FIC: Who Knew? FINAL CHAPTER!
Title: Who Knew? (11/11)
Fandom: NCIS
Genre: Romance/Friendship/Adventure
Rating: PG-13, T
Pairing: Kate/Tony, Abby/McGee, Jenny/Gibbs, Ziva/OC
Spoilers: Seasons 1 & 2 in particular. Season 3 sparingly.
Warnings: AUness, Babyfic
Summery: Kate has a lot of adjusting to do. This includes a loss of a friend, a new relationship, a new team member, and a few other life changing events
A/n: Beta'ing changes to previous chapters will start after this posting. As will working on Book II. So if you notice something you think needs corrected, feel free to point it out :)
EDIT (7:50): Sorry about the lack of cut.
Previous Chapters.
The trip up to Pittsburgh was an eventful one. Abby spent most of the way talking about what she was planning to do as an honorary aunt. McGee fell asleep in the front seat, and Tony kept silent, every once and awhile sharing an amused glance with Kate through the mirror. They stopped once for dinner once they crossed the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, but for the most part it was a continuous trip.
Once they got there, they made their way to the hotel that Jenny (she insisted that they call her that when off duty, again) had arranged for them for the two nights they would be staying. The others were already there and had chosen their rooms.
It doesn’t surprise her when there are only four rooms instead of eight. It was a small hotel with only five rooms per floor, and the last room was taken by someone else. Ducky and Palmer had decided to share a double room that is attached to Gibbs’ room, which apparently he is sharing with the Jenny which does surprise her. She thinks that Gibbs and Jenny had assumed that Abby and she would share a room while Tony and McGee would take the other room, but they also didn’t seem so surprised when it turns out that Abby and McGee go into one together. She’s pretty sure however they will use the separate beds. McGee’s too much of a gentlemen and he’s also not a fool to let himself be used by Abby when she doesn’t return the feelings it’s obvious to everyone he has.
Kate goes in the remaining room, finding it a single, instead of the double she anticipated. She hears Gibbs and Tony talking in the hallway, but not what they are saying as she flops down on the bed and closes her eyes.
She doesn’t open them when minutes later she hears Tony’s soft footsteps as he walked across the room and sat down on the bed beside her.
“The Director knows we are together. Gibbs let it slip the other day. Or at least he let it slip that he wasn’t the one involved with you and the Director then assumed me.”
“Why would she assume Gibbs?”
“Apparently she took that scene at the hospital after you got shot as either we were a very close team or one of us was involved with you. She managed to weed out of Gibbs the fact that it wasn’t him and she then switched to me, having seen how we interact.”
“Did she say anything about it?” There was no official rule about interoffice dating, but she knew some still frowned on it, and it could affect how she was able to do her job.
“Not that Gibbs told me. He just wanted us to know that it’s not a team secret anymore.”
Tony leaned back on the bed and turned on his side to face her. She looks up at him, noticing his face taking a thoughtful look. The hand that isn’t being used to hold his head up is playing with the comforter beside her. Occasionally bushing against her side.
“How long do you think it will take for Abby to let everyone know?” She asked.
“Are you kidding?” He asked with a smile. “They already know.”
~*~
The next morning, the director pulled her aside as they all gather for breakfast.
“I have a favor to ask of you,” she started. “Rebecca had several cases still open and I need agents to close them. I was wondering if you could temporary work with Terry to close the cases.”
“So once I am done, I would rejoin my team?”
“Yes. You and Terry will also be training new agents. One of course is Ziva David who needs to be brought up to speed on our procedures, and another is an agent I’m thinking of pairing up with Terry named Eddie Calhan. He’s a recent graduate from Georgetown that shows an aptitude for computer forensics.”
“I can do that. Although I think if he’s interested in computer forensics that McGee would be the best person to team him up with. Terry and Becca specialized in drugs and other substances.”
“I was thinking that, but Calhan’s a double major. His first major was chemistry. Which gives him a background that could be used when we find new compositions. I have decided that Agent McGee will be assigned Ziva as a partner.”
