Disclaimer: See chapter one.
A/N: I have a question for all readers I'm not sure who Kristy should be paired with per say so you guys chose Don or Colby? Please answer in reviews. PS: this is short I know but I just got home form the hospital since dumb me dislocated her kneecap.
Chapter 2:
Tony sighed and glanced up from his crime scene sketch. His eyes were automatically drawn to the slight altercation that was brewing between who he assumed to be FBI agents and Gibbs. The poor unsuspecting bastards they had absolutely no idea what they were dealing with. Smirking he turned toward Kate and once again took in the yellow fringed dress. Normally he would tease her mercilessly but today he figured she had suffered enough.
After all she had been subjected to endless dance lessons then had to perform in front of complete strangers. Plus she had made it bluntly obvious that she would rather dance with a rabid pit-bull than him. Usually her barbs made him laugh but for some reason that had actually stung. Shaking his head he banished the thoughts to the back of his brain there were more important matters at hand then why something so small had wounded him. Tapping the eraser of his pencil against his clipboard he looked around the once immaculate ballroom that was now nearly destroyed.
Blowing out a breath he glanced down at his own clothes. Making a mental note to change into the suit he stashed in the dressing room. Granted Kristy and Kate would slaughter him but they actually looked good in their outfits. He on the other hand despised the plunging neckline, that revealed a good portion of his chest, and he came to the conclusion canary yellow was not his color.
Tapping the pink eraser of his pencil against the clipboard and once again surveyed the scene making sure he had included everything. When he decided he had he dropped the clipboard into the backpack he had fetched from the rental car and made his way toward his now foaming at the mouth boss.
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Kristy weaved her way through the crowd in search of McGee but instead spotted Charlie's older brother and her first love, Don Eppes. When he spotted her he walked toward her with his father and brother and her uncle Dr. Larry Fleinhardt on his heels. Great now she would have to explain the white bandage wound around her arm. Uncle Larry had a tendency to panic when he saw even a bruise so he was going to have a conniption and judging by the already frantic look on his face she was in for a long battle. Plastering a smile on her face she closed the distance between them.
"Hi, Uncle Larry." She smiled hoping to ease the man's tension. She winced in pain when he grabbed her by her bullet wounded arm and hugged her tightly. Biting back a curse she patted his back with her free hand and tried to hold back her dark curses. Finally Alan took pity and intervened and pulled the frantic man off of her. Glancing down at her arm she cursed when blood began to pool at the back of the bandage. Freaking wonderful.
"Don, my boss would like to speak with you. I'll be right back." She murmured before grabbing his arm and dragging him toward the door leaving Charlie and Alan to hold Larry back. When they were safely out of ear shot Don paused and pulled her out of the way of witnesses.
"I just wanted to thank you…for protecting my father." He practically whispered. She smiled softly.
"Well you can thank me by making my boss happy and work in conjunction with us." She knew she was playing dirty but she was not going to sit on a plane with Gibbs all the way back to Washington while he was pissed. Don sighed and nodded softly before pulling open the door and allowed her to walk through before following. Praying he would not regret this agreement.
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"Look, we have every right to take over this case." Colby argued his voice was gruff with his impending explosion. This Gibbs person was impossible no bastard would be a better term.
"And we have every right to keep it." Gibbs countered evenly although his eyes narrowed portraying his aggravation. He bit back a smirk when the younger man's head nearly exploded. He was enjoying this way too much. He looked away from the two men when he saw Tony join him. Cocking an eyebrow Tony simply shrugged and crossed his arms across his chest in attempt to look intimidating yet his low cut yellow shirt did not help matters it only made the two FBI agents smirk. Gibbs turned back to his agent and stifled at chuckle.
"DiNozzo, change into something more processional." Gibbs ordered. Tony pouted and nodded before heading back toward the dressing areas. At the moment a loud voice boomed through the room.
"DUCKY!" Kristy bellowed as she hiked up the hem of her ball gown and went in search of the wayward coroner although she didn't have to look far as Ducky popped up behind the bar.
"I popped a stitch." She explained plopping down on one of the stools and unwinding the bandage. Gibbs just sighed and shook his head and turned his attention to the now three men before him.
"Don Eppes." He introduced himself and extended his hand to which Gibbs just stared at. With a sigh he finally clasped the other mans hand and gave it a firm shake before dropping it and again crossing his arms over his chest. Also noting that the man by the name of Colby was staring at his Agent and coroner as if trying to place one or both of them.
"I understand you want this case." Don said breaking the awkward silence. Gibbs simply nodded waiting for the man to protest.
"Well we can't hand over the case …" when Gibbs opened his mouth to protest he held a hand up.
"Let me finish." He broke off again when he heard Kristy groan and glanced at the brunette who was shaking her head vehemently at him. Rolling his eyes he turned back to the man who was now red with rage.
"We will however work in conjunction with you." Don finished almost causing Gibbs to do a double take. Don once again looked over at the woman who was getting her arm stitched up and she mouthed ‘Thank You' before hissing in pain.
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Ziva David had been at home with the flu when Gibbs had called and basically ordered her to be on the next plane to Los Angels. Not only that but she had to be on the same flight with a lab tech that despised her and NCIS Director Jenny Sheppard. She was going to slaughter Gibbs for this. The one time she had taken a much need vacation he called her in. Bastard.
Cramming some clothes into her duffel she grabbed her badge and ID and shoved it in her pocket then went in search of a book to occupy her on the plane on the five and a half hour plane ride. Grabbing a few paperbacks from the book shelf she tossed them haphazardly on top of the clothes and zipped up the bag and clipped her gun to her belt. Before grabbing the duffel and storming out the door only pausing long enough to lock the door. Exiting her apartment building she stepped into the elevator that would take her down to the lobby. Director Sheppard would probably be waiting for her along with the gothic queen of pep.
The elevator was thankfully empty she hated the people in her building. They were all so nosey and always wanting to know why she would storm out of her apartment in the middle of the night. She would simply answer it was the life of agent but she never realized people would ask her to go into detail about her job. She had learned while she was with Mossad to choose your confidants wisely and her neighbor Mrs. Eleanor Parks was not one of them. Tapping her foot restlessly against the worn linoleum she waited as the elevator descended.
When the elevator chirped in arrival and she pushed herself off the wall of the small compartment. Nodding at the doorman she continued outside and looked for Director Sheppard. She noticed something out of the corner of her eye and rolled her eyes. There was Abby waving her CAFF-Pow out the window of the car. Walking the short distance to the car she slipped in the backseat and tossed her duffel on top of a lime green luggage set which was without a doubt Abby's.
"California here we come!" Abby gushed and Jenny chuckled and started the car. Ziva sighed she hoped the air plane had a lot of air sickness bags.
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When Tony emerged from the dressing room Kristy and Kate were still taking blood samples and digging stray bullets out of walls and columns. Gibbs was still talking with the FBI agents and Ducky was doing the prelim on the bodies. McGee was no where to be found he was probably still taking statements.
"Tony, come here." Kate called as she crouched down by the body of Petty Officer Marcus Matthews. With a sigh he started toward her and kneeled down next to her.
"What?" he questioned not sure why she had called him over.
"How many shots did you fire?" she questioned as she used her pen to pickup a shell casing.
"One." He stated knowing full well where this was going.
"We don't just have one shooter we have two." Tony grumped and drug a hand over his tired face.
"Now the real question is who gets to tell Gibbs?" Kate asked a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.