Camping with Gibbs 03/?
Four hours later, Fornell was staring at a still empty fish bucket. "Are we sure this lake has any fish?"
From his spot further down the bank, their suspect wasn't having any better luck. "Yesterday I was out here at sunrise. Did pretty good then. Guess I'm having hot dogs tonight."
Nodding at him, Fornell turned back to Gibbs. "Tell me you've got a back-up plan for dinner."
"We got beans." Gibbs saw his expression. "What?"
"Nothing." Fornell smothering a laugh, rubbing his mouth. "Just really glad the boys have their own tent."
Gibbs gave a snort, but didn't verbally respond as they packed up. Kyle was also packing it in and led them back up the path toward the camp spots. He stopped and raised his head, Gibbs and Fornell noticing what he was smelling a few seconds later.
"New camper must have arrived. At least they'll be eating good tonight."
Agreeing with him, Gibbs and Fornell continued to follow him, Fornell almost stepping on his heel when he suddenly stopped again. Instead of saying anything, Kyle started laughing. The two agents stared past him in shock.
"What the hell?"
--NCIS--
The more Tim unloaded, the more Tony was grinning. Under normal circumstances he'd have tried to get out of the more physical labor of the set up, but he wanted everything done by the time Gibbs and Fornell came back. He was splitting wood for the campfire when Tim called him into the tent.
Tim had a laptop set up, the cameras streaming a live feed to them and they watched the unsuccessful fishing for a few minutes. "Guess we're not eating fish tonight."
"At least not very much." While he talked, Tim went back outside, Tony at his heels. He pulled a bag of chicken pieces out of one of his coolers, closing it quickly. "What do you say? Shall we have this cooking by the time they get back here?"
After Fornell's comment, Tony was all for it. "I'll get the fire going."
They had to scramble a bit, but the cook fire was ready and the chicken sizzling before Gibbs and Fornell left the lake, empty bucket in hand.
--NCIS--
While Gibbs and Fornell stared, Kyle started to chuckle. "I guess the actual competition is between old school and modern camping. Heck, I'm glad my brother canceled his plans and let me have his reservation. This might be a good show." Still laughing, he wandered off to his tent, leaving the other two men standing there.
The fire pit in the boy's campsite had a fire going in it, an elaborate, multilevel cooking grate over it. A layer of chicken pieces was sizzling away on the bottom layer, closest to the fire, while various slices of vegetables roasted slower on the top level. Alongside the tent, a complete camp kitchen was set up, including a wash station, but what had the older men floored were the two hanging hammock chairs that were suspended from a device that was now mounted on the hitch of Tim's borrowed truck. The two younger men were swaying in the breeze, feet up, and enjoying a beer.
Tony saluted them with his bottle. "Hey, you want us to scoot the chicken over to one side so you have room to add your fish or do you have so much that you need to get another cook fire started?" He and Tim grinned at their expressions before tapping their bottles together in a joint salute and returning their attention to the fire.
Fornell turned to glare at Gibbs. "Why don't we have chairs like that?" You've got a truck."
Gibbs ignored him as he walked closer to inspect their set up. "Comfy, boys?"
"Oh, yeah." Tony used the support to push off slightly, increasing his rocking as he leaned back even more. "This is the life."
It was all Gibbs could do not to laugh. He settled for a slight shake of his head as he admitted to himself that he might have underestimated just a bit. "You boys going to share, or are you going to make us old guys settle for beans?"
Tim spoke up for the first time since the fishermen had arrived. "We've got enough meat to go around. Why don't you heat up the beans to add to what we've got?"
"Sounds like a plan." Gibbs watched as Tim stood and moved closer to the fire. As he turned and checked the chicken, he moved the pieces closer together to make room for a pot of beans. Now Gibbs noticed a Dutch oven tucked into the edge of the embers.
Once Tim was done with the chicken pieces, he rotated the pan before standing. "Chicken should be done in about twenty minutes."
The beans were canned and just needed to be reheated. "Sounds good. What's in that bottom pan?"
"Dessert." Tim didn't elaborate as he sat back down and Tony returned his beer. That close, Gibbs could see the label, the boys were actually drinking alcohol free beer to stay alert.
Curious, but deciding to play along, Gibbs returned to the other campsite. Fornell followed along and was handed two stools while Gibbs opened a can and filled an old, battered pot with baked beans. When they returned to the boys' campsite, Tim stood and took the pot from Gibbs.
