On Monday morning, Abby Sciuto bolted into the squad room after receiving an instant message from McGee. He had been expecting to receive an instant message back instead of seeing a black blur appear in front of him. "McGee, it's not April Fool's. It's June! I do not appreciate a seriously delayed prank. Who does that? I mean…who, Mr. MIT!?!"
"Abby," McGee said calmly. "It's not a joke. Gibbs has children with the director."
Her mouth fell open. "WHAT!? How did you find out? "
"She came in on Saturday and wanted to see the Director…well her mother," McGee explained and thought mother was a foreign adjective to use for Director Shepard. Maybe it would become more natural.
"Why didn't anyone let me know then? I wanted to see the Gibblet! What's she look like? Is she pretty? Of course, she would be! The Director is her mother. Does she have Gibbs eyes? Answer the questions, McGee!"
McGee hadn't comprehended all of the questions because of how fast the forensic scientist had been talking. Fortunately, he had caught the first question. "Abby, it was Saturday."
"So? I would have come in!"
"What did you do on Friday night?"
"Oh, right..." she trailed off, remembering she had asked permission to leave early and go to a party that night. Gibbs had also given her permission to not come in on Saturday.
Tony entered the squad room, and Abby quickly approached him. "Tony!"
"Yeah?" he asked, wondering what Abby was doing in the squad room so early. There wasn't any case, so she hadn't any discoveries on evidence.
"Is she pretty? What's her name? You have to tell me!"
He looked at McGee. Before McGee could mouth anything to him, Abby grabbed the senior agent by the shoulders and frantically shook him. "Tony!"
"Who? Abs, calm down. How many Caff-Pows have you had?" He brushed off his jacket after she relinquished her hold.
"The Gibblet!" she answered, exasperated. No one was answering her questions.
"Which one? There are two, and they're twins."
"Identical?!"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. We met Lizzie first then we met Katie."
"Aww. The Gibblets have cute names. What do they look like?"
Tony looked embarrassed and debated answering the question as he sat down at his desk. Gibbs could come in at any time. He didn't want head trauma first thing in the morning. Ziva snickered from behind him as she came into work. "Yes, Tony...why don't you describe Lizzie the way you did to Gibbs?"
Abby looked thoroughly confused and focused her attention on the Israeli. "What did he say?"
Ziva kept the smug look on her face as she sat down at her desk. "Lizzie has a smoking hot body…yes, Tony?"
Abby's eyes widened as she looked at Tony. "You didn't? Not in front of Gibbs!"
Tony rolled his eyes and adjusted his desk lamp. "In my defense, I didn't know she was his daughter. She came in here and didn't introduce herself. She wanted to know where the Director's office was. How was I supposed to know?"
Abby tried to resist the urge to laugh but failed miserably. She patted Tony on the shoulder as she laughed hysterically. "I wish I could have seen it! I mean…his face when you said that!"
"Abs," Tony warned, thinking he had heard the elevator doors open but wasn't sure.
"You can't date her! Gibbs would kill you!"
"I'm not going to date his daughter."
"Never more than once, DiNozzo," Gibbs said as he entered the squad room from his morning coffee run.
"Gibbs!" Abby squealed and hustled to stand in front of his desk. Much to her disappointment, he didn't answer many of her questions about his daughters nor did he have pictures of them in his wallet. The Goth would have to impatiently wait to meet the girls in person considering Gibbs banned her and McGee from trying to find out any information about them. For the rest of the day, the team thought about the girls off and on. One of the agents was thinking about one daughter in particular.
Unfortunately, the thoughts were still present in the agent's mind on Tuesday morning. Anthony DiNozzo rarely became hung up on women. He would see skirts and chase them until the inevitable break up happened…usually a week later. To say he had commitment issues was a severe understatement. He stepped into the elevator and stood there for three minutes before he realized he hadn't pressed the button. He was lost in his thoughts and slapped the back of his head.
"You can't," he said aloud. He shook his head but was still thinking of the way her car had smelled of vanilla mixed with Ralph Lauren's Romance. The song, Me & Mrs. You, from the CD player still echoed in his ears, and he had been surprised to hear Michael Buble coming from the speakers. A person's taste in music always told a lot about them. He took a deep breath and waited for the elevator doors to open. She needed to get out of his mind. He didn't move as he stared at the person in front of him. He only heard Me & Mrs. You playing softly from the depths of his mind. I'm looking for something and that something is you…
"Morning, Tony," Elizabeth Gibbs spoke to him. There was something about her that had him captivated. He couldn't put his finger on it or describe what it was about the redhead. The brightness of her blue green eyes and smile didn't help loosen the hold she unknowingly held on the agent.
"Hey. What are you doing here?" he asked, walking next to her. "How's the arm?"
"I'm waiting on m-," she started to say mom but corrected her word choice. "Director Shepard. I thought it was going to be her getting off the elevator. "It's good…annoying as hell. I'm getting used to it though."
