To Ziva's surprise, Tony was already sitting at his desk when she arrived at work the next morning. It was unusual for him to beat her in, and she had to check her watch to make sure she wasn't late. But no, she was on time. And yet, there was Tony, joking with McGee like it was any other morning.

"Morning, Ziva," McGee called to her as she came around the partition to her desk.

"Good morning, McGee," she returned. "You are here early." You are both here early, she thought.

"Me and Abby wanted to get a start on running all of Klein's and Alicia's photos through a program to check for repeat faces," he told her.

Ziva dumped her jacket and bag and walked over to his desk. She took position behind his left shoulder and looked down at his computer screen. "Did you find anything?"

"Uh, so far? About 53 matches."

"What?" Tony asked from behind Ziva's shoulder. She hadn't noticed him move from his desk, and jumped in surprise. "That seems like a lot."

"Well, yes and no," McGee replied as Ziva suddenly became very hot down the left side of her body near where Tony stood. "A lot of them are cruise crew, which you'd expect. They're often on eight or nine month contracts. But plenty are likely to be the repeat cruisers whose names we found on the passenger manifests."

"Do these people not have jobs?" Ziva wanted to know.

"Au contraire," Tony said near her ear, sending tingles down her neck, though her chest and right into her pants. "They have very high paying jobs. Or they're retired. Or they're criminals."

Ziva made a pft noise. "I would like to go on two vacations a year," she grumbled.

"No, you wouldn't," Tony countered. "You'd get bored."

Ziva allowed that he was probably right. She looked over her shoulder at him to find his face very close. But was he standing closer than he normally did? It was hard for her to tell. "One, then," she revised, continuing with the conversation as she normally would even as her heartbeat started racing.

Tony's eyes flicked to her mouth as he nodded. "One'd be good."

"Japan," McGee said, drawing his colleagues' gazes. "I've wanted to go there for years."

"You should go," Ziva told him. "When was the last time you went on vacation?"

"I don't remember."

"I've always suspected that you were into Harajuku style."

McGee leaned forward to look around Ziva and frown at Tony. "Shut up."

Ziva nudged McGee's shoulder. "You should put a request in. Make sure it happens."

McGee looked vaguely suspicious. "Why do you want me to go so much?"

"It is not that I want you gone," she said. "It is that I care for you and want you to be relaxed and happy."

McGee narrowed his eyes. "What's going on with you today?"

Ziva felt her eyes widen, and she took half a step backwards as she worried that she was giving her extra-curricular activities with Tony away. But stepping backwards just made her bump into Tony, and she quickly bounced off him and stepped to the side so that she no longer felt sandwiched between them.

"What? Nothing," she said. "Nothing is going on."

McGee looked at Tony, and Ziva wondered if McGee had caught on. But Tony just gave McGee an easy shrug, and McGee dropped it.

"Okay. Maybe I will put in for some vacation time."

"No vacation until we know for sure what happened to Will Crawford," Gibbs said as he arrived for the morning. He paused in between his desk and McGee's, and gave the three of them a curious look. "What are you all doing here so early?"

"Work," McGee said.

"I am usually here at this time," said Ziva.

Tony just gave another easy shrug. "Woke up early."

Gibbs eyed them as if he was expecting them to break and confess to some prank they were trying to pull, or some screw up they were responsible for and trying to fix. But they had all told him the truth, so his glare was completely ineffective. He continued to his desk.

"What work are you doing exactly, McGee?" he asked.

"Cross-checking Klein's photos with Alicia's," McGee told him. "John and Sacha Paulson appear in both sets, which isn't surprising. But I also found Martin Rose in both sets of photos. And another woman who appears with them a lot. I think she's Martin's wife, Julie."

"She was tagged in Alicia's Facebook photos," Tony told them.

Ziva leaned back against the shelf behind McGee's desk and tried to sort the information into order. "So, John and Sacha Paulson and Martin and Julie Rose were all on Alicia and Will's trip and Ken Klein's trip?"

McGee nodded. "Yes. And the Paulsons and the Roses all appear in photos together. They're friends."

"Friends who cruise together," Gibbs said. "Not necessarily anything else."

"The Paulsons are supposed to be on another cruise leaving at the end of this week, right?" Tony said. "Are the Roses and the Norths supposed to be on it too?"

"Why don't you check, DiNozzo?" Gibbs suggested.