After taking a whiff of the store brand, unseasoned baked beans, Tim pulled out a bag of chopped onion pieces and a jar of minced garlic. They went into a frying pan with some oil and a few more seasonings. As Tim pre-cooked the onions and garlic, Gibbs poked around his camp kitchen. A good dozen or more small plastic containers with flip lids each held a different spice and was carefully labeled in McGee's precise handwriting. Laughing and hoping that the boys brought enough food for the four of them for the entire week, or that McGee would be willing to take over the cooking, Gibbs left the beans in McGee's capable hands.
Tony watched as Fornell fought with setting up the folding three-legged stools that looked as primitive as Gibbs' tent. Once Fornell was gingerly sitting on one of them, he pointed to the cooler with the sodas and the fake beer. "Drinks are in there, Uncle Toby. Help yourself."
"Couldn't have offered ten seconds earlier, could you?" Despite the muttered words, Fornell got up, knocking his stool over. He glared at it as it folded back up but went straight for the cooler. Gibbs was also helping himself to a drink before balancing perfectly on one of the small stools.
A half hour later, they were eating. Whatever Tim had added to the plain beans worked because everyone went back for seconds. Even the vegetables were gone by the time they were licking the last of the chicken bones clean of any flavor.
"Okay, kid, you're in charge of cooking from now on." Fornell eyed the last spoonful of beans before scooping them up. "When are you going to show us what's in the last pan?"
The two younger men exchanged a grin, then Tim grabbed a tool and lifted the pan from the fire pit before removing the lid. "It's a Dutch Oven style Caramel Apple Pie. All it needs is the caramel icing." He chuckled as the other three men instinctively leaned closer, breathing deeply. "How about some coffee to go with it?"
That was Gibbs' cue and by the time he had the coffee done McGee was scooping the dessert onto their plates. It wasn't a pie in the normal sense, but chunks of dough baked with thick apple slices, pecans, sweet spices and brown sugar. The caramel and cream cheese icing softening and oozing into all the crevices of the warm treat. Luckily, foil covered the entire inside of the pan, meaning clean up would be easy.
Fornell took the first bite, almost burning his mouth, but not really caring. "Timmy, you are now, officially, my favorite nephew."
Laughing, Tony didn't bat an eye. "Does that mean that you're going to protect him from evil Aunt Diane?" Fornell started to choke, which made Tony laugh even harder.
--NCIS--
"Goodnight, boys." Gibbs fondly watched the two younger men head into their tent. It had been a long day and their suspect was already down for the night.
"Night, Dad."
"Goodnight."
Gibbs and Fornell had taken on the chore of cleaning up after dinner since the other two men had taken care of dinner. All that was left was half the dessert, which had been covered back up and set aside for tomorrow, even though Fornell was eyeballing the foil packet.
"I'm not rolling you back to our tent, Tobias."
"That was good. Even you'd have to admit it."
"Yeah, it was. And it will still be good tomorrow."
Fornell gave one last, longing look to the leftover dessert before Gibbs set the package inside the Dutch oven. There were no bears in the area, but he wanted to keep the ants out of the sweet treat, not to mention FBI agents that tend to graze at night.
Wanting to let Tony and Tim sleep in peace, they moved back to their campsite, but the mosquitoes quickly drove them into their tent.
--NCIS--
Comfy in his sleeping bag, Tony rolled onto his side to face McGee. "Why didn't we know you can cook?"
"I don't cook at home. Learned a little bit when I was a Scout, then had to improve on that when I started volunteering as a Scoutmaster." Tim finally shifted around to look at Tony. "Do you remember Carson?"
"The kid in your troop whose dad was framed for murder and we cleared him? That's right, his dad was an outdoors-man or something."
"A guide, actually. After he was cleared, he was a lot more open and started helping us with the boys. First time we took them out on an overnight camp-out he taught all of us the basics of cooking outdoors."
Tony thought about the dessert they'd had. "After you learned the basics, you kept going."
"Had to stay at least one step ahead of the kids." Tim finished moving around, settling on his stomach, his chin resting on his folded arms. "I'd go out to a campground anytime we'd have enough time off and try out different things. Baking was a little tricky, but I think I've got the hang of it now."
"Uh, yeah." Tony thought about it for a minute. "You know, I bet Gibbs would let you build a fire pit in his backyard. Gibbs and I would be willing to be your Guinea pigs if you want to try out some more new recipes.
