Monday

"You're here already?" Abby asked Carly as she walked in with a Caff-Pow and a coffee.

"You expected me to get here first or you wouldn't have brought the coffee." Carly replied without turning, putting the slide into the microscope.

"How do you know this isn't for Gibbs?"

"Because if it was his, you would have left it on his desk."

With a big grin and a gulp of Caff-Pow Abby said, "You are correct. So, starting your first full week, how does it feel Ms. Thomas?"

"It feels wonderful Ms. Sciuto. Especially since Director Shepard told me Friday that the dress code doesn't apply so much down here in the lab."

"What are you wearing?" Abby asked and then had to laugh when she got an eyeful.

Carly had on a t-shirt that said "Bad boys….." and a short black skirt with knee high black boots. From the back with the lab coat on, she was totally presentable, even her hair was pulled back at the nape with a hair band. From the back, she was a professional. From the front, she was the friend Abby recognized as a kindred spirit.

"I can't believe you have that shirt on. I sent it to you, but I can't believe you'd wear it on your second day of work." Abby told her, remembering the back of the shirt said "I like ‘em that way."

"Wouldn't you wear it?"

Abby smiled again and nodded, "Definitely. I really loosened you up since we met, didn't I?"

"Yes, you certainly did."

Abby looked into the microscope. "What have we got?"

"Those are from samples that Tony brought in earlier. I think he's testing me to see if I know how to run the equipment."

They both shared a laugh at the thought but were soon caught up in the music and work that had to be completed. The next time they came up for air, it was time for lunch.

Wednesday

Gibbs entered the lab with a Caff-Pow in his hand. "Abby, do you…Who are you?" He asked when Carly turned around.

"Carly Thomas, Abby's assistant." She replied watching him take in her outfit of the day – a purple T with the word "Score" on the front, black cargo pants and black combat boots.

"Where's Abby?" He asked once done with the inspection.

"She took some lab results up to Tony."

"Where are my lab results?"

"Right here, bossman." Abby answered him coming into the lab. "I see you've met Carly."

"Results, Abs?" Gibbs reminded her and hands over the Caff-Pow.

"Alright, no chit chat, I get it. The bullet came from a .380 pistol. I ran it through the system to see if there were any hits. We got a match. There was a hold-up last year in Charleston, West Virginia. Bullets recovered from the scene match the bullets found at your crime scene. There was a suspect identified, but never brought in. Her name is….."

"Janet Bell." Gibbs finished.

"You know, if you're going to do my job, I can take my Caff-Pow and go home." Abby told him with affection.

Gibbs almost smiled. "Thank you Abby. You just confirmed what I thought."

He turned and grabbed the coffee, taking a big drink as he heads to the door.

"Um, Gibbs?" Carly said, speaking again.

Gibbs looked at her with his brow raised.

"That was mine." She told him.

With a slight shrug, Gibbs replied, "It's good coffee."

He walked out leaving them bemused.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Cynthia saw him coming and shook her head. "Hello, Agent Gibbs," she greeted him as he walked into the Director's office.

"Jethro, what a surprise. What problem can I help you with now?"

"Where'd you get Abby's assistant?"

"Did she do something wrong?"

"Is she trying to be just like Abby?"

"Jethro, you always suspect people are at their worst. She is not trying to be just like Abby. Yes, I have noticed this week that she dresses similarly, but that's not a crime and I want her as comfortable as Abby so they can work together. Did you even notice any of her differences?"

"She likes coffee, just coffee, no cream or sugar. She's 5'3" tall and she doesn't have any visible tattoos."

Jen smiled. "Apparently, they've known each other for several years now. Once I hired her, Abby told me she didn't want to say anything to influence my decision."

Shaking his head, Gibbs turned to the door. "At least this one doesn't make you want to throw something at her."

"You wanted to throw something at Chip?"

"No. I felt like shooting him. But that would've been a waste of a perfectly good bullet."

Friday

"If I have to look at one more minute of video without a fresh cup of coffee, I'm gonna go cross-eyed." Carly announced to Abby's amusement.

