It was a dark and stormy morning outside of the NCIS office building, but inside everything was as cheery as usual. Tony was entertaining himself by flicking paperclips at Ziva, who was busy using all of her self-restraint on trying not to kill him. McGee was kept occupied by his latest palm pilot gadget.

Seemingly on cue, Gibbs entered the bullpen, his cell rang, and Ziva snapped, finally throwing twenty or so paperclips back at Tony.

"Ziva," Gibbs said before answering his ringing cell. He turned his back on his agents, which was lucky, for at that point Tony took the opportunity to stick his tongue out at Ziva, who mimed strangling him.

"Gibbs," he answered.

"Hey, it's Abby," came the familiar voice on the other end of the line. She sounded angry and stressed out.

"Abs, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Life, the universe, and everything," she sighed.

"What?" If he was worried before, now he was really concerned. She was spouting nonsense.

"That's what's wrong. You know, from that one book, by that guy, Douglas Adams," she answered. The line was fuzzy, but he
caught most of what she said.

"Douglas who? What are you talking about?" he asked. There was a loud clap of thunder that echoed first through the phone and then the office. "Are you outside?"

"Never mind about him! Yes, I am outside, in the middle of freakin' nowhere , 'cause my car broke down," she yelled. Gibbs held the phone a few inches away from his ear.

"Okay, I'll come get you. Where are you?" he asked calmly.

"Oh, somewhere between my apartment and the office, about five minutes from there, along the road somewhere." She sounded nearly hysterical.

"Okay, I'll see you in a few."

"Thanks!" They hung up, and Gibbs grabbed his jacket and umbrella.

"Where you goin' Boss?" Tony asked eagerly, jumping up and dodging a paper ball from Ziva.

"To get Abby." Gibbs replied. "Her car broke down. You three stay here and get some work done. Behave!" Tony looked disappointed and sat back down.

"Yes, Boss," the team answered in unison. Gibbs grimaced to himself. Honestly, some days he felt more like their dad than their boss.

Chapter 2

Gibbs had been gone for about two minutes when a tall blonde stepped into the bullpen, holding the leash of a menacing looking black lab.

"Uh, miss, we don't allow pets in here," Tony said uncomfortably. He figured someone should say something, but Ziva was pointedly ignoring the woman and McGee was too busy with his palm pilot.

"He's a seeing-eye dog," the woman answered curtly. "You're Tony DiNozzo, aren't you?"

"Oh, you're bli-" Tony started, embarrassed.

"You haven't changed a bit, still tactless," the woman said. Both Ziva and McGee were watching her now.

"Yes," Ziva answered, laughing, "Always."

"You are Tony, right?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry," Tony answered, even more embarrassed than before, "and you are?"

"Maria Schultz," she offered her hand out to him, "and this is Doug." she gestured to the dog, who was now sitting at her feet. "You don't remember me?"

"Uh, should I?" Tony had lost his cool; he was no longer the smooth talking wonder, thrown off by her disability.

"We went to high school together, remember?" She looked disappointed that he didn't remember her.

"Oh, right! Maria, from high school. Yeah, how are you, you and Doug?" Tony bluffed. Great, he thought, mention the dog, a
constant reminder that she's blind.

"We're doing great. You seem like you're doing well, too. Who's your friend?" Maria asked politely.

"That's Ziva, and behind the palm pilot over there is McGee, I mean, Tim," he said, pointing. He lowered is hand quickly. Crap, he thought, she can't see, stupid!

"Right, I heard him when I came in," she said, politely ignoring his stupidity. There was an awkward silence before she bid him farewell. "I better be going. It was nice to talk to you again, Tony. Nice meeting you Ziva, Tim." Just like that, she left, stopping by Ziva's desk and taking the proffered ten dollar bill before disappearing.

"Wait, what was that for?" Tony asked confused at the exchange of money.

"For coming here and pretending she went to high school with you," Ziva answered, standing and walking over to McGee's desk, holding out her hand expectantly.

"What?!?" Tony sputtered as McGee handed over a twenty.

"Thank you!" Ziva said before turning to Tony and explaining.

"I bet him you would pretend you knew her."

"You're telling me you paid some random chick to-" Tony began.

"She's not random," Ziva interrupted him. "She's blind and I knew you'd get awkward and lie to her. She works as an explosives expert. We, uh, met a few years back." Tony tried to wrap his mind around this bit of info as Ziva returned to her desk.

"Wait, she's blind and she does..."

"Explosives, yes. She's quite good at it, too," Ziva finished for him.

"Right. So, where's my cut of the cash?" he asked, referring to Ziva's winnings.

"You don't get any," Ziva told him.

"Why not?" he asked indignantly.

"'Cause it's mine," she said, echoing what he had told her every time she had asked him for anything.

"Oh. Fair enough."

Chapter 3

It didn't take Gibbs long to spot Abby's car pulled over on the other side of the road. Stopping on the shoulder, he pulled out his umbrella and ran across the street. He knocked on her window, and she gave an excited squeal before getting out.

