Title: Death be not proud 1/7
Author: Ceindreadh
Email: Ceindreadh@eircom.net
Website: n/a
Permission to archive: Yes
Fandom(s): NCIS
Genre (general, hetero or slash) Gen, humor.
Pairing/Characters: n/a
Rating: FRT 13
Summary: What happened after Twilight
Warnings: Death fic (duh!).
Notes: This is a sick and twisted idea that I got after reading a post regarding Twilight. I apologize in advance but I just couldn't help myself
Acknowledgments: I don't own the characters but I promise to return them in mint condition when I'm finished with them.

[part 01]

Kate sat up and grimaced, "Boy that last one sure stung like hell," she said as she pushed herself to her feet. She looked across the rooftop to where Gibbs and DiNozzo were standing with their backs to her. "Hey guys, everything okay over there?" she called as she dusted herself. "Did you get the second shooter?" Neither man responded to her, and Kate frowned in annoyance as she walked over to them. "Gibbs, DiNozzo, what's going on?" As she moved towards them, DiNozzo turned around, blood spatter on his face that couldn't conceal the look of anguish on it. "Oh my God, Tony, are you okay?" But he just walked right past her. "Gibbs, what the hell is going on?" And that was when Kate saw what Gibbs was looking at, stretched out on the ground.

Kate sank to her knees. "This is not happening," she said; even as she looked at her own body lying on the ground, blood pooling around its head. "This is not happening."
She looked over at Gibbs who had his phone out by now. "Gibbs, this is a mistake, I'm not dead, I'm right here." But he was oblivious to her presence as he called in to headquarters.

Kate ran over to where Tony was slumped against the wall, his head buried in his hands. "DiNozzo," Kate yelled at him. "I don't know what the hells going on, but it's probably your fault. Stop fooling around." Tony however was equally oblivious.

Kate spun around, there had to be something she could do. Maybe she wasn't quite dead; maybe if one of the guys did CPR or something then she'd wake up. "This is just an out of body experience, right guys? Don't just give up on me." She ran back over to Gibbs and tried to attract his attention. "It's a through and through, maybe it didn't do too much damage? I could just be in a coma, right Gibbs? GIBBS!" Kate waved her hand at Gibbs head, only to watch in horror as it passed right through it.

"He can't hear you Kate."

The voice cut through Kate's consciousness and she turned to see McGee standing right behind her. "Jesus McGee, you scared me to death sneaking up on me like that. What the hell's going on, did DiNozzo put you up to this?" Even as Kate looked at McGee, had a horrible feeling that she knew what he was going to say. Maybe it was some special skill that came with being a ghost...or maybe it was just the three bullet wounds she could see that had penetrated his vest.

McGee looked down at himself to see what Kate was staring at. "Ah yes, those."

"Oh my God, McGee...you're shot. You need to get to a doctor..." Kate's voice trailed off. "Oh no...you're not..."

McGee nodded, "I'm dead Kate...and so are you."

---------------------

Kate and McGee sat back against the wall and watched as the scene was recorded.
"I sort of feel like I should be doing something," observed Kate as an NCIS agent took photos of her body. Gibbs and Tony had left the scene by then, Gibbs under heavy protest. But from what Kate had overheard of his phone conversation with the director, he had had no choice but to turn the scene over to another NCIS team. Bad enough that he had lost one member of his team, but the discovery of McGee's body had been the clincher and both Gibbs and Tony were now back at headquarters, presumably being debriefed prior to a full investigation into the incident.

Kate sighed, "So what happens to us now, McGee? Am I doomed to haunt this rooftop for all eternity?"

"I don't think so," replied McGee. "I mean, I died down at street level, but I've been able to move around a bit since then. I guess we're not sort of stuck..." He paused and cleared his throat before continuing. "Um, Kate, I'm really really sorry about what happened to you."

Kate patted him on the knee, grateful that there was at least one person; make that ghost, that she was able to touch. "Thanks McGee, and I'm really sorry that you're dead as well. You were shaping up to be quite the NCIS agent. I just hope you didn't suffer much."

"Um, that's not exactly what I meant...see, there's something you should know." McGee took another deep breath. Okay, so he didn't need to actually breathe, but old habits died hard, at least harder than bodies. "See, when the gunfire started I knew I had to warn you guys, and when I realized I was dead, but still here, I figured I must be a ghost or something."

"So you tried to haunt us to warn us?" Kate was touched by the gesture. Okay, it obviously hadn't worked, but it was typical of McGee that he'd do his best to help his colleagues, even at the point of his own death. "That is so sweet."

"Yeah, but when I tried to sort of, I don't know, transfer myself to the rooftop, I got the wrong one...and it was the one where Ari was, and he had a high powered rifle."

"Ari? You mean it was Ari who shot me? That bastard! I knew I should have stabbed him when I had the chance."

"Anyway," McGee continued in a hurry, hoping to get the words out before he lost his nerve. "I don't know how, but I could see that he was aiming at this rooftop, and that he was aiming at Gibbs, so I started yelling at him and jumping around in front of him, anything I could think of so he wouldn't make the shot..."

If McGee hadn't already been dead, Kate's look would have dropped him in his tracks.

"YOU distracted Ari while he was aiming at Gibbs. YOU made him hit me instead?" Kate started swatting McGee about the head. "Oh my God, you killed me...you bastard!"

------------------------

to be continued

Title: Death be not proud 2/7
Author: Ceindreadh
Email: Ceindreadh@eircom.net
Website: n/a
Permission to archive: Yes
Fandom(s): NCIS
Genre (general, hetero or slash) Gen
Pairing/Characters: n/a
Rating: FRT 13
Summary: What happened after Twilight
Warnings: Death fic (duh!).
Notes: This is a sick and twisted idea that I got after reading a post regarding Twilight. I apologize in advance but I just couldn't help myself
Acknowledgments: I don't own the characters but I promise to return them in mint condition when I'm finished with them.