Tim had to laugh at the hopeful expression. "I'll think about it."
From his spot further down the bank, their suspect wasn't having any better luck. "Yesterday I was out here at sunrise. Did pretty good then. Guess I'm having hot dogs tonight."
Nodding at him, Fornell turned back to Gibbs. "Tell me you've got a back-up plan for dinner."
"We got beans." Gibbs saw his expression. "What?"
"Nothing." Fornell smothering a laugh, rubbing his mouth. "Just really glad the boys have their own tent."
Gibbs gave a snort, but didn't verbally respond as they packed up. Kyle was also packing it in and led them back up the path toward the camp spots. He stopped and raised his head, Gibbs and Fornell noticing what he was smelling a few seconds later.
"New camper must have arrived. At least they'll be eating good tonight."
Agreeing with him, Gibbs and Fornell continued to follow him, Fornell almost stepping on his heel when he suddenly stopped again. Instead of saying anything, Kyle started laughing. The two agents stared past him in shock.
"What the hell?"
--NCIS--
The more Tim unloaded, the more Tony was grinning. Under normal circumstances he'd have tried to get out of the more physical labor of the set up, but he wanted everything done by the time Gibbs and Fornell came back. He was splitting wood for the campfire when Tim called him into the tent.
Tim had a laptop set up, the cameras streaming a live feed to them and they watched the unsuccessful fishing for a few minutes. "Guess we're not eating fish tonight."
"At least not very much." While he talked, Tim went back outside, Tony at his heels. He pulled a bag of chicken pieces out of one of his coolers, closing it quickly. "What do you say? Shall we have this cooking by the time they get back here?"
After Fornell's comment, Tony was all for it. "I'll get the fire going."
They had to scramble a bit, but the cook fire was ready and the chicken sizzling before Gibbs and Fornell left the lake, empty bucket in hand.
--NCIS--
While Gibbs and Fornell stared, Kyle started to chuckle. "I guess the actual competition is between old school and modern camping. Heck, I'm glad my brother canceled his plans and let me have his reservation. This might be a good show." Still laughing, he wandered off to his tent, leaving the other two men standing there.
The fire pit in the boy's campsite had a fire going in it, an elaborate, multilevel cooking grate over it. A layer of chicken pieces was sizzling away on the bottom layer, closest to the fire, while various slices of vegetables roasted slower on the top level. Alongside the tent, a complete camp kitchen was set up, including a wash station, but what had the older men floored were the two hanging hammock chairs that were suspended from a device that was now mounted on the hitch of Tim's borrowed truck. The two younger men were swaying in the breeze, feet up, and enjoying a beer.
Tony saluted them with his bottle. "Hey, you want us to scoot the chicken over to one side so you have room to add your fish or do you have so much that you need to get another cook fire started?" He and Tim grinned at their expressions before tapping their bottles together in a joint salute and returning their attention to the fire.
Fornell turned to glare at Gibbs. "Why don't we have chairs like that?" You've got a truck."
Gibbs ignored him as he walked closer to inspect their set up. "Comfy, boys?"
"Oh, yeah." Tony used the support to push off slightly, increasing his rocking as he leaned back even more. "This is the life."
It was all Gibbs could do not to laugh. He settled for a slight shake of his head as he admitted to himself that he might have underestimated just a bit. "You boys going to share, or are you going to make us old guys settle for beans?"
Tim spoke up for the first time since the fishermen had arrived. "We've got enough meat to go around. Why don't you heat up the beans to add to what we've got?"
"Sounds like a plan." Gibbs watched as Tim stood and moved closer to the fire. As he turned and checked the chicken, he moved the pieces closer together to make room for a pot of beans. Now Gibbs noticed a Dutch oven tucked into the edge of the embers.
Once Tim was done with the chicken pieces, he rotated the pan before standing. "Chicken should be done in about twenty minutes."
The beans were canned and just needed to be reheated. "Sounds good. What's in that bottom pan?"
"Dessert." Tim didn't elaborate as he sat back down and Tony returned his beer. That close, Gibbs could see the label, the boys were actually drinking alcohol free beer to stay alert.
Curious, but deciding to play along, Gibbs returned to the other campsite. Fornell followed along and was handed two stools while Gibbs opened a can and filled an old, battered pot with baked beans. When they returned to the boys' campsite, Tim stood and took the pot from Gibbs.
