Camping with Gibbs 5/?
"Having some trouble there, Toby?" Gibbs smirked as he used Tony's favorite nickname for the FBI agent. Hanging upside down tangled in one of the hammock chairs, Fornell tried to turn enough to stare at Gibbs' legs.
"Don't even start. Just get me out of this damn thing."
Tim was about to explode and he could see that Tony was even closer to the edge. Grabbing his partner, he tugged him off to the side. "Umm, we're going to start the potatoes for breakfast."
"Yeah, potatoes, sure." Tony allowed himself to be pulled away, but kept looking back at the tangled man.
Rubbing his face to hide his own grin, Gibbs squatted down to be eye level with Fornell and was greeted with a shake of the head. "Don't ask, okay."
"And here I was expecting to get a set of these for Christmas." Unable to resist, Gibbs pushed just enough to get him swinging again.
"I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?"
"Nope." Deciding it was somewhat like ripping a bandage off, Gibbs stood and grabbed one of the ropes. As Fornell sputtered in alarm he yanked hard, spinning him around and dumping him on the ground. "See, that wasn't so hard."
Fornell grumbled and accepted the hand that pulled him back onto his feet. "Says you. At least tell me we're having fish for breakfast."
"Yep."
"And Tim is the one cooking?"
"Yep."
"At least one thing is going right this morning." Trying to maintain the remains of his dignity, Fornell returned to their tent, calling out his order as he passed the camp kitchen. "Hey, I like my eggs over hard."
"What am I, a short order cook?" He turned to Tony, who was industriously chopping potatoes as per Tim's instructions. "Let me guess, you want scrambled?"
As much as Tony hated eggs that 'looked' at him, he understood the work of individual orders. "Yeah, but..."
"It's okay, at least you're helping. Besides, I'm going to do it all together. How's a frittata sound?"
"Sounds good."
Gibbs cleaned and de-boned the fish while Tim fried the potatoes. When the fish filets went on the grill, Tim poured the well-beaten eggs over the partially cooked potatoes and topped it with cheese before tucking the pan down into the coals, making a simple and easy frittata to go with the grilled fish.
Dignity apparently restored (and caramel washed off his face), Fornell arrived, lugging the stools, in time to help make the coffee and smiled his thanks when he was handed a plate piled high with food. Nothing was said, but he and Gibbs both carefully watched as the two younger men managed to easily hop into the hammock chairs, even balancing a plate. Fornell thought he heard a snicker from his counterpart, but when he looked, Gibbs had his usual stone face firmly in place.
After breakfast, Fornell and Gibbs handled the clean-up. Gibbs had always been a firm believer in an equal division of labor and none of his ex-wives ever complained about his willingness to do the dishes. Once that was done, he jerked his head back toward his tent and Fornell followed him.
"Are you sure we're watching the right guy?"
Listening to what Gibbs was saying, Fornell had to admit the concern was valid. "If he set his brother up to take the fall, he's not only someplace else, but..."
"He found out he was going to be under surveillance." The possibility their suspect had a contact within the FBI was an even larger problem and limited how they could respond. Gibbs pulled out his phone and dialed. "Yeah, Leon, we might have a problem."
Once Vance had their own people running a deeper background on the suspect and looking into the possibility that he had a source at the FBI Gibbs and Fornell went back outside. It had never warmed up that morning and the air was definitely getting damp.
"We're going to have rain, aren't we?"
"Maybe." Gibbs looked around. He wasn't really worried about his heavy tent, but the boys might have a problem with their lighter weight one. Tim was apparently aware the the changing weather, because he and DiNozzo were moving things around.
--NCIS--
"Storm's coming."
"What?" Tony looked around. There was a little bit of a chill to the air and the usual morning cloud cover didn't seem to be lifting.
"Probably not a bad one." Tim paused and checked the weather report on his phone. "Yeah, they're predicting showers off and on for most of the day. Come on, let's get a few more awnings set up and some things put away."