“Really?”
“Well, my advisers suggested that I pair her with Gibbs or Tony, since she already has more experience, but I think McGee is ready to have a partner.” Remembering what Tony had told her, she probably also decided to not assign Ziva to be partners with Tony because of their relationship. Kate found it odd, because she would have thought that it would be the opposite. But she wasn’t going to argue. She’d rather be the one backing Tony up then relying on someone else to do it.
But then Jen Sheppard didn’t seem like your average director.
~*~
The funeral took place in a small cemetery about half an hour of Pittsburgh, up on a hill and surrounded by trees. Tony makes a brief comment about it being from some famous Zombie movie, but his usual joy at mentioning a movie is absent and it was only done because it wouldn’t be him if he didn’t. And Becca would come back from the dead and smack him because she would have said it had the places been reversed. Tony had been happy to find a fellow film junkie in Becca.
She starts crying halfway through the ceremony after seeing Abby cry for about five minutes. Tony didn’t cry, but the lack of his customary soft grin had about the same effect. McGee stood next to Abby, letting her hold on to him. Ducky and Palmer stand on Kate’s other side. Jimmy is crying and Ducky’s not, but you can tell his heartbreak at the loss of another human being in his eyes. Gibbs and the director stand over near Becca’s family. The group gathered is small. Just family, close friends and coworkers who knew her better than most. The majority of the NCIS branch had paid their respects at a memorial service that had been put together earlier that weekend.
She is so involved with her inner slide show of memories of Rebecca Stanton that when the bugler starts to play Taps, she is startled. Tony’s holding her hand very tightly, and she’s surprised she didn’t notice. She watches as a folded flag is handed to Becca’s mother. The Reverend says a final prayer and the group begins to disperse, to allow the immediate family to be alone when the casket is lowered into the ground. As each of them passes the casket, they place a single flower on top of the casket.
Ken hugs her as she leaves the ceremony, thanking her for her help gathering Becca’s things at the office and for her and the team catching the man who killed the love of his life. She tells her condolences to Becca’s parents and older brother before moving to where the cars are lined up.
She wonders for a brief and miserable second as she enters the car what she would have done if she had stood in Ken’s place. If it had been Tony in a grave. Or any of the others. What if it were Abby or McGee in that casket.
Honestly, she has had too much time to think on that particular subject in the past month. She never thought she would be thankful for her mother and her randomness, and failure to adhere to schedules and calling ahead. But her mother had given her a distraction. Something that kept her from dwelling on the fact that when she went to work on Wednesday, Becca would not be there. Or the fact that this brought home the fact that no matter how careful they were, there was always the chance that this would be them.
The others follow her in the car. They had car pooled in two cars, the other four had been driven up in Gibbs car. Somehow she ends up in the same car as Gibbs, Abby and Jen. The first couple minutes of the ride was silent as the individuals inside contemplated the events of the day. Then Abby decided to break the silence and the mood.
“So when do you think you’ll get married?”
“Married?” Jen and Gibbs said at the same time. Jen with a smile and curious tone to her voice, Gibbs with disbelief and a look that Kate wasn’t sure she could define.
“Yep, Tony popped the question yesterday,” Abby explained, twisted in her seat to look in the back without taking her seatbelt off. “Show them the ring, Kate!”
Kate took the chain off from around her neck where the ring was held. She had decided on that to keep her mother from noticing it. However, amongst her friends she could wear it on her finger, now that everyone knew. Jen and Abby kept talking about it, but Kate looked at Gibbs who wasn’t speaking, although he would look back every once and awhile.
He didn’t look happy.
~*~
When Tony and the others caught up with them at the hotel, Gibbs gave him one look and after a quick look at Kate he followed him into another room.
The rest of them gathered in the small café next door to the hotel. It was nice bar, but Kate just kept wondering what Gibbs and Tony were up to. With Gibbs, you never know. It could be anything from finding out Tony’s intentions, to trying to talk Tony out of marrying her.