[part 02]

"I said I was sorry," McGee stole a quick glance at Kate. "If I'd known that Ari was going to hit you instead, I..."

Kate sighed heavily, "I'm the one who should be sorry, McGee. I had no right to blow up at you like that. Gibbs was my responsibility and it was my duty to take the bullet for him. Damn Ari. The worst of it is he's going to get away with it. Gibbs is never going to be able to track him down. The only times he's found Ari it's because he wanted to be found. Dammit!" There was no response from McGee and when Kate looked up she saw that he was gone...or to be more accurate, *she* was gone...the rooftop where she and McGee had been sitting was gone, and instead Kate was sitting in the back of a car moving swiftly along a busy highway. The driver glanced in the mirror, and Kate recoiled as her eyes met those of her killer.

And then the car faded from her view and she was back on the rooftop with McGee calling her name.

"Kate, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," frowned Kate. "Well, apart from being dead and haunting this rooftop. What the heck just happened?"

"I don't know, one minute you were there and the next you just disappeared. Where did you go?" McGee was trying to hide his nervousness. Bad enough that he was dead and clearly doomed to be a ghost for all eternity, but having his only companion disappear on him was really not good.

"I think I was with Ari," Kate said slowly. "I don't know how it happened, but one minute I was here and the next I was in his car." She grabbed McGee's arm. "Do you realize what this means? If I can find out where Ari is going, we can capture him."

McGee looked at Kate, a skeptical expression on his face. "How? We can't exactly slap a pair of handcuffs on him." He waved his hand through the concrete wall for emphasis.

"I don't know, maybe we can get a message to Gibbs or something. There's got to be a way. No way in hell am I letting him get away *again*."

------------------------

"I can't believe that Gibbs isn't here," said Kate as she paced up and down beside her desk. "Two of his agents are dead, the killers are on the loose, and he's at home working on his boat?"

The trip back to Headquarters hadn't been the easiest. It had taken them several attempts to be able to disappear from the rooftop and reappear in the NCIS parking garage. Twice Kate had ended up back in Ari's car, but it had been growing dark and she had been unable to identify his location. But finally they had both managed to show up at the same place. Their first attempt at using the elevator hadn't been a success. They had followed a janitor into the elevator car only for them both to remain standing on the ground as the car rose to the floors above them.

Finally they had managed to transfer themselves to the office, but Gibbs was nowhere to be seen and an overheard conversation between some of the other agents on duty had revealed that Gibbs had been sent home by the director.

"So what should we do now?" asked McGee. "Try and find Gibbs at home?"

"Yes, no...I don't know where he lives." Kate paced up and down for a few more seconds before turning to McGee again. "There's somewhere I want to go first before we track down Gibbs."

------------------------------

Ducky sighed as he dropped the bullets into the tray. "Mr. Palmer, be a good chap and run those up to Abby, would you."

"Yes Dr. Mallard," said Palmer. He hesitated a few seconds before adding, "Do you want me to finish up Agent McGee?"

Ducky shook his head, "No, thank you. I'll see to young Timothy. Poor lad, he was here for such a short time."

Kate and McGee watched in fascination from the corner of the lab as Ducky continued with his work, describing to McGee's body in great detail exactly what procedures he was performing. Kate had been slightly relieved to hear that her body was currently in one of the drawers and would be dealt with the next day. "This is amazing McGee, don't you think so?" When there was no response she looked at the young agent who was wearing a glazed expression on his face. "McGee, maybe you shouldn't be watching this."

It was too late though and as Kate watched, McGee put his hand over his mouth and raced to one of the sinks where he started retching furiously.

Over at the autopsy table, Ducky stopped what he was doing and looked around. "Is there somebody there?" he called, frowning slightly. "Mr. Palmer, is that you?"

It took Kate a few seconds to realize what had happened. "Oh my God, McGee, he heard you! Ducky heard you! Now if we can only get a message through to him!"

McGee turned around from the sink, feeling a little sheepish as he realized that vomiting was another thing his ghost wasn't able to do. Technically he shouldn't have been able to feel nauseous, but then it was probably a psychological rather than a physiological response. "What, by having me vomit?"

Kate frowned at him, "No, but there's got to be some way to get through to him. So far he's the only person that's shown any reaction to our presence."

"Maybe it's because he spends so much time around dead bodies," said McGee. "The psychic emanations from a recently deceased corpse could..."

"Well I don't care why it works so long as it does."

During their conversation Ducky had returned to his task and was now busy tidying up McGee's corpse. Kate and McGee moved over to the table, McGee taking good care not to look down at his body.

"Okay, how should we do this," Kate thought carefully for a moment. "McGee, see can you move your hand."

McGee looked at Kate blankly and lifted his hand. Kate glared at him, "Not that hand, *that* hand," she said, pointing at the body on the table.

"Oh right, okay." McGee concentrated carefully and tried to lift the hand from the table but his ghostly fingers simply slipped through the flesh and the table below. "It's not working," he said. "I can't make it move."

"Patrick Swayze could do it fine," muttered Kate. "Here, let me help."

It took both their combined efforts but finally they were able to make McGee's fingers twitch. "We did it!" Kate was delighted. "Come on, let's move your hand..."

Carried away by their new found skills at manipulating objects, neither Kate nor McGee noticed that Ducky had stopped what he was doing and was staring at McGee's hand as it jerked and twitched on the table. "Oh my, Timothy?

McGee stopped what he was doing and looked up, "Uh-oh," he said as he saw the expression on Ducky's face.

------------------

"It's sort of ironic," said McGee looking down at the ground. "Ducky had to have had the biggest heart of anybody I knew. And then it went and failed on him."