One large tote that was still in the back of Tim's truck was brought out and opened to reveal several large tarps, rolls of nylon rope and a pile of aluminum pole pieces. While Tony screwed all the poles together, Tim planned out the placement. One went in front of their tent, overlapping slightly so no rain would fall in between them. The next went in front of that, keeping them dry while they sat around the fire. It had the tallest poles, allowing it to overlap the first and keeping it high and safely away from the flames. The third awning was the largest and actually used the poles from the first two on one side while stretching out to cover the kitchen area.
When they were done, the guylines holding the awnings taut were spread to almost the edges of the campsite. To keep any of the group from tripping over them, especially at night, Tim hooked a combination reflector/LED light to each of the lines.
Tony grinned, glad he was camping with his tech-orientated partner instead of their old-school team leader. The store of poles and ropes was seriously depleted, but there was still a large stack of awnings, so he held one of them up. "What are the rest for?"
"Sidewalls, if it really starts coming down."
"Cool." Tony hated being wet and cold, so he was eager to help. "What's next?"
"Take the hammock chairs down and pack them up, then make sure nothing in the tent is touching the walls." Tim grinned as he unhooked one of the chairs. He hadn't told Tony, but he'd managed to sneak in not only a picture of Fornell tied up in the chair, but also a video of Gibbs' rescue. "The tent's been waterproofed and the rain fly has about four coats on it, but anything pushing against the walls from the inside can still cause water to wick inside."
Since the chairs took a great deal of understanding to properly take down and fold up (and possibly a degree in engineering), Tony left that to Tim and went inside the tent. He'd been following Tim's lead in keeping everything folded up and packed away, so it just took a quick check to make sure nothing was touching where it shouldn't. The only thing he wasn't sure about was the power cord, so he went back out to ask McGee.
Tim was spreading a tarp over the bed of the truck when he saw Tony and waved him over. "Here, grab the other end, okay?" All of the bins were plastic and watertight, but the tarp spread over the bed gave an added layer of protection. The tarp was longer and wider then the truck bed, letting it drape almost to the bottom of the side panels before being hooked into place with short bungee cords.
Judging from the way the plastic tarp easily fell into position this wasn't the first time it had been used for this purpose. "You're really an old hand at this."
"Yeah, well, most of my Scouts are geeks."
Tony snorted, but otherwise kept his mouth shut, and saw the same reaction from Gibbs, who was walking over and listening to the conversation. They could both see boys not impressed with the gun-ho, primitive style of camping gravitating to Tim's more modern, more comfortable, approach. Tim just grinned at both of them as he continued to explain. "When you've got kids that aren't really sure about the whole outdoors thing, being cold and miserable doesn't really help their enthusiasm level."
"I can see that." Tony really could see it, too. He'd never ever call himself a geek, but he'd had more fun during this camping trip than any he'd gone on as a child. Maybe it was the company, maybe it was the comfort level, but he was willing to bet it was a combination of both. Before he could comment, Tim was talking again.
"The best part is that a couple of boys that never would have had the chance to go camping are part of my troop now. Boys that are medically too fragile to ever go hiking miles into the wilderness, but still want a chance to just be a kid." Tim gave them both a careful look. "Always great to have another adult or two along, even if it's just for part of the trip."
Tony found himself agreeing even before his fear of kids could talk him out of helping. "I can probably manage that."
Gibbs finally joined their conversation. "That's where you go on the second week of July every year?" He'd never really thought about it, but that week of vacation was always non-negotiable with McGee, had been for almost six years.
"Yeah. We have to stick pretty close to town with a good hospital and be at a campgrounds with power, but I try to make sure the boys get a taste of what real camping is all about."
Gibbs smiled at that and he knew that Vance would understand. "Next year, I'll make sure the whole team is off the rotation for that week. Maybe even Ducky will come with us so you'll have a doctor right in the campsite." Tim's whole face lit up and Gibbs knew it was the right thing to say.
"That would be great. They'd love all of his stories."
Giving a nod to that, Gibbs looked around the campsite. He was no longer surprised at Tim's ability, but he was pleased with the additional set up. "Since you're going to be in charge of the cook fire for the rest of the trip, why don't I move my supplies over here and you just help yourself to whatever you need?"
"Sure."