After all, Gibbs had three marriages to his credit. As the others ordered drinks, she really wished she had the distraction. Instead she stuck to ginger ale and hoped her fiancée lived to see the end of the day.
It was only a few minutes before Gibbs and Tony returned. She looked at Tony, asking a question silently. He made a motion with his head that told her he’d tell her later what had gone on between the two of them in the other room.
They all ordered food and more drinks and began their own celebration of Becca’s life. They shared their favorite memories and cried and laughed together. Sometimes they were silent and sometimes they talked almost on top of each other.
Abby told of a story of when Becca had pretended to be a fortune teller at a girl’s night with her and Kate.
The three girls were sitting in a circle in Abby’s living room, the coffee table full of junk food, cocktails and beer sitting between them. A CD player played Abby’s favorite music in the background, although the volume was a lot lower then her usual range at work. Abby had her back to the couch, and Kate was to her left and Becca to the right.
“I can tell the future”, Becca stated, her voice that of the pleasantly drunk.
“Really?” Abby asked in her usual hyper-way. Not even copious amounts of the special cocktail she had created herself could dull her enthusiasm.
“Yep.” Becca placed her drink on the table. “Want to me to try one for you.”
“Sure.” Becca closes her eyes and starts to do this humming thing and Kate bursts into giggles. Had she been more sober, she would have been embarrassed, but as it was she didn’t care. Becca simply opened one eye and Kate apologized while trying unsuccessfully to stop. Becca continues to hum for a few seconds, trying not to laugh herself.
“Abigail. I have your future!” At this both Abby and Kate started to laugh at the false deep tone Becca had taken on and her use of Abby’s formal name. “I see seven children! You live in a mansion in New York after you and your husband, one Jimmy Palmer, earn a lot of money writing real life crime novels. However, you will be secretly having an affair with your computer tech guy, who has a strange resemblance to a certain Federal Agent. One day, Mr. Palmer will come home and find you and challenge Techy to a duel!”
At this point both Abby and Kate were practically rolling on the floor.
“Due to their nature, the duel over Abby is done online, and many gather to watch the two men battle virtually for their love. However, Techy has an advantage of experience and beats the fair-hearted Mr. Palmer.
Abby and her seven children go off into the sunset with Techy, as Mr. Palmer is being consoled by a mysterious woman of affluent means.” As she finishes, even she is laughing. “Want me to do you, Kate?”
“Why not. Go ahead. Let’s see what I’ll be doing in Becca-land. This time, instead of making a humming noise, she just looked at Kate, her face expressing concentration.
“Got it. This year is going to be a big year for you, Missy. You’ll have a big change this year. Mr. Right will finally get his act together and ask you out. You’ll do a lot of things that will be considered impulsive. You might get another tattoo.”
“I doubt that.”
“Eventually you will become Madam Director, have five children, one of which will be a big rock star and you’ll be known more for being the mom of so-and-so then being the director of a crime investigation agency. You’ll write your memoir, but everyone will think it is fiction. After you retire, you’ll move out into the suburbs and become a criminology professor at one of the local schools. You’ll have Friday night pool tournaments, which you will always loose on purpose to Gibbs, who can’t play.”
Kate was going to respond to that when the girls heard noises outside Abby’s Door. Abby walked to the door and opened it to find McGee and Tony arguing in the hallway. McGee gave an embarrassed smile and Tony gave a less-embarrassed smile. Abby responded with an evil grin of her own before she turned to yell back at the others.
“Hey Guys, the strippers are here.” Kate smiled and was just drunk enough to play along. McGee’s face made her wish she had a camera, while Tony still grinned.
“Well, tell them to come in. “
“We could use them right about now,” Becca added with a wink. “I want the shy one.” McGee looked like he had stopped breathing and Tony was walking in like he was in his element. Kate supposed he was. Becca continued to argue over McGee while Tony went in her direction.
“And what would you like Ma’am?” Tony asked, clearly liking the role of a male stripper.