"That's very kind of you to say so Timothy, but my heart was no bigger than average, as I'm sure Mr. Palmer will find out during the course of my autopsy." Ducky crouched down beside his rapidly cooling body. "I must admit that I'm rather embarrassed by my reactions. After all the time I spend talking to dead people, the one time I get a response and I succumb to a heart attack. Most embarrassing."

"We're really sorry Ducky," said Kate. "If we'd known what was going to happen then we'd never have tried to contact you."

Ducky stood and put his arm around Kate's shoulder. "My dear Caitlin, it was worth dying just to be given the chance to talk to you again. You can't imagine how painful it was believing that I'd never hear your voice again."

McGee cleared his throat ostentatiously.

"Oh and you too Timothy. I was most sorry to hear of your untimely demise. Perhaps it was the cumulative effect of all today's shocks that did my heart in, and not simply your efforts. Although I do have one complaint to make."

"And what's that Ducky?" asked Kate.

"Well I really wish that you'd waited until I was back in my street clothes before contacting me." Ducky looked down at his blue apron, which was stained here and there with various bodily fluids. "Now I'm going to be stuck wearing this thing for eternity and I had such a nice bow tie in my locker."

--------------------------

To be continued.

Title: Death be not proud 3/7
Author: Ceindreadh
Email: Ceindreadh@eircom.net
Website: n/a
Permission to archive: Yes
Fandom(s): NCIS
Genre (general, hetero or slash) Gen
Pairing/Characters: n/a
Rating: FRT 13
Summary: What happened after Twilight
Warnings: Death fic (duh!).
Notes: This is a sick and twisted idea that I got after reading a post regarding Twilight. I apologize in advance but I just couldn't help myself
Acknowledgments: I don't own NCIS or the characters but I'm just borrowing them and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.


[Part 3]

Half an hour later, Autopsy was buzzing with people. Kate, McGee and Ducky sat out of the way and watched the proceedings. Not that anybody would have noticed had they been standing in the middle of the action, but it was a bit disconcerting to have people walk right through them without a pause, so they had moved to one side.
"I must admit that I'm quite impressed with Mr. Palmer," said Ducky. "Performing CPR like that and raising the alarm as quickly as possible. All to no avail of course, but he certainly kept his cool much better than I would have believed possible under the circumstances."

Palmer had returned to Autopsy only a few minutes after Ducky's demise. Upon seeing that the body was still warm, he had called for assistance and attempted to resuscitate his boss, only giving up when the paramedics had arrived and pronounced the Doctor beyond all help. Since then he had taken charge of the situation, calling in the ranking NCIS agent on duty to report the death and insisting to the paramedics that the body remain in NCIS hands.

"Yes," continued Ducky, "I shall have no fears about leaving matters in his capable hands until a replacement for me arrives. If you will excuse me for just a minute."

Kate and McGee watched Ducky went over to where Palmer was sitting by the corpse. "I'll take good care of you, Doctor Mallard," he was saying. "It was an honor and a privilege to work with you and...I'll miss you, sir."

Ducky crouched down and said softly into Palmer's ear, "Take care of yourself Mr. Palmer." He wasn't sure whether he was relieved or disappointed that Palmer showed no sign of having heard him. On the one hand, it would have been nice if the young man could have heard his reassurances from beyond the grave, on the other hand, the last thing they wanted was for another spirit to join their number. While Palmer had shown no signs of any coronary problems, even the strongest heart could fail under circumstances such as being suddenly confronted by a ghost.

Making his way back to his companions, Ducky could see that the children were in the middle of an argument.

"I think we should go see Gibbs," said Kate. "We need to find a way to contact him and let him know where Ari is going to be."

"But we don't even know if we'll be able to get through to him," replied McGee. "And even if we do, look what happened to Ducky. What if Gibbs keels over with a heart attack or something as well? We should try and make contact with Abby. She's got a Ouija board and everything and she's not the type to get all freaked out about it. Heck, she's probably expecting us to try and contact her from the afterlife anyway."

Kate turned to Ducky. "Looks like you have the casting vote Ducky, don't you think we should try Gibbs first? He's the one who can actually do something about Ari."

Ducky was looking blankly at Kate so she explained about what had happened to her earlier and how if she concentrated she could find where Ari was.

"That's most remarkable Caitlin," said Ducky. "But not altogether surprising. It's a common mythology that when a murderer dies, the first people they meet in the afterlife are the shades of their victims come to extract revenge. So it would be only reasonable to expect that these ghosts would have some way of sensing where their killer is so that they can be there at the moment of his or her death."

Kate looked around her apprehensively at Ducky's words. "So why was McGee the only one who showed up for me. I know I've certainly killed plenty of people."

Ducky rubbed her arm comfortingly, "But you never murdered anybody Caitlin. You have only ever killed in the line of duty and you should remember that."

Kate sighed in relief. "Okay then, but I still think we should contact or at least try to contact Gibbs first."

"I'm afraid I find myself agreeing with Timothy on this one, my dear. Gibbs is a good man but he's not exactly the most receptive person when it comes to supernatural events."

"Yeah," interrupted McGee, "Remember when I brought up Spontaneous Human Combustion."

"Precisely. Which is why I feel that we should focus our attentions on Abigail. She at least is open to possibilities which Gibbs would reject out of hand, and as such I believe that we will be able to make contact with her, or indeed she with us."

"Fine then, we'll just nip upstairs to Abby's lab."

----------------------

But when they got there the lab was deserted. The bullets which Palmer had delivered to her earlier were logged in and running through some type of computer program but Abby was nowhere to be seen.
"She must have gone home," said Kate, a little disappointed.

"Or been sent home," observed Ducky. "She was very upset earlier."

"Well that's no problem then," said Kate with a grin. "I'm sure McGee here can bring us all to Abby's apartment. Right McGee? Just zoom in on her coffin or something."

It was only the lack of blood circulation that prevented McGee from blushing, but before he could formulate a reply, Ducky spoke up. "There's actually one stop I'd like to make first. Somebody I'd like to check up on."