Tony pointed at his computer before stepping over to it. "I'm just going to check on that now, boss."

"I will do a quick background search on them," Ziva said, and headed back to her desk. "See if any of them have criminal records."

In the midst of the fresh flurry of activity, Borin walked in.

"Morning all."

Tony glanced up and gave Borin a vague salute. "Good morning, Agent Borin, and welcome to NCIS."

Borin slowed and then stopped by Tony's desk. She looked puzzled by his greeting. "What happened to you?" she asked.

Tony looked up again. "When?"

"Between last night and this morning."

Ziva watched him begin to put on a thoughtful act, but looked away quickly so that she wouldn't put him off.

"Um, I got a few hours older," Tony told Borin.

"Ohhh," Borin replied, playing along. "That must be what it is. You've reached maturity overnight."

Tony pretended to consider that. "No, I wouldn't go that far. But I'm edging closer."

"Congratulations," Borin said with faux sincerity, which Tony returned.

"Grazie."

Ziva looked up again just as Borin looked her way and shot her a look that said she thought Tony was crazy. Ziva nodded and shrugged, even as her Italian-inspired tingles returned, but Gibbs interrupted before Borin could take things any further.

"What have you got, Borin?"

Borin held up the iPad in her hand. "I did some more investigating this morning."

"I love it when investigators investigate," Tony said.

Borin smirked at him. "Did you have corn syrup for breakfast or something?"

"Probably."

Borin shook her head to herself and handed the iPad to McGee. "There are some video files on that. Can you get them to come up on your thingamajig?" She gestured at the plasma.

"That's a television," Tony told her helpfully.

Borin ignored him and addressed Gibbs. "Last night I put in a request for the security footage of the pier in Key West where the Caribbean Carnivalé pulls up. I got tapes of it docking during Ken Klein's cruise, and during the Crawfords'."

Ziva got up and walked over to the plasma screen. "Key West is where Ken Klein said Paulson disembarked with the stuffed bears, and came back without them."

Borin nodded. "Right. It doesn't look like anyone looked into that during the initial investigation, because it didn't seem important. But I checked this morning."

McGee got the first video file up, and they watched a swarm of people spill off the cruise ship and onto the dock.

"Paulson and his buddy, Martin Rose, make an appearance about two minutes in."

McGee fast-forwarded the tape two minutes, and then they all watched the group of travelers carefully. Borin jumped forward and pointed at the screen.

"There they are."

McGee paused the tape, and the others moved closer to squint at the black and white image of two men carrying large stuffed bears off the ship.

"You sure that's Paulson?" Gibbs asked, squinting harder.

"Yes," Ziva and Borin said together, decisively.

Gibbs looked at them, annoyed by how sure they were when he couldn't quite make it out. When they didn't waver, he looked past them to McGee. "Send that to Abby to confirm."

McGee wisely held onto his smirk. "Of course, boss."

Borin shared a look with Ziva, and then addressed McGee. "The next file shows them getting back on board without the toys."

McGee pulled that one up, and sure enough, Paulson and Rose returned to the ship just before 1600, sans bears.

"Maybe they take part in some kind of toys for toddlers program," Tony suggested from his desk.

Borin looked over her shoulder at him with a frown. "How the hell did you manage to become an investigator with such a level head?" she asked.

Tony shrugged like it was obvious. "Good looks and charm."

"You have footage from the Crawfords' cruise?" Gibbs cut in.

Borin nodded and gestured to McGee to put it up. He played both files, and they were the same as before. Paulson and Rose disembarked with stuffed bears, and returned to the ship without them.

Borin turned her back to the screen and regarded the team. "So. Those were the two days the teddy bears had their picnics. And I'd guess that they have a picnic every time Paulson and Rose cruise."

Ziva frowned. "What picnic?"

"It's a children's song," Tony told her.

"Oh."

"Who's having a picnic?" Abby asked, joining them from Gibbs and McGee's end of the bullpen. "I want to come. We never got around to playing Twister that time because of that huge blackout, but we still need to have a tournament. When are we doing it?"

"You were going to have a Twister tournament?" Borin asked.

Abby bobbed her head excitedly. "Yeah. And the loser has to spill all their secrets."

"Not all their secrets," McGee argued. "Just one."

"How many secrets do you have, you Pretty Little Liar?" Tony asked.

McGee shrank into his seat. "Not many. Not as many as you."