Fornell was chopping wood, one of the few camping chores he was comfortable with, so they let him continue with that as Tim and Tony helped bring over the two wooden boxes and the cooler. Tim pointed out the three different coolers he was using at their camp. "That one has drinks and everything that is better cold, but won't spoil if it gets a little warm. The next one is basically our fridge, and everything in that one over there is still frozen so we're not even opening it until probably tomorrow."
Gibbs nodded and divided the food from his cooler into the first two Tim pointed out. Both of those were the high end coolers that Gibbs had seen at various stores. According to the ads they would keep things cold for at least five days. The third was a brand that Gibbs had never seen, but it was well-built and had heavy metal latches.
Remembering Gibbs' threat to Fornell of beans the first day, Tim grinned at the package of steaks Gibbs subtly slid into the cooler. Gibbs returned the grin and leaned closer. "We'll just let Tobias think all of this was yours."
"Probably a good idea."
The more often a cooler is opened the quicker it warms up so Gibbs didn't spend a lot of time rooting around to see what else Tim had brought, but one tall canister caught his attention. "You got special plans for that?"
Tony had asked the same question the first night and Gibbs got the same answer. "Yep, you'll see."
--NCIS--
Once the rain started, they had a lazy afternoon. Kyle was settled into his tent, so the four agents enjoyed sitting around their campfire. Lunch was basically self-serve after Tim set out an assortment of deli meats and cheeses along with bread and the various condiments to make sandwiches. It took the coffee makers from both camps to keep up with the four of them, but the hot beverage took the chill of afternoon. For a moment Tony thought he'd hit the jackpot when he found a box of playing cards in the tent.
"All right, how about some cards? We've got... these are kid's games."
Gibbs pointed at McGee. "Hello, Scoutmaster over there. Were you really expecting poker?"
"Well..."
Fornell reached across and grabbed one of the boxes. "I used to love playing this with Emily."
Watching the two set up the card game, Tim leaned closer to Tony. "I'm gonna get the steaks marinating. You want to help?" Not quite able to look away, Tony nodded and stood, their actions ignored by the two bent over the small camp table.
"You got a blue shark, Tobias?"
"Nope, Jethro. Go fish."
"Don't even start. Just get me out of this damn thing."
Tim was about to explode and he could see that Tony was even closer to the edge. Grabbing his partner, he tugged him off to the side. "Umm, we're going to start the potatoes for breakfast."
"Yeah, potatoes, sure." Tony allowed himself to be pulled away, but kept looking back at the tangled man.
Rubbing his face to hide his own grin, Gibbs squatted down to be eye level with Fornell and was greeted with a shake of the head. "Don't ask, okay."
"And here I was expecting to get a set of these for Christmas." Unable to resist, Gibbs pushed just enough to get him swinging again.
"I'm never going to hear the end of this, am I?"
"Nope." Deciding it was somewhat like ripping a bandage off, Gibbs stood and grabbed one of the ropes. As Fornell sputtered in alarm he yanked hard, spinning him around and dumping him on the ground. "See, that wasn't so hard."
Fornell grumbled and accepted the hand that pulled him back onto his feet. "Says you. At least tell me we're having fish for breakfast."
"Yep."
"And Tim is the one cooking?"
"Yep."
"At least one thing is going right this morning." Trying to maintain the remains of his dignity, Fornell returned to their tent, calling out his order as he passed the camp kitchen. "Hey, I like my eggs over hard."
"What am I, a short order cook?" He turned to Tony, who was industriously chopping potatoes as per Tim's instructions. "Let me guess, you want scrambled?"
As much as Tony hated eggs that 'looked' at him, he understood the work of individual orders. "Yeah, but..."
"It's okay, at least you're helping. Besides, I'm going to do it all together. How's a frittata sound?"
"Sounds good."
Gibbs cleaned and de-boned the fish while Tim fried the potatoes. When the fish filets went on the grill, Tim poured the well-beaten eggs over the partially cooked potatoes and topped it with cheese before tucking the pan down into the coals, making a simple and easy frittata to go with the grilled fish.