---------------------

"DiNozzo?" said Kate in surprise as they materialized outside Tony's apartment.

"Yes Caitlin," replied Ducky. "You of course didn't see Anthony when he arrived back at headquarters. The poor chap was in a terrible state. He was still badly shaken up from the incident with the car and of course he really should still have been at home recuperating from his illness. I wanted him to check back into the hospital at least overnight just to make sure he wouldn't have a relapse, but he refused. The least I can do now is see that he's still in one piece. Rest assured, I shall not try and make contact with him, but if he's under the weather then maybe we can figure out a way to dial for help on his behalf."

"Lead on Ducky," said Kate and she and McGee followed him into the apartment.

"Hmm, it's a lot cleaner than I imagined," said Kate as they walked through Tony's living room.

"I think Tony has a maid comes in once a week or so," said McGee.

"Why do I have the feeling she's one of those maids who wear a skimpy little uniform and carry a big feather duster."

Ducky came out of the bedroom with a frown. "There's no sign of him in there."

"Maybe he went to a friends house," suggested McGee.

Kate shook her head, "His car keys are on the table, and there's the jacket he was wearing today. See, it's got my blood all over it."

"He could be in the bathroom," said McGee.

"Well somebody else can go check on him then," said Kate.

"I'll just be a minute," said Ducky. He walked over to the bathroom door and walked through it.

Kate meanwhile moved over to the answering machine. "You have three new messages," she read off the display. "Let me guess, two blonde and one red head."

Ducky's voice startled her slightly.
"Well the good news is that we don't have to worry about Anthony's health."

"And the bad news?"

Ducky stepped aside to let a boxer short clad Tony out of the bathroom. It was obvious what the bad news was, as Tony hadn't needed to open the door to get out.

-----------------------------

Tony's initial delight upon seeing Kate and McGee had been tempered slightly by their insistence on finding out the circumstances of his death.

"Was it a heart attack or something?" asked Kate.

"Does it matter Kate?" groaned Tony, "I'm dead, okay. Can we just move on from that and figure out what we're going to do next."

"Ducky, why won't you tell us?"

"Doctor patient confidentiality my dear Caitlin. Besides, it doesn't really matter now, does it."

"But people don't just suddenly die. Ducky, you didn't give him a heart attack by trying to contact him, did you?"

"Oh no, he was dead by the time I got there, most unfortunate."

"Ducky," said Tony, a warning in his voice. "Oh what the hell. Look, if it'll stop you bothering me for all eternity, I was getting ready for a shower, started feeling sick and then I tripped and bashed my head. Next thing I know I'm sitting there looking at my body and Ducky is walking through the door. I tell ya, if I hadn't already dead I'd have probably croaked just seeing him. So you happy now?"

Kate couldn't help herself and burst out laughing.

"It's not funny," snapped Tony, although his lips were twitching slightly at the absurdity of it all.

"You have to admit that it is kind of amusing," said McGee.

"Shut up Probie."

"Actually, since I died first, that means I have seniority over the two of you," retorted McGee. "So that would make me the boss and both of *you* the Probies."

Tony just stared at him in horror. "Okay, now I know I'm in Hell."

--------------------------


To be continued

Title: Death be not proud 4/7
Author: Ceindreadh
Email: Ceindreadh@eircom.net
Website: n/a
Permission to archive: Yes
Fandom(s): NCIS
Genre (general, hetero or slash) Gen
Pairing/Characters: n/a
Rating: FRT 13
Summary: What happened after Twilight
Warnings: Death fic (duh!).
Notes: This is a sick and twisted idea that I got after reading a post regarding Twilight. I apologize in advance but I just couldn't help myself
Acknowledgments: I don't own the characters, I'm only borrowing them but I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished with them.

[Part 04]

"So what do we do now?" asked Tony, once he had been brought up to date on the events so far. "Go after Ari and take down that son of a bitch?"

"I don't think we could do that Tony," said McGee. "So far the most we've managed to do was move my hand." Seeing Tony's frown of puzzlement, he quickly added, "That is, the hand on my body. So I don't think we'd be able to do anything to Ari. Not yet anyway, we'd need a heck of a lot more practice."

"Besides," said Ducky. "I believe it would be most inadvisable for the dead to start taking revenge on the living. However justified we might be in doing so. Most mythologies predict direful things for angry spirits, who take out their wrath on the living, and I don't know about the rest of you, but while I'm quite happy to be a ghost, especially in such convivial company, I don't think I'd be quite so enamored to be a wraith or a boogeyman."

"So we can't do anything to Ari," grumbled Tony, resting his head in his hands. "Being a ghost sucks."

"Oh I didn't say we couldn't do anything to him, Anthony. Merely that we shouldn't kill him. We're ghosts remember, and what do ghosts do?"

Tony looked up, his trademark smile back in place. "They haunt people!"

Ducky nodded and smiled. "It may take a bit of practice, but I'm sure that between the four of us, we can manage to make that bastard's life a living hell."

If McGee's spine had been with him, instead of resting in a drawer in the morgue with the rest of his body, he was sure that a cold shiver would have run down it at the tone of Ducky's voice.

"Well I hate to break up your happy plans," said Kate, "But haunting the guy just doesn't do enough for me."

"Not the stalker type, eh Kate," said Tony. "You know you really ought to let out some of that pent up aggression of yours in some form instead of keeping it all bottled up."

"Yeah? How about I let it out on you. Just because I want to do something constructive about stopping Ari instead of sitting around in my underwear."

"Ooh, low blow, Kate," Tony grinned, "But if you want to sit around in your underwear, don't let me stop you."

"You know the worst thing about this whole situation is that I can't even shoot you."

"Actually the worst thing about this situation is that no matter what we do, we won't be able to stop Ari from carrying out more terrorist acts," said McGee, stepping between Kate and Tony. "Look, our priority at this moment should be finding out where Ari is and communicating that information to somebody who can do something about it."