"You know, you haven't left the lab since you started working here. You come straight here and go straight home everyday. The only people you've met are the Director, Gibbs, and Tony." Abby paused the video. "Come on, I'm getting you out of the lab."

"Where are we going?" Carly asked, curious to see what her friend had in mind.

"You'll see," was all Abby would say.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ducky, I've got someone you have to meet." Abby said as they walked into the doctor's domain.

"Abigail, I was wondering when you would get around to bringing your assistant down here." Dr. Mallard replied. He turned from the body he was working on and his eyes widened in surprise. Anthony hadn't been mistaken when he said the new employee was pretty.

"Hello, Ducky, I'm Carly Thomas." She introduced herself with a smile and a small curtsy. The older man smiled at her in delight. Yes, he could see how the two women were drawn to be friends. They both seemed to be a mix of joy and mischief. Abigail certainly was, at least. "It's a pleasure to meet you, dear. Is Abigail treating you well?"

"Ducky, when have I mistreated anyone?" Abby asked, pretending to be insulted.

"It was only a joke, Abby." Ducky told her and then noticed the twinkle in her eye.

"Who are you working on, Ducky?" Carly asked, looking behind him at the body.

"PFC Ryan Walker. Poor man returned from Iraq safe but never made it out of the airport. I just opened him up to see what secrets he would reveal."

Carly walked over to the body to take a look. "Everything appears normal. Nothing out of the ordinary just from looking."

"Exactly. I was just about to have Mr. Palmer assist me in weighing the organs and send some samples to Abigail." Ducky looked over at his assistant to find him staring in bemusement at Carly. "Mr. Palmer!" Ducky said a little louder than necessary. "Would you mind handing those samples to Carly? They might want to start working on something other than that video Jethro brought them earlier this morning."

Jimmy turned red and placed the blood and tissue samples in Carly's hand. "Here you go." "Thank you, Mr. Palmer." Carly said and smiled at the obviously embarrassed young man.

"Jimmy," he told her. "Please call me Jimmy."

"Jimmy." She acknowledged. "I'll go run these now."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Back in the lab, the two women had to laugh at the look on Jimmy's face.

"I think he likes you." Abby joked with Carly.

"Oh, no. I hope not. Not that I would date someone I work with. Anyway, the last guy I went out with that was that sweet ended up badly bruised from letting me walk all over him."

"Hey, what's wrong with dating a co-worker?" Abby asked.

"I know you dated McGee, but for me, when things go bad, it ruins the happy environment around me. Sucks all the good energy right out of me. I had that happen in LA. I told you about it. Its how I ended up back in Houston."

"And from Houston to here." Abby came back with a smile.

"Yep. I had to be closer to my bud, you know. IM's just weren't cutting it anymore."

"I know. It sucks when one of your closest friends is half-way across the country."

Nodding in agreement, they started the tests on the blood and tissue samples from PFC Walker. With a sigh, Carly hit the play button to start the video once again.

Monday

"Damn machine." Gibbs muttered, slamming the offensive object to his desk.

Carly walked up in time to catch his comment. "PDA pissing you off Gibbs?" At the steely stare she received for that quip, she added, "Abby said you needed this ASAP."

"What is it?" Gibbs asked. Once again he was without his glasses.

"The analysis of the carpet fibers found on Private Nash's clothes. It's from an automobile, a Chevrolet Caprice, to be exact, made around 1985." Carly ended, nodding her head to emphasis the information.

"McGee!" Gibbs barked.

"On it, boss. Cross-referencing our suspects with owner registration's of a 1985 Chevy Caprice." McGee answered automatically, typing away.

"Call me when you get something. I'll be in autopsy."

"Yes, boss."

Carly was still standing there with the report in her hand. Tony looked over with a look of shared pain. "I feel it's a little late to warn you, Gibbs doesn't talk with anyone about his technology deficiencies."

"I could teach him how to use it." Carly offered.

With a shudder Tony replied, "I offered that once. His reply was that me teaching him was backwards."