Gibbs sighed heavily and returned to his seat, but the others didn't pay too much attention to his silent protest over the tangent they'd gone off on.

"I'm an open book," Tony told him.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Borin smirked.

"It's true," Tony insisted. "Everyone already knows about the time I mistakenly made out with a transvestite."

Borin's eyebrows shot up. "I didn't."

"You don't count," he told her.

"Thank you," she deadpanned.

"Hey!" Gibbs cut in, raising his voice and silencing them all. He waited until he was sure they were under control, and then looked at Abby. "Do you have something?"

Abby winced an apology at him and then looked at McGee. "I just sent you a file."

McGee pulled up the video file Abby had emailed him and put it on the big screen. As it played, Abby talked them through it.

"So, this is video from Alicia Crawford. I've been trawling through her files all morning, looking for any familiar faces from either of the cruises, but particularly Paulson, his wife or this Martin Rose guy. And I found this."

The video was of Will Crawford by one of the pools on the ship, with his sunglasses on, his shirt off and a big smile on his face. There was a lot of activity going on behind him; people swimming, people splashing, people lying on sun lounges and drinking. They all looked like they were having a great time, but the team couldn't hear anything going on.

"Can you turn the sound up?" Borin asked.

"I removed it," Abby said with a swipe of her hand. "It was putting me off."

"Okay," Gibbs said slowly. "So, what are we looking for?"

"Paulson and Rose are standing near that bar with the thatched roof," Abby said. "Well, it's not actually thatched. It's synthetic, but made to look like it's thatched. I guess because it'd last longer against the elements—"

"Abby."

"Right. Sorry. Paulson and Rose are there," she repeated. "And they're eyeballing Ensign Crawford."

"I guess," Borin said.

"They're not happy with him."

Borin arched an eyebrow. "How can you tell that? They just look like they're having a conversation."

"I grew up with two deaf parents," Abby told her. "I've been lip-reading since I was talking."

"Oh. That's useful information to have," Borin said, and shot a nervous look at Ziva.

"Can you tell what they're saying?" Gibbs asked.

"Boss won't like an investigation," Abby said, putting on a deep, gruff voice. "That's Rose who says that. And then Paulson says something back to him, but I can't work out what. He's standing at a weird angle. But then Rose says, We'll give him something tonight. Keep him down and out 'till after Key West."

"Give him something?" Tony repeated. "Sounds kind of ominous."

Abby turned wide eyes on him as he misunderstood. "Oh, no. He didn't say something. I said something."

Tony made a face. "Huh?"

"I'm saying something," Abby repeated, stabbing herself in the chest. "I can't work out what he's saying when I say something, so I'm just saying something."

Tony stared at her a little longer, not comprehending. Then he looked to Ziva for a translation.

"I think she means that the something could be anything."

"Exactly," Abby said.

Tony's frown deepened. "I'm missing something."

Abby stamped her foot, frustrated. "Tony!"

"I don't get it!"

Ziva sighed, getting as frustrated as the other two. "Tony, she understands every word he is saying, except the one he says when she substitutes the word something."

His face showed that he finally understood. "Ohhhhh!"

"Agent Gibbs?"

They all stopped talking and looked up at Vance standing on the landing above Tony's desk. He had a small, bemused smile on his face, and it appeared he wasn't going to give them a lecture about appropriate workplace behaviors.

"Can I see you and Agent Borin in my office? Please."

Gibbs and Borin walked past the rest of the team and started up the stairs after Vance. As they got to the landing, Tony hit a couple of keys on his keyboard and then spun around and called up to Gibbs.

"Hey, boss? Just confirmed it. The Roses and the Norths are both booked on the same cruise as the Paulsons at the end of this week."

Gibbs took the information with a sigh and a nod, and the others stayed quiet until they were out of sight.

"So," Abby started as she looked around at the others. "Just so I'm clear, are we having a picnic or not?"

…

Vance was sitting behind his desk when Gibbs and Borin walked into his office. He gestured for them to take a seat, and while it was always Gibbs' preference to stand (sitting suggested you were consenting to a long meeting, and Gibbs most certainly never was) Borin sat and Gibbs had to follow. He already hated this meeting.

"So. The Ensign Crawford case," Vance began. "I see you buzzing with activity down there. Our Coast Guard friends have joined us. What's the word, Gibbs?"

"Circumstantial," Gibbs answered.

"How so?"