"Looks like Probie grew himself a pair in the afterlife," said Tony, although there was a note of respect in his voice. "So what do we do now?"

"Um, er," McGee was suddenly conscious of all eyes being upon him. Taking a deep breath, or at least a rough approximation of one, he said, "I think we should try to make contact with Abby."

"What about Gibbs?" asked Kate. "He's the one who can get things moving to catch Ari."

"If anybody can convince Gibbs about the veracity of a message from beyond the grave, then it would indeed be our Abigail," said Ducky with an air of finality. "And besides, it would be nice to reassure the poor child of our continued presence."

"Cool," said Tony. "You know there's something I've always wondered."

"How women manage to turn you down?" Kate smirked at him.

Tony pulled a face at her before replying, "Nope, I've just always wondered, how exactly does a Goth mourn. I mean they've already got the black clothes thing going, so what do they do when somebody dies, wear bright colors?"

-------------------------

Abby was still in her trademark Goth outfits when the team found her. Black clothes, black eyeliner and plenty of funky spiked jewelry. But it was obvious that she was upset. Even her pigtails seemed a little less perky than usual.

As McGee had predicted, she was slumped in front of her Ouija board doing her best to seek out a message from the spirit plane. The second they materialized in front of her, the Ouija board started going wild, moving frantically from side to side.

Abby immediately sat up straighter, her eyes widening. "Oh my God, this is not happening." Taking a deep breath, she put her hands back on the pointer. "Okay...is...is there somebody there?"

"Well at least she's expecting to contact one of us, so she's probably not going to keel over and die if we respond," said Kate. "Sorry Ducky."

"No apologies necessary Caitlin. Shall we try and move the pointer?" He put his finger on the pointer but it went right through it. "Hmm, this isn't as easy as I'd expected."

"Maybe Kate or I should try it," suggested McGee. "Abby's probably trying to contact one of us, so maybe I don't know, we'll be able to do it."

Kate shrugged, "What have we got to lose."

As Abby repeated her question, Kate and McGee concentrated their resources on the pointer. It took a lot of effort but they finally managed to make it point to the YES.

Abby's eyes were focused on the board. "Who are you?"

This proved a little more difficult to answer, as both Kate and McGee were trying to spell their own names. But eventually they stopped arguing and Abby held her breath as the pointer moved M C G E E K A T E.

Abby shot back from the table a look of delight on her face. "Tim, Kate, oh my God, this is so cool! Are you here, I mean really."

"Abigail, be careful dear girl," said Ducky, as Abby was now jumping round her apartment in delight and had already waved her spiked wristband through his head twice.

"I've been doing this shit for years, and this is the first time I've gotten a proper response, or at least one I could be sure wasn't some bonehead with his finger on the pointer trying to make it tell me to sleep with him. Guys, where are you, can you let me see you?"

"Abby, watch out," called Tony as Abby's path took her over to her computer desk, but he was too late, and the team watched in horror as Abby waved her hands once too often. The spiked wristband smashed into the desk light and one of the spikes went directly into the bulb socket. There was a shower of sparks and the lights went out.

-------------------------

"You know maybe somebody put a curse on this team and that's why we're dropping like flies," said Abby.

"That'd be one explanation I'm sure," said Ducky.

"Ah well," said Abby. "You got to admit, it was a pretty cool way to go. Although I am disappointed about one thing."

"Only one?"

"Well yeah, I mean I always figured that death by electrocution would make my hair go all curly, you know like happens in the movies. But it's as straight as ever." She tutted in disappointment.

----------------------------

To be continued.

Title: Death be not proud 5/7
Author: Ceindreadh
Email: Ceindreadh@eircom.net
Website: n/a
Permission to archive: Yes
Fandom(s): NCIS
Genre (general, hetero or slash) Gen
Pairing/Characters: n/a
Rating: FRT 13
Summary: What happened after Twilight
Warnings: Death fic (duh!).
Notes: This is a sick and twisted idea that I got after reading a post regarding Twilight. I apologize in advance but I just couldn't help myself
Acknowledgments: I don't own the characters, I'm only borrowing them, and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.

----------------

[Part 05]

"So what do we now, guys?" asked Abby, as perky as ever even in death. "Cause I think we should sneak into the guys changing rooms at that new gym downtown."

"Make it the ladies changing rooms and you've got a deal, Abs," said Tony, eyes lighting up at the prospect.

"Did I thank you yet Tony for being so considerate as to drop dead in your shorts? Because I really appreciate it."

Tony struck a smug pose.

"Did I thank you for *not* dropping dead in the shower, DiNozzo?" said Kate.

Tony pulled a face at her, "Gee Kate I don't know. Guess I never thanked you for getting your blood all over my face."

"Don't blame me for that," snapped Kate, "McGee was the one who distracted Ari at the wrong time. Hey McGee," she said, turning to the younger agent. "Next time make sure you get him to hit this bonehead instead."

"I...I said I was sorry," McGee stammered.

"Ah, what's the matter, probie gonna cry," taunted Tony.

"I told you not to call me that any more."

"Oh yeah, well make me. Probie probie probie probie...ouch!" This was in response to Kate punching him in the stomach. "Hey that's not fair. Pick on someone your own size."

"Children please." Ducky's voice went unnoticed in the noise. He turned to Abby who was watching the argument.

"You know I really wish I had some popcorn right about now, Ducky."

"I think we need something stronger than that my dear Abigail. Without a firm hand to guide them, those young people will tear themselves apart. What they need is a leader."

Abby looked at Ducky for a few seconds before putting her fingers in her mouth and whistling loudly. When the three arguers finally shut up and looked at her she said "Pack up everybody, we're going to pay Gibbs a visit."

"Um, I don't know it that's such a good idea," said McGee hesitantly. "I mean, so far everybody we've tried to visit has, you know, died."

