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.