"We don't have anything concrete saying murder, yet."

"I see." Vance clasped his hands and leaned forward. "What do we have?"

"A medical report from the hospital in St Croix that suggests some kind of poisoning occurred," Gibbs started. "But they didn't test the blood they drew from Ensign Crawford. Ducky'll get a sample delivered tonight."

"Mhmm."

"We also have Ken Klein, who wasn't on the same cruise as the Crawfords, but who says he was beaten up by the man Alicia Crawford suspects is responsible for her husband's death on a different cruise," Borin said.

"A man named John Paulson, who Will Crawford warned his wife about after he witnessed some kind of crime in Samaná," Gibbs continued.

"We have Paulson and his cruising buddy Martin Rose buying stuffed teddy bears in Samaná," Borin said. "And video of them taking the bears off the ship in Key West and returning without them. That occurred both on the cruise the Crawfords were on, and the one that Ken Klein was on."

Vance frowned deeply. "And what do teddy bears have to do with anything?"

"The agent who worked the assault of Ken Klein developed a theory that the bears were being used to smuggle something from the Dominican Republic into Miami," Borin said. "Paulson, Rose and their wives are going on a couple of cruises every year. Security on cruise ships can be fairly lax. Although passengers are screened when they're embarking from each port, a careful passenger could potentially move things from island to island. Especially if they have one of the ship's employees helping them."

Vance's eyes slid over to Gibbs to gauge his reaction, but Borin kept talking.

"Their chances of getting caught would be low," she said. "And even if they are caught the cruise lines do their own investigations and will do whatever they can to kill bad press. They have to report crimes and investigations of alleged crimes on ships embarking or disembarking in the US to the FBI and Coast Guard by law, but cruise ship crimes are very difficult to prosecute, so they're rarely investigated properly."

"What do you think they're smuggling?" Vance asked.

"Based on locations alone?" Borin said. "Cocaine. It'd be a lucrative business, and Paulson is living well beyond his means. He's a toy maker and his wife is a pharmaceutical drugs rep, but they live in a great big expensive house, drive nice cars and travel overseas first class every couple of months."

"So you think the crime Ensign Crawford witnessed was related to smuggling drugs?" Vance asked, trying to connect the dots.

"That's the theory."

"But there's no proof," Gibbs pointed out.

Borin eyed him with a touch of frustration, and then went back to Vance. "Abby has video of Paulson and Rose making what could be construed as threats against Crawford."

Vance looked a little more interested. "Could be construed?" he repeated.

Gibbs shrugged. "Could be."

Vance deflated again. "So, in a word, circumstantial."

Gibbs gave him half a nod in response.

Vance sighed. "Well, I've got an admiral up my butt about this, so keep digging. Keep me posted."

Gibbs started to get up, but Borin wasn't done yet.

"I have another idea," she said.

Gibbs froze in his seat and slowly looked over at Borin. He didn't like it when his team—and that extended to Borin right now—sprang surprises on him. And his gut told him he wouldn't like what she had to say.

But Vance was all ears. "What is it, Agent Borin?"

Borin glanced at Gibbs with a touch of apology before addressing Vance. "The Paulsons and their cruising buddies, the Roses, are booked on another cruise that leaves at the end of this week. It is taking the same route through the Caribbean that they always take."

Gibbs saw where she was going, and shook his head firmly. "No."

"I think we should put agents on the cruise to pay close attention to what they're all up to," Borin went on, ignoring Gibbs' protest. "We won't get the cooperation of the cruise line to conduct an investigation, but two agents on vacation who just happen to stumble upon what's going on? Nothing wrong with that, is there?"

Vance looked between them and suddenly looked like he was on the verge of bursting into laughter. "Which two agents? You two?"

Gibbs closed his eyes against the utter pain of the suggestion, and Borin caught him in it.

"Hey, thanks, Gibbs," she drawled. "Your team is really bad at making me feel welcome, you know that?"

Gibbs just sighed and rubbed his temples.

"I think we'd need an agent who is a more natural fit with Borin," Vance told Gibbs diplomatically.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs said obviously, and then shot what was meant to be a steely look at Borin. "You're just going to assign members of my team?"

The look had absolutely no effect on her. "Suggesting, not assigning," she replied in a soothing tone that was meant to make fun of him.

To Gibbs' dismay, Vance didn't reject the idea outright.