Dignity apparently restored (and caramel washed off his face), Fornell arrived, lugging the stools, in time to help make the coffee and smiled his thanks when he was handed a plate piled high with food. Nothing was said, but he and Gibbs both carefully watched as the two younger men managed to easily hop into the hammock chairs, even balancing a plate. Fornell thought he heard a snicker from his counterpart, but when he looked, Gibbs had his usual stone face firmly in place.
After breakfast, Fornell and Gibbs handled the clean-up. Gibbs had always been a firm believer in an equal division of labor and none of his ex-wives ever complained about his willingness to do the dishes. Once that was done, he jerked his head back toward his tent and Fornell followed him.
"Are you sure we're watching the right guy?"
Listening to what Gibbs was saying, Fornell had to admit the concern was valid. "If he set his brother up to take the fall, he's not only someplace else, but..."
"He found out he was going to be under surveillance." The possibility their suspect had a contact within the FBI was an even larger problem and limited how they could respond. Gibbs pulled out his phone and dialed. "Yeah, Leon, we might have a problem."
Once Vance had their own people running a deeper background on the suspect and looking into the possibility that he had a source at the FBI Gibbs and Fornell went back outside. It had never warmed up that morning and the air was definitely getting damp.
"We're going to have rain, aren't we?"
"Maybe." Gibbs looked around. He wasn't really worried about his heavy tent, but the boys might have a problem with their lighter weight one. Tim was apparently aware the the changing weather, because he and DiNozzo were moving things around.
--NCIS--
"Storm's coming."
"What?" Tony looked around. There was a little bit of a chill to the air and the usual morning cloud cover didn't seem to be lifting.
"Probably not a bad one." Tim paused and checked the weather report on his phone. "Yeah, they're predicting showers off and on for most of the day. Come on, let's get a few more awnings set up and some things put away."
One large tote that was still in the back of Tim's truck was brought out and opened to reveal several large tarps, rolls of nylon rope and a pile of aluminum pole pieces. While Tony screwed all the poles together, Tim planned out the placement. One went in front of their tent, overlapping slightly so no rain would fall in between them. The next went in front of that, keeping them dry while they sat around the fire. It had the tallest poles, allowing it to overlap the first and keeping it high and safely away from the flames. The third awning was the largest and actually used the poles from the first two on one side while stretching out to cover the kitchen area.
When they were done, the guylines holding the awnings taut were spread to almost the edges of the campsite. To keep any of the group from tripping over them, especially at night, Tim hooked a combination reflector/LED light to each of the lines.
Tony grinned, glad he was camping with his tech-orientated partner instead of their old-school team leader. The store of poles and ropes was seriously depleted, but there was still a large stack of awnings, so he held one of them up. "What are the rest for?"
"Sidewalls, if it really starts coming down."
"Cool." Tony hated being wet and cold, so he was eager to help. "What's next?"
"Take the hammock chairs down and pack them up, then make sure nothing in the tent is touching the walls." Tim grinned as he unhooked one of the chairs. He hadn't told Tony, but he'd managed to sneak in not only a picture of Fornell tied up in the chair, but also a video of Gibbs' rescue. "The tent's been waterproofed and the rain fly has about four coats on it, but anything pushing against the walls from the inside can still cause water to wick inside."
Since the chairs took a great deal of understanding to properly take down and fold up (and possibly a degree in engineering), Tony left that to Tim and went inside the tent. He'd been following Tim's lead in keeping everything folded up and packed away, so it just took a quick check to make sure nothing was touching where it shouldn't. The only thing he wasn't sure about was the power cord, so he went back out to ask McGee.
Tim was spreading a tarp over the bed of the truck when he saw Tony and waved him over. "Here, grab the other end, okay?" All of the bins were plastic and watertight, but the tarp spread over the bed gave an added layer of protection. The tarp was longer and wider then the truck bed, letting it drape almost to the bottom of the side panels before being hooked into place with short bungee cords.
Judging from the way the plastic tarp easily fell into position this wasn't the first time it had been used for this purpose. "You're really an old hand at this."
"Yeah, well, most of my Scouts are geeks."