"Thanks!" she said as they stood close under they umbrella, so as not to get wet.

"What's that?" he asked as they walked back to his car. She was holding a small package, wrapped in black tissue paper. Once they were in the car she handed it to him.

"It's a present for you," she said excitedly.

"But why di-" he began, but she cut him off.

"Just open it!" He did so, and pulled out a pack of cherry bubblegum, and what looked like a concert ticket. He shot Abby a questioning look.

"It's to see Android Lust tonight. I needed someone to go with me," she said sweetly.

"And you want me to go? I don't even like Android Lust," he said, confused.

"Yeah, 'cause you're my only friend I haven't dragged to go see them with. Oh, and the gum's just to soften you up," she said pleadingly.

"Fine," he said giving in, "but I don't really like bubblegum."

"Oh," she said, grabbing it from him. "Then I'll take it!" He smiled and drove them back to work.


(That Night)

"THIS IS SO COOL!" Abby yelled to Gibbs over the pounding music.

"WHAT!?!" Gibbs called back.

"THIS IS COOL!" Abby screamed .

"IF YOU SAY SO!" he yelled.

"AWW, LIGHTEN UP, YELL OR DANCE OR SOMETHING!"

"I DON'T DANCE," Gibbs yelled flatly.

"EVERYBODY DANCES," Abby argued. To prove her point, she began jumping up and down and spinning to the music. Gibbs laughed and found his foot tapping to the beat. Abby laughed, too, and grabbed his hands, spinning him around.

"ENOUGH!" he said, pulling away. "YOU'RE WEARING ME OUT!"

"FINE," she said, and they both sat back down in their seats. Abby was singing along to the band, and Gibbs was smiling, glad he was spending time with the woman he thought of like a daughter.

Chapter 4

(The Next Day, After Lunch)

McGee and Ziva both arrived back from lunch at the same time. When the elevator doors opened, they stepped out together and saw Gibbs and Abby in the bullpen.

"Last night was amazing," Abby was telling Gibbs. Hearing this, Ziva grabbed McGee by the tie and pulled him into a nearby broom closet. Once inside, she pushed the door shut, leaving a crack to look out through.

"Ziva, what are we doing?" McGee asked, confused.

"Hiding," she answered quickly.

"Hiding?" he asked, still confused.

"And spying," she confirmed.

"Why-" he began but she interrupted him.

'Something tells me that's not a conversation we should walk in on," she said, nodding to Abby and Gibbs.

"Wait," McGee said. "Are they talking about what I think they're-"

"Shhh!" Ziva said, listening intently. McGee also fell silent.

"Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" Gibbs said. "It got kind of hot there in the end, though."

"Yeah, and my voice is still sore from all that screaming,"
Abby said. Back in the broom closet, Ziva turned to McGee.

"Why would she be screaming if they were having..." she asked, and McGee just gave her a look.

"It's Abby," he said.

"Right." She turned back to eavesdropping.

"Oh, and then when you didn't want to and I said you should, and you did, and it was great! We should do it again sometime," she said all in one breath.

"Yeah, we should," Gibbs agreed, nodding. Abby left, heading for the elevator and her lab. McGee and Ziva looked at each other in a stunned silence, when suddenly the door opened.

"You guys gonna stay in there all day?" Gibbs asked, looking down at the two of them crouching on the floor.

"Uhh…" Ziva said.

"We were just..." McGee tried to explain.

"I don't wanna know," Gibbs stated coolly, before returning to his desk. They quickly followed him to their own desks and sat down. There was an awkward silence.

"We were just..." Ziva began, but Gibbs cut her off.

"Just keep it out of the office," he said.

"What? No! We're not, no!" Ziva and McGee both began to deny

what Gibbs was implying.

"Right," Gibbs said, indicating that the conversation was over. Moments later, Tony breezed in, slightly confused by the awkward silence. Knowing something was up, he kept quiet. Not able to hold back any longer, Ziva finally burst out:

"We know what you and Abby did last night," she said. "McGee and I, uh, overheard your conversation at lunch."

"Okay," Gibbs said indifferently. Tony watched the incredulous look pass between Ziva and McGee. He leaned back in his chair, watching the scene unfold and trying to figure out what was going on.

"But that's a serious infliction of rule number twelve," Ziva protested, wondering how he could be so calm. McGee just stayed quiet, wondering why she had spilled the beans. If Abby and Gibbs had something going on between them they wanted to be kept a secret, then he was all for it being secret.

'Wait,' Tony thought. "Rule number twelve. That's the one about dating... Abby and Gibbs are...hinky'

"What?!" Gibbs yelled. "I don't know what you think, but Abby and I went to a concert last night."

"Oh," McGee and Ziva said in unison. 'A concert' Ziva thought. 'That makes sense: hot, screaming, oops!'

"Did I miss something?" Tony asked.