back.
The two dashed at the bush. Ziva picked up the ball. It was smooth, and had still retained its bright red glow. The two grinned at each other. Tony gestured to Tim for "All clear"
"All clear." He cried to Abby, who had finally stopped yelling. Now that she had stopped, the students returned to bustling about the playground.
Tony returned, gleeful at their accomplishment. They didn't notice the large figure appearing behind them…
"Well, aren't we something?" an older voice sighed.
Tony and Ziva whipped around. There stood a third grader, with blazing blue eyes and a voice that made your blood go cold.
"S-sorry." Tony muttered.
The boy looked at them thoughtfully. "You're awful clever, you know. Devising a plan like that, with a distraction and signals and everything."
Oh, great, Tony thought. He knows everything.
"But you were sloppy. You never stop your distraction until the mission is over. And your signals should be a little more discreet."
Tony stared up in wonder at the wise third grader. "Wow. You're cool!" he cried. Ziva rolled her eyes.
The boy laughed. "Thanks. What are your names, anyway?" he asked.
"Tony."
"Ziva."
"Leroy Jethro Gibbs. But I prefer for more people to call me Gibbs. It sounds cool." He sighed.
All of a sudden, a short, black haired figure marched up to him. "Hey, there!" the figure cried angrily.
The boy turned. "Who are you?" He looked down upon little Abby, who had her jaw set and her lip curled. She also had McGee's arm in a death grip, his face redder than a tomato.
"Abigail Sciuto, and you leave my friends alone!" she shouted.
"I-uh-um-" McGee stuttered, staring up at Gibbs.
Gibbs chuckled. "Don't worry, I don't have any intention of hurting your friends."
"No! You can't- Oh, wait. You aren't going to tear them apart, limb from limb, because they tried to steal your legendary ball?" Abby asked innocently.
The whole group simply stared. "What?" she asked.
"Thank you, Gibbs." Ziva said, putting the ball back.
Gibbs picked it back up, and handed it to her. "Nah, keep it. It's just a ball." He sighed.
"Awesome!" Tony cried, holding up his prize.
Abby turned back to Gibbs. "I- I think I should try introducing myself again. I'm Abby." She said, holding her hand out to Gibbs.
"Timothy McGee." Tim said shyly
"Gibbs." He said, shaking both their hands.
Tony, Ziva, Abby and Tim marched back over the first grade divisor line, Tony holding the ball. All the first graders started to crowd in. "Everyone, we got the ball!" he whooped. Suddenly, a little, furry black spider climbed off the ball and onto Tony's arm. "Eww! Spider! They're infested with spiders! RUN!" Jeanne suddenly screeched, pointing at the little arachnid. "AAAAAHHH!" All of the third graders ran, screaming. Abby turned to the rest of the group. "Well, it looks like we're going to be hanging out for a while." She sighed.
Love you all!
-Vi