"Can you do it without killing each other?" Vance asked him.

"We'll have to confiscate Borin's weapons," Gibbs shot in. He thought he made it clear by his tone that he considered the idea to be stupid, but Borin either didn't hear it or didn't agree. His money was on the latter.

"Gibbs, if I want to kill him I'll just use a cocktail umbrella," Borin returned.

Vance looked to Gibbs again, and the two of them sat in silence for a few moments. Gibbs knew Vance wanted him to cave in, but he didn't want to. There was literally no evidence that Will Crawford had been murdered, no evidence that Paulson was involved, and no real evidence that Paulson or any of his friends were doing anything wrong. Sending Tony off for a paid vacation to 'keep an eye on Paulson' was, as far as Gibbs was concerned, a waste of time and money. But Vance continued to watch him and wait in silence, and Gibbs knew that his protest would be wasted. He sighed heavily, signaling that he was giving in, and Vance sat back in his chair.

"It's a long time for you both to be gone," Gibbs told him, although his tone was now one of resignation that it was going to happen, rather than an argument against the idea.

"How long are we talking?" Vance asked. "Three days?"

"Eight," Gibbs told him, and then enjoyed the look of disbelief that came over Vance's face.

"What?!" he almost yelled, and looked over to Borin as though she'd talked him into this without giving him all the facts. "How much is that going to cost my agency?"

Borin shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. "I don't know. But if we catch a killer, won't it be worth it? And the Coast Guard would probably chip in."

Her argument didn't fly. "How much?" Vance demanded to know.

"Fifteen grand, if they travel in the same class as the Paulsons," Gibbs told him, really beginning to enjoy the parade of anger, frustration and disbelief across Vance's face. "At least."

Vance stared at Borin, and Gibbs wondered if he was working his way through a stroke. Borin turned to look at Gibbs, and her eyes questioned whether this was normal. Gibbs smirked and looked away. He was determined to enjoy this painful moment.

"But much less if we don't," Borin threw in carefully. "There's got to be a couple of price points, right? Besides, how much do some of those tests Abby routinely runs for you on other cases cost? They're not cheap."

Vance drew a deep, calming breath, and eventually regained his power of speech. "Gibbs?"

"Yes, Director?"

"Your honest take on this?"

Instead of dismissing it completely, Gibbs gave it a few more moments' thought. "Chances are good Paulson's up to something," he allowed. "We might not catch a killer, but we could catch a drug smuggler. Or we might not catch either."

Vance's eyes went Heavenward, and Gibbs imagined he was saying a prayer to be saved before he leveled his gaze again. "I've had a call from Admiral Kirk already this morning," he told them.

Gibbs sighed and leaned forward. "Okay, how about this? If Ducky tests Crawford's blood and finds traces of poison, we send Tweedledum and Tweedledee to sea to watch Paulson. If the tox screen comes back clear, they stay on shore and we close this case with apologies to the Admiral."

Vance nodded firmly. "Agreed. Borin, take DiNozzo and start preparing for undercover. Build a background together. Agent David and Ms Sciuto will be good resources to help you. But remember we might have to pull the pin on this fast."

"Yes, sir," Borin said, and got to her feet with Gibbs.

"And I'm telling you both now," Vance went on as they headed for the door, "if we're sending people on a cruise for eight days at the Government's expense, you better come back with someone in custody some damn crime. I don't care who or which one."

Gibbs smirked as Borin nodded like it was no big deal. "Understood, Director."

…

It had been a while since Ducky had so many live visitors in his lab so close to midnight. As he worked at his desk on Ensign Crawford's blood sample, Gibbs leaned back against the back freezer wall. Agent Borin sat in a chair just out of Ducky's field of vision, picking at her nails and occasionally checking her phone to return messages. Tony sat on the nearest autopsy slab and played Tetris on his cell phone. No one made any sound, but all the same Ducky could hear them yelling at him to hurry up and come to a conclusion. But Ducky wouldn't be rushed. Rushing led to mistakes, and mistakes were unacceptable in his field. So he took his time, made sure he completed every step correctly, and, when he was done, he sent the results of the tox screen to the printer.

The sound of machinery whirring to life made the rest of the people in the room jump. Ducky rose from his chair and ambled over to the printer, took the results and then read them as he turned to face the others. As far as Ducky was concerned, the findings were conclusive and they had their answer.