"Hate to say it, but Pro...McGee's right," said Tony. "We're not exactly batting a thousand here."

"I'm not sure that we have any alternative," said Ducky. "We could try and make ourselves known to a psychic or medium and perhaps pass on a message that way."

"Yeah, cause Gibbs is really gonna listen to some nutcase ringing him up to say she's got a message from 'beyond the grave'," this last was said in Abby's spookiest voice.

"Oh," said Kate, unsuccessfully trying to keep a smile from her lips. "I can just see his face now."

-------------------------

"I do have one suggestion before we head over to Jethro's house," said Ducky.

"What, you want to check out the changing rooms too, Duck man?" grinned Abby.

"Tempting though the idea is, Abigail, I really feel that we should devote some time to shall we say a higher purpose."

"You were more fun before you died. Go on Ducky, what sort of higher purpose did you have in mind?"

"Well I really feel that it would be a good idea for us each to practice moving things. While Caitlin and Timothy have had some small success..."

"I told you already how sorry I was about that, Ducky," interrupted McGee.

"Yes yes, but you also told me how difficult it was to manage even that small amount of movement of a corporeal form. I believe it would be of great value to us if we were able to interact with objects with a greater degree of success. It would certainly facilitate matters when endeavoring to communicate with Jethro."

"So you want us to practice so we can go all Poltergeist on his ass?" asked Tony. "I'm up for that."

"Well considering that Poltergeist activity is usually associated with a disturbed teenager, somehow I'm not really surprised," said Kate.

Before the bickering could start up again, Abby took charge and soon everybody was busy trying to move items of Abby's belongings around the room.

"Hey," yelped Tony as he felt Abby's hand on his boxers. "We're supposed to be moving corporeal objects."

"Sorry," said Abby, "I was er, aiming for something else."

----------------------

Finally, after several hours of practice, the team had acquired some proficiency at moving an object of their choice. It was still fairly hit and miss. Sometimes a simple push was enough to send say the Ouija board pointer scurrying madly across the table, other times it took a concerted effort, but overall Ducky was fairly confident that they would be able to control enough of their surroundings to pass a message to Gibbs.

Before leaving Abby's apartment, Kate took another trip back to get an update on Ari's situation. She was unable to ascertain where exactly he was, but as he had stopped the car to fill up at a gas station, she *did* manage to get a look at the number plate.

"You did good, Kate," said Tony when she told them of her success.

The words sent a chill through both of them. The last time Tony had said that had been the last moments of normality that either of them had known.

Unaware of the significance of the words, or perhaps just keen to get moving, Ducky rounded up his troops and they prepared for the transition to Gibbs house.

"It's the middle of the night," said McGee, looking at a clock. "Maybe we should wait, we don't want to wake him up."

"Oh Timothy," said Ducky, a note of sadness in his voice. "After all that's happened today, do you really think Gibbs will be sleeping? He'll be in his basement, working on that dammed boat of his."

"Yeah, any time he's pissed he goes and works on the boat," said Abby.

"Gee, I'm surprised he hasn't finished it by now," commented Kate.

"Nah, it's any time Gibbs get pissed he works on the boat," said Tony, "not any time he pisses someone off."

The tension broken, everybody gathered round.

-------------------------

"Wow, nice boat," said McGee, impressed at Gibbs handiwork.

"But where's Gibbs?" asked Abby.

"Gone upstairs for more coffee, probably," said Tony. "So what do we do? Start writing notes in the sawdust."

Kate had moved over to a workbench. "There's a carpenters pencil here. How about we write something on the boat. Then he'll be sure to notice it." She picked up the pencil with an effort, and held it out of the way of Tony's hand.
"No way DiNozzo, we want him to be able to read it!"

Tony backed off, hands in the air.

Kate brought the pencil over to the wood and tried her best to leave an impression on it, but her hand kept slipping through the wood.

"Concentrate, Caitlin," advised Ducky. "Easy does it."

"I want to get it done before Gibbs gets back," said Kate, biting her lip. "God knows what the sight of a moving pencil will do to him."

"Yeah, cause it's gonna be waaay freakier than him just finding writing after appearing on the side of his boat," said Tony, leaning over Kate's shoulder.

"Back off, DiNozzo," growled Kate. "Damn it," she swore as the pencil nearly slipped out of her hand.

"Let me try," said Tony.

"No!" snapped Kate. With one hand she tried to push him away, with the other she slammed the pencil up against the boat, concentrating on making it touch the wood and not go through it. But she had misjudged things and instead of the pencil just touching the wood, Kate's hand slammed against the side of the boat. "Dammit!" Kate instinctively dropped the pencil and watched in horror as the boat wobbled precariously on its support before crashing heavily to the ground. "Oh no!"

"Man, is Gibbs going to be pissed!" said Abby.

"Um guys," said McGee, who had walked around to the other side to survey the damage. "I think Gibbs is going to have other things on his mind."

"Like what, probie?" asked Tony as he followed McGee around to the other side of the boat. "Oh," he said, seeing the lower half of Gibbs body sticking out from under the wreckage of the boat. "Like that."

-------------------

"Oh my God, I've killed Gibbs," groaned Kate as she sat on the steps with her head in her hands.

"Look on the bright side Kate," said Tony.

"Bright side, *bright* side...I've just killed our last chance of catching Ari. Where the hell is the bright side in that?"

Tony shrugged, "Well at least since you're already dead, Gibbs won't be able to kill you."

-----------------------

To be continued.

Title: Death be not proud 6/7
Author: Ceindreadh
Email: Ceindreadh@eircom.net
Website: n/a
Permission to archive: Yes
Fandom(s): NCIS
Genre (general, hetero or slash) Gen
Pairing/Characters: n/a
Rating: FRT 13
Summary: What happened after Twilight
Warnings: Death fic (duh!).
Notes: This is a sick and twisted idea that I got after reading a post regarding Twilight. I apologize in advance but I just couldn't help myself
Acknowledgments: I don't own the characters, I'm only borrowing them and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.