Raising her eyebrows, Carly said, "I got it. No offers of help needed." She turned to McGee. "Not to interrupt you, but I'm Carly."

Not looking up from his computer, McGee nodded. "Tim McGee. It's nice to meet you. Thanks for bringing the results up."

Smiling, already on her way to the elevator, she told him, "You're welcome. And it's nice to meet you too."

When the elevator doors closed, McGee looked at Tony. "You weren't lying. She is pretty. But I don't

think she's as pretty as Abby."

Tony shrugged. "Nobody's as pretty as Abby in your book, McGee."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Back in the lab, Abby was muttering about slow computers. Carly placed the Caff-Pow in reach and went to her computer. "What's got you ready to kill your system?"

"Ziva needs me to go through Private Nash's computer files to see if he was documenting any of his actions before he died. All I am getting are error messages and I've already several virus scans with no luck yet on finding the problem."

"What if the virus you can't find is the information you're looking for?" Carly proposed.

Abby's head snapped up and she looked at Carly. "You're right. Let me see." She hit a few keys and all the execute files on the computer flashed on the screen. "Here it is. Oh man. This is a nasty one. It looks like he created a virus and then turned it loose one of his own computers. I can't find anything else that makes sense."

"Well, that must be it then."

"What must be it then?" Gibbs asked walking in with another Caff-Pow and his coffee. "Do you still need this one, Abs?" He asked when he noticed her still full cup.

"I always need those, Gibbs. And the ‘it' we were talking about is the computer virus that Private Nash created. He was smart, really smart. He was testing the virus on one of his own computers to see what it would do. He hadn't unleashed it anywhere else though."

"What would this virus do, Abs?"

"Gather financial information and make small, untraceable withdrawals from banks across the country." Carly told him reading the code over their shoulders.

"Right." Abby agreed.

"Don't they have viruses like that already and a fix for it?" Gibbs asked, frustrated with the seemingly unimportant information.

"Sure," Carly answered and Gibbs turned to her. "But this one doesn't need any personal information or account numbers. This virus wasn't going into a certain person or persons account, it was going straight into the funds the banks hold for their own needs."

"How would turning this thing loose on his own computer help?" Gibbs wanted to know.

"It would tell him whether or not the virus he set up could actually get enough info about the banks to hack into the banks money. It looks like he was almost there, too." Abby told him.

"Good work." Gibbs said and gave the coffee to Carly. At her look of surprise, he told her, "For the one I drank the other day." Then he walked out.

Amazed that he gave her a coffee, all Carly could say was, "He still hasn't shaved the ‘stache, Abby."

Abby laughed and turned back to stare at the monitor.

Monday Afternoon

"Ugh, damn!" Carly exclaimed.

"Computer pissing you off, Carly?" Gibbs mirrored her questions from earlier as he walked into the lab with Ziva on his heels.

Taking a deep breath, the young woman turned to him and replied, "No, the program on the computer is. It keeps bringing up false positive matches on the fingerprint search I'm doing."

"Can't you fix it?" Ziva asked, not grasping the problem.

"Yes, but it might take some time."

"What may take some time?" Abby queried from behind Gibbs.

"Finding out who's hacking our system causing these problems." Carly told her and reached around the Special Agent to take the coffee Abby brought back for her.

Abby looked at Carly like she had grown another head. "What makes you think we've been hacked?"

Carly picked up a stack of papers to emphasize her point, "Only twenty people that come up as a match for the set of prints on the Chevy Caprice and five false matches on DNA." Gibbs looked at her in surprise and she explained further, "The DNA can't match if the blood type doesn't match."

"Get this fixed you two. I need to find out who stole that car and why Private Nash was killed." Gibbs ordered and walked out.

"Ziva David." She said introducing herself to Carly.

"Carly Thomas. Nice to meet you." Carly replied.

"Ziva!" Gibbs yelled from the elevator. "We have work to do."

She nodded at Abby and Carly and ran to catch up with Gibbs.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Gibbs arrived back at the bullpen in time to watch Fornell step off the other elevator. "Jethro, we need to talk."