He looked up at the others. Gibbs had rejoined them near the front of the room, Borin had left her chair, and Tony's phone hung in his hand between his knees. He sent them a satisfied smile, and then looked between Tony and Borin.

"Be sure to bring me back some rum from your travels, won't you?" he said.

"What have you got, Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"Isopropyl alcohol," He announced. "Trace amounts, but it's there."

"Isn't that rubbing alcohol?" Tony asked, although he didn't sound sure.

"Indeed," Ducky replied. "The product with one thousand uses, although none of them should involve ingestion."

"He drank it?"

"I can't confirm that without his body," Ducky told him. "But it was absorbed into his bloodstream somehow."

"Maybe he had a really big rash?" Tony tried.

Gibbs sighed hard and shot him a withering look. "You hear his wife say anything about that, DiNozzo?"

"No," Tony allowed. "But we should ask."

"It is more likely that it was ingested, or injected," Ducky said.

"How much would he have had to drink to kill him?" Borin asked.

"Could have been as little as a single glass," Ducky said.

"But that stuff stinks," Tony pointed out. "If someone gave it to him, wouldn't he have smelled it? Or tasted it?"

Ducky looked thoughtful. "If it was administered mixed in with a cocktail or vodka, it is possible he may not have noticed. Of course, he may have ingested it knowingly and willingly."

"Suicide?" Tony said doubtfully. "I don't know. I watched the videos of his last few days. Looked at the photos. He seemed pretty happy."

"Was there any evidence that he put his affairs in order before he and his wife went on their cruise?" Borin asked.

Tony looked at Gibbs for his take, but shook his head. "Alicia didn't mention it."

"But we didn't ask," Gibbs pointed out.

Tony raised his eyebrows. "And she seems pretty gung-ho about the murder angle."

"Could she have given it to him?" Borin asked.

"Why bring it to our attention if she did?" Tony asked, using Ziva's argument from the night before. "It's been four months, and if she did it, she's already gotten away with it."

"Guilt," Gibbs said. "It eats away at you."

Tony didn't buy into it, but it seemed like Gibbs had enough doubt in his mind to make them check it out. "We can get in touch with their friends in the morning. See if there were any signs of trouble in the marriage."

"We already know she wouldn't have done it for money, right?" Borin checked. "Her family's loaded."

"Old money," Tony confirmed. "He would've made money from killing her, not the other way around."

"So that leaves jealousy as a motive," Borin said. "Maybe she found out he was having an affair."

"Or maybe she was having an affair, and wanted him out of the way," Tony countered.

"Or maybe neither," Gibbs said. "But we should check it out in the morning." He passed by Ducky and gently cuffed him on the arm. "Thanks, Duck," he said, and then continued out to the hallway to call the elevator.

Borin looked at DiNozzo. "Class dismissed?"

Tony nodded and slid off the autopsy slab. "Dismissed. You're free to go off and do whatever it is that you do in your free time."

Borin looked at him with mild unease. "Yeah, we're going to have to start on getting to know each other tomorrow."

"Knitting, swing dancing and MMA?" Tony suggested.

Borin smirked. "You read me like a book."

"You haven't started on developing your cover story then?" Ducky asked with a bemused smile.

"I'm thinking that we should be national clog dancing champions celebrating a big win," Tony said.

Borin chuckled. "Actually, I was thinking ice dancing champions." She paused and looked him up and down. "But I don't think people would buy that you're a champion at anything that required you to wear Lycra."

Because he was still in a good mood from last night, Tony joked with her instead of playing up his offence. "Wrestler, maybe. But we're both over 40, so maybe we have to settle for being champions at canasta."

"If I may?" Ducky broke in. "I believe cruises are places for couples to enjoy each other's romantic company. Start there."

The idea of spending a week or more in the company of a beautiful woman in a bikini should have been a lot more appealing than Tony currently found it. But as it was, Tony knew that selling a romantic relationship with Borin would require quite a bit of effort. Not because he didn't find her attractive (he did) or fun (he did). And not because he felt like he was on the verge of embarking on a serious and long-awaited romance with someone else. But because the more time he spent with Borin, the more Tony felt like she was either his sister or just one of the guys.

"Ew," Borin said, playing her role perfectly. "You got anything that'll help stop the spread of cooties, Dr Mallard?"

"Rubbing alcohol," Ducky replied. "But not enough to kill."

Inching closer to cruising...with Borin? Wha?