"If you could have any mutation in the world," Abby asked from her perch on Tony's desk, swinging her legs as she took another long, noisy sip from her Big Gulp. "Except for your own, what would it be?"

"That's easy." Tony leaned back in his chair, crossing his ankles on the desk beside Abby and knitting his fingers behind his head. "I always thought it would be fun to be a shape-shifter."

Kate snorted. "Right. So instead of just ogling the busty blonde through the walls of the ladies' room, you could actually be the busty blonde?"

Abby waggled her eyebrows, grinning impishly. "Kinky. Puts a whole new spin on masturbation."

That made DiNozzo look intrigued. "Y'know...I was thinking more that it would be useful for undercover work, but you might have something there..."

Kate made a noise of disgust. "God, Tony, don't you *ever* think about anything else?"

"What else is there?" he quipped in return, smiling cheekily at her.

She glared. "You do realize I could snap you in half with my pinky if I wanted to?"

"And where would you be without me, I ask?"

"Not wishing they made lead-lined underwear, that's for sure."

"Ah, but that's Superman's weakness, Kate, not mine," Tony pointed out with a wink.

Abby's grin just got broader as she deliberately turned away from the squabbling pair. "What about you, McGee?"

"Huh?" McGee tore his eyes away from the screen and turned to look at her, blinking in confusion. "What about me?"

His lover smirked, tilting her head to one side and leaning it on her palm. Unconsciously, her hand covered most of the network of interweaving black lines on the side of her neck that most people dismissed as a tattoo. Abby's teammates knew differently--it was part of her mutation, part that she'd hinted ran all the way down her body. What no one had quite figured out yet was how, if at all, it was connected to her clairvoyance. "If you'd been paying attention instead of communing with Kate's computer, you would've heard me the first time," she teased. "What I asked was, if you could have any mutation in the world except for your own, what would it be?"

"Actually, I'm, um..." He cleared his throat, blushing under her look. "...pretty happy with what I have."

"Of course he is," Tony stated with exaggerated patience, deliberately reaching out a hand to try to muss the younger agent's too-short hair. McGee batted his hand away, scowling. "Now if you actually had any social skills, Probie, you might realize that there are more important things than spending all day in front of a computer."

"Oh, I'm sure Timothy knows what is important," Ducky interjected with a low chuckle. "He did, after all, win the heart of our dear Abigail."

Abby beamed at him, then at McGee, and Kate couldn't quite surpress a smirk at the distasteful look that came over Tony's face.

"Personally," the ME continued. "I've always thought it might be fascinating to be able to communicate with the dead, to learn their stories in their own words rather than having to try to piece it together from what they leave behind. Not that the search isn't fascinating in and of itself--"

"I dunno, Ducky," Abby teased. "What they leave behind can be pretty talkative sometimes, at least for me."

Dr. Mallard smiled. "You don't need to remind me of that, my dear."

"Ducky," Kate laughed, a genuine smile crossing her face, "if we ever needed to remind you of anything, it would be a sign of the apocalypse."

"Yeah, how do you stand it in there?" Tony asked, putting his feet down and leaning forward in curiosity. "Doesn't it ever get...I don't know, crowded?"

Ducky just shrugged. "One gets used to it, I suppose. If there's one thing I can't recall, it's ever being any different. My earliest memory--"

The rest of the team all jumped in at once to interrupt him with a combination of disclamatory shouts and gestures. Somehow the prospect of Ducky reminiscing about his time in utero didn't appeal to anyone.

Once that danger had passed, the group lapsed temporarily into silence. This time, it was broken by Kate. "What's he like?" she blurted out cryptically.

None of the others needed to ask who she meant. Ducky smiled. "A remarkable man. It's a pity you weren't given the chance to know him earlier, Caitlin, though you're quite fortunate to have had a family that encouraged and protected you, rather than allowing fear and prejudice to blind them."

"He's supposed to be the most powerful telepath in the world," Abby chipped in cheerfully.

McGee's eyes widened. "More powerful than Gibbs?"

"Actually, Jethro is more of an empath than a true telepath," Ducky corrected with a raised finger. When the rest of the team gave him skeptical looks, he smiled. "Yes, I do realize how improbable that sounds. But his strength lies more in reading one's motives and intentions than one's thoughts, though he does have some limited skill at the latter."

"Can't argue with that," Tony admitted.

"Whereas this Professor--"

"Could easily lay bare your most treasured secret, or compel you to obey his every whim, if he so desired. It is, as they say, a good thing he's on our side," Ducky confirmed. "If you want to know what sort of man he is, however...it would not be inaccurate to say that what progress has been made integrating persons such as ourselves into normal society is largely due to his efforts and his commitment to the idea that we are still, essentially, human."

As if on cue, the elevator dinged and the entire team stood almost as a unit. Gibbs stepped out first, blocking the door open with his arm so it wouldn't start to close on his companion, a man a little older than Ducky wearing a suit, tie and waistcoat and sitting in a remarkably sleek, cutting edge wheelchair. As the two approached, Kate took a deep, nervous breath and McGee and Tony both stood up just a little straighter, while Abby just waved.

Coming to a stop, Gibbs turned to the man he'd brought with him. "...and this is my team. You already know Ducky, Abby and DiNozzo..."

Abby gave Xavier a hug and a silent greeting that made him chuckle low in his throat. Tony gave him a slap on the back and a cheerful, "Good to see you again, X-Man."

Ducky shook hands formally, but with an underlying warmth on the part of both men that hinted at a long-standing friendship. "Charles."

"Donald. It's been too long, old friend."

Gibbs smiled and directed Xavier's attention towards the two newest members of the team. "This is Special Agent Kate Todd--"

Kate stepped forward, smiling, and extended a hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Sir."

Xavier smiled in return, and replied directly into her mind. The honor is all mine, Agent Todd.

"Special Agent McGee--"

McGee jumped forward, quaking and stammering: "I...um...yeah, what she said...Sir. Very, very honored."

Xavier's wordless answer made him look embarrassed and proud all at once, and he smiled and stammered out a thank you. For a moment, the man who'd done more for mutant rights than any other individual just looked around him, quietly assessing each and every member of the team. Finally, a slow, pleased smile spread over his face. "You've done well, Jethro. Very well indeed."




FIN