[Part 06]

"Actually there's another bright side to this," added Tony.

Kate glared at him as he continued, "At least now I don't have the most embarrassing death. I mean, think of it. Getting squished by a boat has got to be waaaay more embarrassing than slipping in the bathroom. Poor Gibbs, everybody'll be sitting around and reminiscing about their death and he'll have to say somebody pushed a boat on top of him and...and he's behind me, isn't he?"

Kate nodded and let herself sink through the steps out of sight.

"Oh boy," said Tony, turning quickly around. "Hey boss, how's it going?" he asked brightly.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs had the voice of a man who was rapidly running out of patience...nothing unusual there. "Why are you standing around in my basement...in a pair of boxer shorts?"

"Because it was too cold to go commando...ouch!" this last was following a swat on the head. "Look Boss, you might want to sit down for a minute while I explain things."

"DiNozzo, I've had a very long day and I'm not in the mood for whatever scrape you've got yourself into. Just get out, and if you're going to play strip poker, then *please* learn how to cheat properly." Gibbs had his hand on Tony's arm ready to lead him up the stairs.

"Jethro," said Ducky, emerging from the shadows. He had felt it would be best if Gibbs wasn't suddenly confronted by the ghosts of all his team at once. To that end he had suggested that Kate and McGee stay out of Gibbs immediate sight. "You really need to sit down and listen to what we have to say."

"Ducky? Is this some kind of intervention or something? And really shouldn't you have changed out of your scrubs before you came over?"

Ducky had almost forgotten what he was wearing, "Ah, yes, I would have changed, but circumstances dictated otherwise."

"I said I was sorry," came McGee's voice from a darkened corner.

Gibbs spun around quickly. "Ducky, did you hear that? Sounded like McGee."

"Jethro," Ducky tried to get his attention. "I really think you should sit down and listen to what Tony and I have to say."

"I'm not going crazy, Ducky," protested Gibbs. "I know I heard his voice."

Ducky sighed, "I can see this isn't going to work. Everybody, please come out."

Abby was the first to emerge. "Hey Gibbs."

"Did...did you just walk through the wall?"

"Yep, isn't this just the coolest thing ever?"

"Not especially, now do you mind telling me just what's going on and..." Gibbs voice trailed off as McGee followed Abby out of the wall. "McGee? But you're dead. I saw them bring your body to the morgue..."

"Hey boss," said Kate, standing up behind Gibbs. He spun round to look at her and then did a most unGibbs like thing. With all the team watching him, he fainted.

----------------------

Gibbs could hear voices all around him.

"I never knew ghosts could faint. You sure he's dead, Ducky? Maybe the boat just knocked him out."

"From what I could see of the body Tony, I'm afraid that Gibbs is indeed deceased."

"Besides," and this was Abby's voice. "The fact that he's still doing a wicked witch of the west impression the other side of the basement while his ghost is over here is a pretty good sign."

"Wasn't that the wicked witch of the east that ended up under the house?" This was McGee's voice. "And the wicked witch of the west was the one who melted."

"Whichever it was, it's still a pretty nasty way to go." This was Tony again. "On the plus side, I don't think the boat took too much damage."

"Well it did have a nice soft landing. Poor Jethro, when I think of all the times he's cheated death in his life, it does seem strange that he should die in such an...unfortunate way."

"Look, it was an accident, okay?" Kate sounded really irritated by now. "And besides, what sort of idiot spends his time lying under a boat?"

"The idiot who happens to be your *boss*," growled Gibbs, finally opening his eyes and sitting up. "And for your information, I fell asleep down here." That the sleep had been precipitated by several shots of whisky was something Gibbs felt no need to explain.
What did need explaining however was just why he was being haunted by the ghosts of his dead team. That, and why there were so many of them.

---------------------

One set of explanations later and Gibbs was still none the wiser. "I don't believe in ghosts," he announced.

"Well we sure believe in you, boss," grinned Tony. "And I'm sure you believe in yourself...you know I was kinda beginning to miss that glare of yours."

"Okay, assuming for the sake of argument, why exactly are all of ghosts. Ducky, you're the death expert, what do you make of all this." An observer would have noted how quickly the team had fallen into their usual roles once Gibbs was there to push them on.

"Well there's many stories and myths about the origin of ghosts," Ducky began. "I could go on for years without repeating myself."

"An eternity of Ducky telling stories," Tony whispered to Kate. "Well at least it'll make the time pass."

"I'm less worried about an eternity of Ducky telling stories than I am an eternity of Gibbs without any coffee," Kate whispered back. Tony grimaced in response.

"But the most usual reasons for somebody becoming a ghost are either due to unfinished business to attend to..."

"And I think we all know what *that* is," said Gibbs.

"...or if the person or persons responsible for their death have not been brought to justice. That would indeed fit in well. Timothy and Caitlin's killers have yet to be caught."

"Well technically McGee was responsible for *my* death," said Kate.

"Yes, but since his spirit is not at rest then yours cannot rest either. The same holds true for me. My spirit is tied to the spirits of both of you."

"And mine is tied to the rest of you," added Abby. "And Gibbs, you're tied to the lot of us so you can't rest until we do."

McGee looked puzzled, "But that doesn't explain Tony."

"McGee," said Kate, "*Nobody* can explain Tony."

"But yeah," said Abby, "How come Tony's still hanging around if he died by accident."

Tony shrugged, "You know me, never one to miss a good party!"

-----------------------

To be continued

Title: Death be not proud 7/7
Author: Ceindreadh
Email: Ceindreadh@eircom.net
Website: n/a
Permission to archive: Yes
Fandom(s): NCIS
Genre (general, hetero or slash) Gen
Pairing/Characters: n/a
Rating: FRT 13
Summary: What happened after Twilight
Warnings: Death fic (duh!).
Notes: This is a sick and twisted idea that I got after reading a post regarding Twilight. I apologize in advance but I just couldn't help myself
Acknowledgments: I don't own them, I'm only borrowing them and I promise to return them in minty fresh condition when I'm finished.