Tony couldn't help but chuckle as he walked behind his desk and put his things down. McGee was the only other person at work so far. "She's your mother. You can say it."
"She wants Katie and me to not call her mother or mom if we're at NCIS. It is silly…isn't it?" She finished with a slight laugh, glancing at her watch.
"You never answered my question. What are you doing here?"
"Oh, sorry. She has my recommendation letters that I need."
"Recommendation letters?" McGee asked, overhearing the conversation.
Lizzie turned her head and looked at him. "An aide position with Senator Sommers although I'd rather not."
"Nice," McGee answered, sounding very impressed.
"Thanks," she replied nonchalantly.
"What would you rather do?" Tony asked, curious.
"I'd rather take the internship at an art gallery. That's what I'd much rather do."
"Are you going to tell her?" McGee asked.
She nodded her head. "As soon as she gets in, I plan on telling her."
"Tell me what?" Her mother questioned as she passed by the bullpen. "I have all the letters of recommendation in my briefcase. SecNav was longwinded." She'd had a meeting with the Secretary of the Navy and has also picked up his letter of recommendation.
Lizzie jumped slightly. "I hate it when she does that," she said under her breath. "It was good to see you, McGee. Tony," she said, glancing at the senior field agent with a smile and walking away. She caught up with her mother as the older woman purposefully walked up the stairs.
McGee looked up the stairs, watching the Director and daughter go into the office. He then looked over at Tony. "Can you imagine those recommendation letters?"
"Not at all, Probie."
Tony swirled around in his chair and shook his head. There was another reason not to get involved with Lizzie on top of all the other reasons. She was much younger than him, and she had her whole life ahead of her with endless opportunities. The biggest and most fearful reason to stay away from Lizzie was that she was the daughter of Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Jenny Shepard. She was out of his league, and Tony rarely found a woman he considered out of his league. He sighed and decided to play an unauthorized game on his computer.
In the office, Jen opened her briefcase and took out the envelope holding the large stack of recommendation letters. She had pulled all the strings she could to help her daughter. She sat down in her desk chair and watched her daughter, checking her email on her BlackBerry. Where did the time go? It didn't seem like so long ago she was telling Jethro she was pregnant. To her, it felt like yesterday. She smiled sadly to herself. She finally had her daughters home for the whole summer and hated they were growing up. Both wanted to move completely out of the house and get an apartment. She let out a sigh and handed her daughter the envelope.
"There you go, sweetheart."
Lizzie took the heavy envelope from her mother. "Thanks, Director Shepard."
"Elizabeth."
"Thanks, mom."
"That's better. I only asked that you don't call me mom around other agents…besides your father's team. They're okay."
"Mom, can I tell you something?"
"Of course."
"I don't want to take the internship with Senator Sommers. I'd rather take the internship at the Smithsonian."
"I know." Jen smiled at her daughter. "All your recommendation letters are for that."
Elizabeth had a love and hate relationship with her mother's ability to know all, but she nodded her head and stood up, throwing her phone and the envelope into her purse. "I'll see you when you get home or whenever I get home," she said, walking to the door.
"Lizzie…wait." She waited for her daughter to stop and turn around before she spoke. "What's on your agenda today?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm going to the Smithsonian to drop these off. Maybe go shopping with Katie. Maybe get coffee with some friends tonight…nothing set in stone on the agenda."
Jen nodded her head. "Update me."
"Do I have to call?"
"Texts are acceptable."
Lizzie rolled her eyes in Gibbs fashion and left her mother's office. At twenty years of age, she had to check in. She took out her phone and sent a text message to a number she conveniently had taken from her mother's phone. DiNozzo felt his personal cell phone vibrating, and he took the phone out of his pocket, hiding it under his desk to read the message. The boss was in the squad room. DiNozzo didn't recognize the number, but he grinned when he read the text message. "It's Lizzie. Coffee later?" He sent back a yes and asked her what time.
She appeared in the squad room and stood in front of her father's desk, swiping his cup of coffee and taking a sip. "Oh god, that's way too strong," she said, making a screwed up and squinched up face.
Gibbs laughed. "They were out of my usual. What are you doing here?"
"I came to pick up the recommendation letters from mom since she had a meeting with SecNav to get his letter."
He nodded his head and leaned back in his chair, taking his coffee back. "What are you going to do the rest of the day?"
"Going to the Smithsonian, shopping with Katie, and I'm going to get coffee with a friend or two at 2100." Luckily, the squad room was quiet, and DiNozzo caught the coffee time.
"Be home by 2330."
"Daddy," she said firmly but gave him the soft, pleading eyes.
"2345…no later."
She smiled at him. "Thank you." With that, she left the bullpen and stepped into the elevator. DiNozzo sent her a text saying, "See you at 2100." She read the message and smiled. Just as he hadn't been able to get her out of his mind, Lizzie hadn't been able to stop thinking about him either. She didn't know where the coffee date would lead, but she decided to take the chance. It would be better to crash and burn or have something wonderful than to never know what might or could have been.