After taking a whiff of the store brand, unseasoned baked beans, Tim pulled out a bag of chopped onion pieces and a jar of minced garlic. They went into a frying pan with some oil and a few more seasonings. As Tim pre-cooked the onions and garlic, Gibbs poked around his camp kitchen. A good dozen or more small plastic containers with flip lids each held a different spice and was carefully labeled in McGee's precise handwriting. Laughing and hoping that the boys brought enough food for the four of them for the entire week, or that McGee would be willing to take over the cooking, Gibbs left the beans in McGee's capable hands.
Tony watched as Fornell fought with setting up the folding three-legged stools that looked as primitive as Gibbs' tent. Once Fornell was gingerly sitting on one of them, he pointed to the cooler with the sodas and the fake beer. "Drinks are in there, Uncle Toby. Help yourself."
"Couldn't have offered ten seconds earlier, could you?" Despite the muttered words, Fornell got up, knocking his stool over. He glared at it as it folded back up but went straight for the cooler. Gibbs was also helping himself to a drink before balancing perfectly on one of the small stools.
A half hour later, they were eating. Whatever Tim had added to the plain beans worked because everyone went back for seconds. Even the vegetables were gone by the time they were licking the last of the chicken bones clean of any flavor.
"Okay, kid, you're in charge of cooking from now on." Fornell eyed the last spoonful of beans before scooping them up. "When are you going to show us what's in the last pan?"
The two younger men exchanged a grin, then Tim grabbed a tool and lifted the pan from the fire pit before removing the lid. "It's a Dutch Oven style Caramel Apple Pie. All it needs is the caramel icing." He chuckled as the other three men instinctively leaned closer, breathing deeply. "How about some coffee to go with it?"
That was Gibbs' cue and by the time he had the coffee done McGee was scooping the dessert onto their plates. It wasn't a pie in the normal sense, but chunks of dough baked with thick apple slices, pecans, sweet spices and brown sugar. The caramel and cream cheese icing softening and oozing into all the crevices of the warm treat. Luckily, foil covered the entire inside of the pan, meaning clean up would be easy.
Fornell took the first bite, almost burning his mouth, but not really caring. "Timmy, you are now, officially, my favorite nephew."
Laughing, Tony didn't bat an eye. "Does that mean that you're going to protect him from evil Aunt Diane?" Fornell started to choke, which made Tony laugh even harder.
--NCIS--
"Goodnight, boys." Gibbs fondly watched the two younger men head into their tent. It had been a long day and their suspect was already down for the night.
"Night, Dad."
"Goodnight."
Gibbs and Fornell had taken on the chore of cleaning up after dinner since the other two men had taken care of dinner. All that was left was half the dessert, which had been covered back up and set aside for tomorrow, even though Fornell was eyeballing the foil packet.
"I'm not rolling you back to our tent, Tobias."
"That was good. Even you'd have to admit it."
"Yeah, it was. And it will still be good tomorrow."
Fornell gave one last, longing look to the leftover dessert before Gibbs set the package inside the Dutch oven. There were no bears in the area, but he wanted to keep the ants out of the sweet treat, not to mention FBI agents that tend to graze at night.
Wanting to let Tony and Tim sleep in peace, they moved back to their campsite, but the mosquitoes quickly drove them into their tent.
--NCIS--
Comfy in his sleeping bag, Tony rolled onto his side to face McGee. "Why didn't we know you can cook?"
"I don't cook at home. Learned a little bit when I was a Scout, then had to improve on that when I started volunteering as a Scoutmaster." Tim finally shifted around to look at Tony. "Do you remember Carson?"
"The kid in your troop whose dad was framed for murder and we cleared him? That's right, his dad was an outdoors-man or something."
"A guide, actually. After he was cleared, he was a lot more open and started helping us with the boys. First time we took them out on an overnight camp-out he taught all of us the basics of cooking outdoors."
Tony thought about the dessert they'd had. "After you learned the basics, you kept going."
"Had to stay at least one step ahead of the kids." Tim finished moving around, settling on his stomach, his chin resting on his folded arms. "I'd go out to a campground anytime we'd have enough time off and try out different things. Baking was a little tricky, but I think I've got the hang of it now."
"Uh, yeah." Tony thought about it for a minute. "You know, I bet Gibbs would let you build a fire pit in his backyard. Gibbs and I would be willing to be your Guinea pigs if you want to try out some more new recipes.
Tim had to laugh at the hopeful expression. "I'll think about it."