[Part 07]


"Party or no party," snapped Gibbs, "We can't sit around here forever." He groaned in annoyance. "What the hell are the odds of the entire team dying on the same day?"

"Um, probably somewhere up in the millions or maybe bill..." McGee shut up quickly when Gibbs glared at him.

"Does anybody have anything constructive to say?"

"Well I can find Ari no matter where he is," said Kate. "Plus I know the license number of the car he's driving."

"And that's going to help us how exactly Kate? We can't exactly set up a roadblock and catch the bastard. Now maybe if you hadn't dropped a boat on my head..."

"Hey, I was trying to write the license number on the side so you could do something about it," snapped Kate.

"Gee," whispered McGee to Abby, "Gibbs is just as cranky dead as he was alive."

"That's probably because he hasn't had any coffee for ages. Course now he's not gonna be getting his caffeine fix any more. Boy, this could get interesting."

A look of horror passed across McGee's face. "Isn't there anyway we could get him some?"

"I don't know," said Abby. "Maybe we could kill a mug of coffee or something."

"We could always torch a Starbucks," said Tony who had been eavesdropping.

"DiNozzo, if you have something constructive to add to the discussion then feel free to enlighten us," interrupted Gibbs.

"No Boss, I'm good."

"Right then, we need to figure out some way to take down Ari, has anybody any suggestions." Gibbs saw Tony start to open his mouth, "Any *useful* suggestions."

"I was only gonna suggest we haunt him a bit," said Tony. "Maybe shake him into making a mistake or something that'll get him caught."

"You know DiNozzo, that's not a completely bad idea."

"Probably because it was Ducky who suggested it before," said Kate.

"Well whoever thought of it, it's the only workable plan we've got so far. All right everybody, listen up. This is how it's going to work."

-----------------------

Ari looked over his shoulder as he armed the bomb. His hands were not quite as steady as they used to be. Four weeks since he had shot Caitlin and he had been more affected by her death than he would have thought possible. It seemed like every time he looked in a mirror, there she was looking over his shoulder. He was getting very little sleep at night and what little sleep he *did* get was disrupted by voices telling him long rambling stories about how murderers always got their comeuppance.

Days weren't much better. Ari kept seeing figures in the shadows. Sometimes it was Kate, the bullet wound prominent in the center of her forehead. Other times it was Gibbs, his face looking like thunder.

Once Ari had woken in the middle of the night and was sure he'd caught a glimpse of that Doctor Mallard he had once held hostage. The Doctor had been dressed in surgical scrubs and looked like he was ready to perform an autopsy.

The worst hallucination though had got to be the half naked man wandering around. "I'm not gay," Ari had told himself the first time he had seen him. "It's just my imagination." It hadn't worked, and the dreams and hallucinations had increased in number until Ari was barely able to tell illusion from reality. That was why this was going to be his last assignment. After setting this bomb to blow up, he was going to go far far away and take a well-deserved period of rest. All he had to do was set this bomb.

It was a delicate operation, one that Ari would trust to nobody else. One mistake while arming the bomb and it would blow up in his face instead of being ready to be placed in position for later detonation. All Ari needed to do was connect the blue wire to the explosive charge in just the right position...

There was a sudden sound behind Ari, almost as if six people had suddenly yelled, "BOO!" Ari's hand slipped. "Oh no," was all he managed to say before the bomb detonated.

-----------------------

Gibbs and the team stood round their fallen enemy. For the last four weeks they had worked in shifts to make Ari's life a living hell. The original plan had been merely to observe what he was doing and figure out a way to disrupt any acts of terrorism he was going to perform. That or communicate his plans to somebody in a position to stop him. Direct contact with anyone from NCIS had been ruled out, Gibbs having no intention of increasing the size of his team.

The plan had changed however once Abby discovered that with a bit of concentration, the ghosts could make themselves appear for short spaces of time. And it was Ducky who noticed that when Ari was asleep, he seemed to be able to hear them talking.

Ducky had whiled away many a night sitting at Ari's bedside and regaling the sleeping man with tales of the most gruesome autopsies he had performed.

And now their plans had worked and Ari was dead. And as the eyes of his ghost opened, Gibbs stepped up to him and said, "I've been waiting for what seems like an eternity for this."

He was about to say more, when Tony spoke up, "Um Boss, you know what Ducky told us about how when you die all your victims show up to get a piece of the action?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Look around you Boss."

Gibbs turned around. The once empty warehouse was filled with ghosts. Most of them looking at Ari with revenge in their eyes.

"Come on Boss, I think we should let these guys handle it. I mean, we died in the line of duty so to speak. This lot, most of them were innocents. Figure they should get to do the honors."

Gibbs hesitated only slightly before a smile came over his face. Stepping aside he said, "Be my guest," to the crowd of ghosts before him.

As the NCIS team walked away, they could hear Ari begin to scream.

-------------------

"So what happens now?" Abby asked as they walked through the walls and into the twilight.

"Well since Ari is dead, then that should break the chain," answered Ducky. "So I suppose we'll all move on to whatever plane of existence awaits us."

"But what about Tony?" asked Abby. "He's not really part of the chain. Does that mean he's stuck here on his own as a ghost?"

They all looked at Tony. "I think that Tony as part of the team had his destiny inextricably linked with the rest of us," said Ducky, finally. "All for one and one for all."

"Ducky's right," said Gibbs decisively. "We're a team and we always will be." He held out his hand. Ducky put his hand on top of Gibbs, followed by Tony, McGee, Kate, Abby and finally Gibbs' other hand.

And slowly they all faded away.

----------------------

The End