"ROADTRIP!" Abby yelled at the top of her voice as she ran into her lab. McGee looked up from his laptop. Abby had an enormous grin on her face. "McGee, we're going on a road trip!" "We...we are? Who exactly is ‘we', Abby?" McGee asked inquisitively. "Oh, all of us. You, me, Gibbs, Tony and Kate. Ducky was going to come but he can't leave his mother alone for a week." Abby was ecstatic. She picked up Bert, and hugged him. "Oooh Bert, isn't it exciting?!" McGee suddenly had a sickening thought. "A week, wow... Uh, Abby? Is Gibbs going to be driving?" ‘Please say no, please, please say no..' He thought to himself. "Well, we would probably have to take two cars, because we can't fit all our stuff in the sedan...Oh, I know! We can hire a minivan, and I'll drive!" Abby decided. McGee let out a sigh of relief. "So, where are we going exactly?" He asked. "Gibbs and I decided on Florida, and Kate and I both want to go to Orlando." Abby smiled at the thought. "Orlando..." McGee whispered. He smiled, and decided it would be fun. "So, when do we leave?"

Upstairs, Kate was sitting at her desk. Tony crept up behind her, put his hands on her shoulders and said "What'cha doing, Kate?" Kate, who had fallen victim to this many times from Tony, simply looked up at him and smiled bitterly. "Nothing that concerns you, DiNozzo." "Ahhh, c'mon Kate." "What, Tony?" Kate glared at him. Tony just sighed and walked over to his desk. At that point, Gibbs came out of the elevator, holding a cup of coffee, and sat down at his desk. "Morning, Gibbs." Tony and Kate both called out simultaneously. "Morning." Gibbs replied.

It was an unusually quiet day at N.C.I.S, Gibbs spent the hours working away at his computer, Tony was either on the phone or annoying McGee, who was trying to work, and Kate was down in Abby's lab, where they were both discussing possible activities for their trip. "First, we have to go to a beach. Any beach, anywhere." Kate exclaimed. Abby nodded furiously, and added "And we should go see a movie or something too." "We should make a list." Kate suggested. Abby liked this idea, so the two of them made a long list of everything they wanted to do in Orlando.

Towards the end of the day, Abby had booked the minivan, and told everyone that she would pick them up the next morning. She was over the moon, and spent the whole night dreaming about what lay ahead.

Abby woke up at 8am the next morning, and jumped out of bed. She had a shower, put on her favourite black skirt and a gorgeous top, completing the outfit with a thick belt, chains and a studded collar. She scoffed down some breakfast and grabbed a cup of Caf-Pow! before heading out her front door with her suitcase and down to the street. She caught a taxi to the rental car office, and picked up the minivan. It was a Dodge Grand Caravan, black of course, and it had a DVD player in the back seat, which Abby hoped would shut Tony up for most of the trip.

She collected the keys, jumped into the car and started the engine. She smiled as the 3.8 litre V6 purred. She shifted the car into Drive, then pulled out onto the street and drove towards Kate's house. She pulled up and got out of the van. Kate came down the stairs with her luggage, which they loaded into the back before driving off to pick up McGee. After McGee's suitcase was ‘secured appropriately' on the roof racks, Abby sped through the traffic to Tony's apartment. "Awesome, a DVD player! I brought some movies for us to watch, Probie." Tony exclaimed as he climbed through the sliding door and into the back seat. "Tony," Kate called from the front seat, "what kind of ‘movies' would these be?" "Ahaha, unsuitable viewing for you, Kate." He smiled cheekily. "Actually, Tony, I brought some documentaries to watch. But, you can watch your, um, movies, on my laptop if you like, as long as you sit in the back." By now they had stopped at Gibbs' place, and he threw the door open and demanded, "DiNozzo, move." Tony moved into the third row seats, but before he sat down, said "Laptop, McGee." He was clearly irritated. Gibbs slid the door shut, and Abby took off with such enthusiasm that Tony was thrown back onto the seat. He muttered under his breath as he took the laptop from McGee. As they drove out of Washington and towards Orlando, Kate turned up the radio, opened her window, and relaxed, smiling and content.