“To try you on.” If nothing else, this proved to Kate that she was very drunk .She would NEVER have said that if she was sober, no matter if it was a game or not.
“I’m sure I’d be a perfect fit.” Tony was having fun with this. However, before she could reply, McGee cried for help. Becca and Abby were pretending to fight over him, pulling him back and forth despite his insistence that they let him go. “
“We don’t need to go into that,” McGee stopped the retelling of the story, which thankfully was minus her and Tony’s interaction. McGee didn’t want their bosses to know that Becca and Abby had gotten his shirt off before they stopped playing around with him.
“C’Mon McGee! I haven’t even gotten to when she read your and Tony’s futures!”
“Yeah, Probie. You need to finish the story.” McGee glared at Tony.
“You only say that because Becca basically said you and Kate were going to get together.”
“You know,” Abby stated, “She was fairly accurate.” Jimmy took a quick look at McGee and gulped. “She said Kate would have a lot of changes and do a few impulsive things, which is true. She also predicted that Tony would lose his car.
“She also said you would have seven children with Jimmy,” Kate added in McGee’s defense.
“Who knows,” Abby said with a smile towards Jimmy, who gulped again as it was accompanied with a glare from McGee. “There is still time.” She winked.
Gibbs thankfully saved them all a patented “Why Not Me” McGee ramble that everyone would recognize as such except Abby and McGee. He started talking about how he had met Becca on the firing range, and how she had shot and hit the targets. The issue was that it was the targets around hers. However, after a few training sessions with Gibbs and Tony, she had improved so that she was hitting her own target.
~*~
There was a group of people dancing. It was one of those standard bar songs that one could barely understand because it was piped through the speakers so loud. They had all chosen to join the group, even Jimmy and Ducky who hadn’t had dates with them. Ducky had gotten a partner in a woman who could be around Kate’s age but dressed like someone much younger, and Jimmy had picked a girl who looked like she was experiencing her first outing after becoming a legal drinker. McGee and Abby were dancing the wrong dance to every song just to have fun. Currently they were doing the robot. They were oddly in sync with each other.
Gibbs was slow dancing with the director, and while the distance was polite and to the average person say nothing, the rest of the group noticed the strain. It wasn’t till a few dances in that Gibbs seemed to give up on pretense and pulled Jen closer. Or perhaps it was the fact that amongst these people they didn’t have to pretend. Kate wasn’t sure. Again, there was nothing that would suggest they were more than causal friends to the untrained observer. However, it did put a lot of credence to Tony’s theory.
Kate observed from where she stood swaying slightly to the tune, Tony’s arms around her. Neither of them were much up to actively dancing, choosing instead to stand at the edges and observe the others while enjoying each other’s company. Of course this reminded her of what got this whole thing started.
They had danced in Paraguay. However at that time they had both been pleasantly drunk and living up the South American atmosphere. And they spent more time getting away from the dance floor then they did on it.
She remembered talking to Becca about it before they went. Abby had been busy on another case so they had gone to lunch together and Becca had teased her.
“Scuttlebutt is you’re going to Paraguay with Tony.”
“Yep.” Becca had a smile on her face that made Kate wonder what she was up to. “What?”
“You and Tony. Alone. “
“We will be working on a case.”
“Not the whole time. I’m sure there were will be a few hours before you get a ride back to have some fun with your partner. Try him on so to speak.” Kate glared at her, for both what she was saying and for the reminder of Kate’s drunken behavior the week before.
“I doubt that, and besides we aren’t like that. You are almost as bad as Ducky.” Kate had told Abby and Becca what had happened.
“Well, it’s true. Hell, if my fiancée ever looked at me the way Tony looks at you sometimes, I would never make it to work. And then there are the looks you give him when you think no one is looking. Seriously, sometimes you two could burn up a room with that tension. We were about to start a poll as to when one of you would finally snap and have at each other in one of the interrogation rooms”
“You are making that up. We have a strictly work relationship.” Becca laughed.