The two men walked back to the elevator and waited until Jethro hit the switch to stop it.

"Why do have the feeling I'm not going to like what you have to tell me, Tobias?"

"Because you won't. We've gotten word that someone in the government is trying to create a program to siphon unidentifiable amounts of cash from banks to fund covert ops."

Gibbs stared at Fornell weighing what he had been told. "We have the programmer down in autopsy right now. We are working on locating his killer, but that might prove to be difficult."

Fornell looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Someone's hacking into Abby's computer and screwing with the results on this case, only this case. Whoever hired Private Nash, doesn't want us to find the connection between the killer and covert ops."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Abby and Carly were ready to scream. They had only been tracing this hacker for less that half-an-hour, but had been lead on several goose chases already.

Gibbs and Fornell walked into the room to see Carly pound her fist on the desk.

"That won't help." Abby said.

"I realized that when you did it." She replied almost irritated. "Whoever this is, they are good."

"They are paid to be good." Gibbs announced making their presence know.

"They who, Gibbs?" Abby wanted to know without looking up from her monitor.

"The government, Abs. Someone hired Private Nash to create the virus to fund covert ops and then killed him."

"But why kill him when he didn't have the program completed?" Carly wanted to know and noticed the other man staring at her.

"Maybe whoever killed him didn't know it wasn't completed. Maybe Private Nash suffered from a guilty conscious and turned it over as-is knowing it wouldn't do what they wanted it too." Abby offered and Gibbs smiled.

"Good work you two. Now if you could just find out who is hacking the system…." Gibbs hinted.

"Ah ha!" Abby and Carly exclaimed. They both started typing faster than either man had thought possible. "Come here you little…." Carly started.

"…government spy." Abby finished.

"Got him." They said in unison. "Or at least the building and computer where he is." Abby added.

"Where?" Gibbs and Fornell asked.

"The CIA building. The user name is CanonB, give me just a sec and we'll tell you who that is. It is….Paul McCreedy."

The men were out the door calling their teams by the time Abby and Carly turned to each other in satisfaction. "Great work, Abs." Carly said imitating Gibbs.

"Great work, Carly." Abby replied and they high-fived each other.

It's still Monday

Gibbs and Fornell and their teams showed up at the home of Paul McCreedy. DiNozzo had the warrant in hand. Once he realized he had been caught, McCreedy went without a fight. He claimed the virus idea was for his own personal gain and not government use. No one believed him, but McCreedy wouldn't say a word to substantiate their suspicions. He knew if he talked, he'd be dead anyway. He admitted to killing Private Nash once the program had been delivered to him because he didn't need witnesses and dead men don't talk. Gibbs told him he shouldn't be too sure of that, they talk all the time to their M.E.

Abby and Carly came up for air from the lab once they got all their programs back online and working properly. The whole team was sitting around typing up their reports, a little let down at the anti-climatic way McCreedy had been taken down. The two women stepped off the elevator and Carly's stomach growled loudly.

Abby's eyes widened. "Have you eaten today?" She wanted to know.

Shaking her head, Carly answered, "I was so aggravated when the fingerprints came back hinky that I didn't stop for lunch."

"It sounds like you two lovelies need to have dinner." Tony said as they neared his desk. "I know a great place that serves….."

"Pizza!" Abby, McGee and Ziva finished for him.

"Hey, I don't eat just pizza." Tony protested. "They also have great pasta. Would you two like to join me for dinner?"

"DiNozzo!" Gibbs snapped.

"Everyone else is welcome too as long as we go dutch." Tony amended.

The agents stood and gave their reports to Gibbs. They started towards the elevator and Carly turned around, "You coming Gibbs?" She asked.

Everyone froze. There were still some lines that hadn't been crossed. Before leaving all those months ago, Gibbs would occasionally join the team for dinners. Since he had returned, everyone was on eggshells and he hadn't spent time with them off the job.

Gibbs looked up to find them staring at him. He stood, tossed his empty coffee cup away and said, "Is it good pizza Tony?"

"Sure is Gibbs." Tony answered and they all left together.