After three hours of driving, and a couple of wrong turns, Abby stopped at a gas station. It was 1pm, and everyone climbed out of the van to use the bathroom and to get something to eat. By this time, they were in Norfolk, which was nothing special, because they had all been here countless times. After an hour, they hit the road again, this time with Kate driving. The van was full of gas and as they drove along the interstate, the car slowly became quieter. Abby was tired and resting, so Kate turned the radio off. Gibbs and McGee were watching a documentary in the second row, with a set of headphones each, while Tony was watching his ‘movies' in the back row, again with headphones. Kate was feeling lonely, despite the fact that she was in a car with four talkative, interesting people. She leaned down to the plastic bag on the floor and pulled out a bag of chips, which she ate as she continued to drive down the long highway. Kate was driving through North Carolina when Abby woke up, which was at about 5:30pm. Abby suggested that they stop soon. McGee's documentary finished, so he and Gibbs agreed with Abby's notion. DiNozzo had turned the laptop off and fallen asleep on the seat, so Kate decided to use one of Gibbs' techniques to wake him up. As she pulled into a diner, she floored the accelerator, then a few seconds later, hit the brake. The Dodge lurched to a stop, and McGee managed to reach back and catch his laptop before it slid off Tony's lap and onto the floor. Tony opened his eyes and sat up, his heart pounding. Kate laughed, and Tony laughed back sarcastically. "Oh, ha ha, Kate, very funny." He said. Abby turned around and added "Yeah, well done Kate!" She gave Kate a high-five. Gibbs even smiled at her. They all got out of the car and went into the diner.

They all ordered meals shortly after they sat down. Tony went for a huge bowl of pasta, and Gibbs chose a massive, tender steak. McGee ordered a chicken parmagiana, Abby had a chicken salad, and Kate decided on a large plate of nachos. Tony was the first to have dessert, and he picked a slice of mudcake, which turned out to be more of a slab than a slice. Gibbs just had coffee, Abby had a sundae, along with a cup of Caf-Pow!, McGee had a banana split and Kate had chocolate pudding. They were all very full by the end of dessert, and by the time they all got back into the van it was 8:30pm. After everyone had settled, Kate, who was in the front passenger seat, realised that nobody was in the drivers seat, because everybody else was in the back. Gibbs asked "Do you want me to drive?" Abby quickly piped up, "No, Gibbs, you just sit down and relax. I'll drive." She jumped through to the front seat and started the car. "Wait..." she cried before jumping out of the car and running back into the diner. She came back a minute later with a tray of 6 Caf-Pow!'s. "That'll keep you going." Kate commented. Abby smiled and said "That's my plan!" as she started the engine again. She turned the headlights on and pulled out of the car park, back onto the highway.

Abby drove long into the night, and everybody else had fallen asleep long ago. But she didn't mind, she was a creature of the night. The highway was very quiet, because most people were sleeping instead of driving. After all, it was 2am. They had travelled through North Carolina, and they were driving through South Carolina when the dashboard started beeping, and Abby looked at the fuel gauge. The needle was almost on ‘E'. Abby looked for a sign to tell her how far it was until the next gas station, and found that it was 20 miles. The trip computer on the Dodge told her that they had 20 miles of gas left. It would be tight, but they could probably make it. But as the miles passed, the gas level dropped quickly, and about 2 miles from the station, the engine coughed, spluttered, and died. Abby quickly shifted to Neutral and pulled the car onto the side of the road and stopped. She turned the key, and the engine turned over furiously, but did not start. She tried again and again before turning the hazard lights on and shifting to Park. McGee woke up and whispered "What's wrong, Abs?" Abby turned around and replied "We're out of gas. The gas station is only 2 miles away McGee. Do you think the car would run on Caf-Pow? Stupid gas guzzling monster..." Abby frowned and whacked the steering wheel with her palms. "Don't worry, Abs, I'll wake Tony up. I have an idea." McGee reassured her. "Why Tony?" Abby questioned. "Do you really want me to wake Gibbs up at 3am?" McGee asked. Abby smiled. "What the...Probie, why am I awake?" Tony moaned. "Shhh. The car is out of gas and we need to push it 2 miles to the gas station." McGee whispered. "You're kidding, right?"