Tony snorted, but otherwise kept his mouth shut, and saw the same reaction from Gibbs, who was walking over and listening to the conversation. They could both see boys not impressed with the gun-ho, primitive style of camping gravitating to Tim's more modern, more comfortable, approach. Tim just grinned at both of them as he continued to explain. "When you've got kids that aren't really sure about the whole outdoors thing, being cold and miserable doesn't really help their enthusiasm level."
"I can see that." Tony really could see it, too. He'd never ever call himself a geek, but he'd had more fun during this camping trip than any he'd gone on as a child. Maybe it was the company, maybe it was the comfort level, but he was willing to bet it was a combination of both. Before he could comment, Tim was talking again.
"The best part is that a couple of boys that never would have had the chance to go camping are part of my troop now. Boys that are medically too fragile to ever go hiking miles into the wilderness, but still want a chance to just be a kid." Tim gave them both a careful look. "Always great to have another adult or two along, even if it's just for part of the trip."
Tony found himself agreeing even before his fear of kids could talk him out of helping. "I can probably manage that."
Gibbs finally joined their conversation. "That's where you go on the second week of July every year?" He'd never really thought about it, but that week of vacation was always non-negotiable with McGee, had been for almost six years.
"Yeah. We have to stick pretty close to town with a good hospital and be at a campgrounds with power, but I try to make sure the boys get a taste of what real camping is all about."
Gibbs smiled at that and he knew that Vance would understand. "Next year, I'll make sure the whole team is off the rotation for that week. Maybe even Ducky will come with us so you'll have a doctor right in the campsite." Tim's whole face lit up and Gibbs knew it was the right thing to say.
"That would be great. They'd love all of his stories."
Giving a nod to that, Gibbs looked around the campsite. He was no longer surprised at Tim's ability, but he was pleased with the additional set up. "Since you're going to be in charge of the cook fire for the rest of the trip, why don't I move my supplies over here and you just help yourself to whatever you need?"
"Sure."
Fornell was chopping wood, one of the few camping chores he was comfortable with, so they let him continue with that as Tim and Tony helped bring over the two wooden boxes and the cooler. Tim pointed out the three different coolers he was using at their camp. "That one has drinks and everything that is better cold, but won't spoil if it gets a little warm. The next one is basically our fridge, and everything in that one over there is still frozen so we're not even opening it until probably tomorrow."
Gibbs nodded and divided the food from his cooler into the first two Tim pointed out. Both of those were the high end coolers that Gibbs had seen at various stores. According to the ads they would keep things cold for at least five days. The third was a brand that Gibbs had never seen, but it was well-built and had heavy metal latches.
Remembering Gibbs' threat to Fornell of beans the first day, Tim grinned at the package of steaks Gibbs subtly slid into the cooler. Gibbs returned the grin and leaned closer. "We'll just let Tobias think all of this was yours."
"Probably a good idea."
The more often a cooler is opened the quicker it warms up so Gibbs didn't spend a lot of time rooting around to see what else Tim had brought, but one tall canister caught his attention. "You got special plans for that?"
Tony had asked the same question the first night and Gibbs got the same answer. "Yep, you'll see."
--NCIS--
Once the rain started, they had a lazy afternoon. Kyle was settled into his tent, so the four agents enjoyed sitting around their campfire. Lunch was basically self-serve after Tim set out an assortment of deli meats and cheeses along with bread and the various condiments to make sandwiches. It took the coffee makers from both camps to keep up with the four of them, but the hot beverage took the chill of afternoon. For a moment Tony thought he'd hit the jackpot when he found a box of playing cards in the tent.
"All right, how about some cards? We've got... these are kid's games."
Gibbs pointed at McGee. "Hello, Scoutmaster over there. Were you really expecting poker?"
"Well..."
Fornell reached across and grabbed one of the boxes. "I used to love playing this with Emily."
Watching the two set up the card game, Tim leaned closer to Tony. "I'm gonna get the steaks marinating. You want to help?" Not quite able to look away, Tony nodded and stood, their actions ignored by the two bent over the small camp table.
"You got a blue shark, Tobias?"
"Nope, Jethro. Go fish."