Tony and McGee positioned themselves at the rear of the car, and Abby selected Neutral and turned the ignition to "On". Abby stuck her arm out of the window and put her thumb up. Tony and Tim pushed as hard as they could, and the 4400-pound Grand Caravan did not budge. They kept pushing, but nothing. Abby opened her door and tried to put her foot on the ground and push, but the van still did not move. Abby shifted back to Park and walked to the back. "Stop. I'll wake the other two up." She said solemnly. She turned the radio on and put her favourite Android Lust CD in the CD slot, and turned the volume up. Kate awoke suddenly, and reached for the volume knob. Abby grabbed her hand, and said "Kate, we need to wake Gibbs up." But Gibbs was not even stirring. Kate reached over and honked the horn. Gibbs opened his eyes and questioned, "What the hell is going on?" Abby turned the CD player off. "The car ran out of gas, and we need to push it 2 miles to the gas station." Gibbs jumped straight out of the car and walked to the back. Kate yawned and stumbled out of the car, but Abby stopped her. "You steer, I'll push." Kate replied sleepily with, "Mmm...thanks Abs," and climbed into the drivers seat.

Abby, McGee, Tony and Gibbs were at the back of the car, ready to push. "Ready?" Kate called. "All systems go!" Abby called back. Kate turned the headlights on, shifted into Neutral and called "PUSH!" The four began to push. The Caravan slowly moved, and Kate steered it onto the road as it picked up speed. "There's a big downhill ahead, so push hard then jump in, we can coast down." Kate yelled. "How far away is it?" Tony called. "It's about 200 yards." Kate estimated. She pressed the overhead buttons, and the two power sliding doors opened. She waited for the right moment, then yelled "Get in, now!" The four of them ran towards the doors, two on each side, and climbed in. On one side was Abby, then Gibbs, and on the other side was McGee, then Tony. But McGee took too long climbing in, and Tony started to fall behind. "KATE, SLOW DOWN!" He screamed as the van coasted down the hill. Kate lightly touched the brake, just enough so DiNozzo could dive in through the door. He fell to the floor with a crash, and Kate laughed. He stood up shakily, and closed the doors. They coasted down the long hill, and at the bottom was the gas station. "Hallelujah." DiNozzo said as he saw the glowing neon lights. Kate slowed the car down and turned into the station. The power assistance for the steering and brakes were not working, so it was harder, and as the car rolled into the station, she almost crashed into one of the pumps.

Everyone was exhausted after this escapade, so after filling the car up with gas and buying some more snacks, it was decided that they would stop somewhere and sleep for the remainder of the night. McGee was designated to be the driver until they found somewhere to sleep. Kate was in the front seat, and had McGee's laptop, and was using the wireless internet to find a motel. They eventually stopped an hour later at a motel just outside Atlanta, Georgia. They booked three rooms, and they all stumbled down to the rooms and collapsed on their beds. Gibbs had a room to himself, Abby and McGee shared another, and Kate shared the third one with Tony. Normally she wouldn't have done it, but she was too tired to care. It was almost 4:30am by the time they all fell asleep.

It was 11am when Tony woke up. He was lying face up next to Kate, who had her arm across his chest. He decided to wait for her to wake up before he tried to move. It was 10 minutes before she finally stirred, yawned and opened her eyes. "Morning, Kate." He cooed. "Tony, why is my arm on your chest? And why am I in a bed with you?" She asked accusingly. "Hey, I didn't touch your arm, ok, and I have no idea why we're in a bed, but I swear nothing happened." Tony sounded defensive. "Well, I hope to God that you're right. I'm going to have a shower, and I expect some privacy." She jumped out of the bed and carried her suitcase into the small bathroom.

Abby and McGee woke up and showered together, and after a nice, hot breakfast they met the other three out at the van. "DiNozzo!" Kate yelled. "It's your turn to drive! Everyone else has already had a turn, except Gibbs." She was ranting at Tony, because despite the fact that he was the only one who hadn't had a turn at driving (apart from Gibbs, and everybody was going to do their best to make sure that didn't happen), and he refused to take his turn. "Tony," Abby pleaded. "You have to drive." Then she whispered, "Do you really want us to have to survive Gibbs' driving unnecessarily?" Tony sighed, and considered his options before saying "Ok, I'll drive." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Tony added "But Kate has to sit up front with me." Abby giggled, and Kate's jaw dropped. "Wha...no...I...ughhh...FINE!" She was not too keen on spending more time within a close vicinity of Tony.

Abby and McGee climbed into the van first, and occupied 2 of the 3 seats in the third row. Gibbs took one of the second row seats, and Tony and Kate sat up front. Tony reached for the ignition, but the key wasn't there. "Probie!" He yelled. "Yeah, Tony?" McGee called back. "Keys would be great." Tony said sarcastically. McGee paused, then began fumbling in his pockets for the car keys. "I, uh, Tony, I must have left them in the motel room." McGee confessed. "Well, what are you waiting for McGee?" Tony said, frustrated. McGee got up and left the van, running back to the motel room. Ten minutes later he still had not returned. "I'll go look for him." Gibbs groaned.

Gibbs walked to the motel room where McGee and Abby had slept, and found the door had been forced open. He pulled out his gun and his cell phone. He rang Tony's number and whispered into the phone. "You and Kate, here, NOW." He returned his cell to his pocket, and stood quietly, waiting for DiNozzo and Kate to back him up. They arrived very quickly, weapons drawn and ready for action. They slowly moved in, Gibbs first, then Kate, with Tony bringing up the rear. Gibbs yelled, "N.C.I.S!" As he searched for any sign of life. "Agent Gibbs. I've been expecting you." A familiar voice coming from the bathroom sent chills up Gibbs' spine. Tony and Kate looked at each other. "Ari." They whispered.

Gibbs walked into the bathroom, gun pointed at Ari's head. Ari was standing next to McGee, who was sitting on a chair, with Ari's gun pressed gently on his temple. "What do you want this time?" Gibbs demanded. Ari scoffed, and said, "Agent Gibbs, I am simply having a bit of fun on my vacation." Gibbs snarled and sneered, "You bastard!" He moved a step closer, threatening to shoot Ari. DiNozzo appeared in the doorway, and announced "Drop it, scum bag." Ari's face became angry. He pointed his gun at McGee and squeezed the trigger, but Gibbs aimed his gun quickly and pulled the trigger, sending Ari backwards, and sending his bullet off-target.

Abby heard a gunshot, and she was very tempted to leave the van, but she knew that she couldn't leave without backup, or at least a weapon, neither of which she had. She did, however, turn around in her seat and look out of the back window, hoping to see one of her fellow team members emerge safely from the motel. DiNozzo appeared, running towards the van. He wrenched open the door, and said, "McGee is unconscious. There's no time to call an ambulance, he was shot in the stomach. Long story, Gibbs and Kate are bringing him out on the roll-out bed." He then opened the drivers door, reached in and put the key in the ignition. He turned the key, and the engine excitedly burst into life. Gibbs and Kate came rushing out, pushing a small rolling bed. Abby jumped out of the car and ran, calling "McGee!" Tears began slowly rolling down her cheeks. "Is he going to be ok?" Gibbs told her to fold down the seats in the car so they could fit the bed in. Kate ran to the other side of the van, and thanks to the Stow N Go™ seats, the two middle-row seats were packed away under the floor in a matter of seconds. DiNozzo and Gibbs lifted the bed up into the car, and they all piled in. Gibbs hopped into the drivers seat, and had barely yelled "Buckle up!" before he shifted into Drive and floored the accelerator. The van skidded out of the motel car park, and towards the hospital in Atlanta. With Gibbs behind the wheel, they made it in record time, and McGee was quickly rushed away by doctors.

McGee woke up in a clean, white room. He could smell disinfectant and medicine, and there was a huge pain in his gut. He tilted his head and saw Abby, who was loyally waiting by his side for him to awake. "Abs?" He croaked. Abby opened her eyes, and smiled heartily. "McGee!! I was so worried about you. You've been out for three days." She leant over and kissed his cheek. "Wh...what happened to me?" McGee spluttered. Abby sighed, and said "Ari shot you in the stomach. But it's ok, Gibbs shot him. And you're alive." Abby was still smiling. "Um, ok, I guess. So... does this mean we're not going to Orlando?" McGee asked. Abby's smile faded quickly, and she replied with "No... it really sucks, ‘cause if we'd driven for like, one more day, we would have made it easily." She was clearly disappointed, and McGee remembered the reason they hadn't continued driving. "It's all my fault, I shouldn't have forgotten the keys..." Abby interrupted him, and said "McGee, it was not your fault, it was Ari's. Yes, you should have remembered the keys, but there's nothing anyone can do about that now. Don't worry, we'll just have to do it some other time."

Everyone except Abby had left and driven the van back to Washington. Abby stayed with McGee for a week, until he was ready to go home. They caught a cab to the Atlanta airport, and flew back to Washington. Kate picked them up from the airport and drove them back to McGee's apartment, where they both fell asleep as soon as Kate left.

Three weeks later, Abby woke up, very excited. She picked up her cell phone, and dialled a number. "Hello? My name's Abby Sciuto. I'm just wondering if you still have that minivan I hired a few weeks ago?" After she hung up, she grinned, and rushed out of the room to get ready. It was going to be one hell of a week...