“I’d stay and argue that one all afternoon, but I have a conference with the Seattle branch in MTAC in about thirty minutes and I got to get back to prepare. But if I can give you one piece of advice, honey, I’d use this trip for all its worth.” Becca winked at her before putting money down on the table and standing up and leaving her to finish her lunch alone with a lot of images in her mind that she had been very good at keeping at bay till now. But before she had gone out of hearing, she left a parting shot.
Becca had been right, which is why she hadn’t outright denied it when Ducky mentioned it. But a weekend in Paraguay hadn’t done anything to help the situation. It made things worse, putting them each into a standstill. It wasn’t till after the whole wet t-shirt photo fight that they started to fix things. Which lead them to where they were now, engaged and expecting their first child.
She wondered what Becca would have thought about the baby. She had briefly thought about using the name Rebecca if it turned out to be a girl. She decided against it, knowing Becca had never liked the idea of naming people after dead people. Had actually ranted on it a few times, right after her rant on names spelled uniquely and right before the rant on why one should not name their children odd names like after a fruit or comic book character.
“The Director wants us all to see the company psychologist,” Tony stated, interrupting her thoughts.
“She’s probably right in that. I’m sure we could all use someone to talk to.” She knew having Tony and Abby around helped her, but she was pretty sure that the three that were there, the ones who saw Becca die, would need something more than that. Someone who knew what questions to ask to help them cope with what they saw.
“I suppose.” He paused for a second. “Sometimes when I think about her I can still feel the blood on my face. Do you think that’s going to go away?”
“Eventually,” she said, hoping it was the truth.
~*~
End of Book I
This story will be continued in Book II, where Kate & Ziva tackle one of Becca’s open cases. It will take place during the episode Mind Games.
Fandom: NCIS
Genre: Romance/Friendship/Adventure
Rating: PG-13, T
Pairing: Kate/Tony, Abby/McGee, Jenny/Gibbs, Ziva/OC
Spoilers: Seasons 1 & 2 in particular. Season 3 sparingly.
Warnings: AUness, Babyfic
Summery: Kate has a lot of adjusting to do. This includes a loss of a friend, a new relationship, a new team member, and a few other life changing events
A/n: Beta'ing changes to previous chapters will start after this posting. As will working on Book II. So if you notice something you think needs corrected, feel free to point it out :)
EDIT (7:50): Sorry about the lack of cut.
Previous Chapters.
The trip up to Pittsburgh was an eventful one. Abby spent most of the way talking about what she was planning to do as an honorary aunt. McGee fell asleep in the front seat, and Tony kept silent, every once and awhile sharing an amused glance with Kate through the mirror. They stopped once for dinner once they crossed the Maryland-Pennsylvania border, but for the most part it was a continuous trip.
Once they got there, they made their way to the hotel that Jenny (she insisted that they call her that when off duty, again) had arranged for them for the two nights they would be staying. The others were already there and had chosen their rooms.
It doesn’t surprise her when there are only four rooms instead of eight. It was a small hotel with only five rooms per floor, and the last room was taken by someone else. Ducky and Palmer had decided to share a double room that is attached to Gibbs’ room, which apparently he is sharing with the Jenny which does surprise her. She thinks that Gibbs and Jenny had assumed that Abby and she would share a room while Tony and McGee would take the other room, but they also didn’t seem so surprised when it turns out that Abby and McGee go into one together. She’s pretty sure however they will use the separate beds. McGee’s too much of a gentlemen and he’s also not a fool to let himself be used by Abby when she doesn’t return the feelings it’s obvious to everyone he has.
Kate goes in the remaining room, finding it a single, instead of the double she anticipated. She hears Gibbs and Tony talking in the hallway, but not what they are saying as she flops down on the bed and closes her eyes.
She doesn’t open them when minutes later she hears Tony’s soft footsteps as he walked across the room and sat down on the bed beside her.
“The Director knows we are together. Gibbs let it slip the other day. Or at least he let it slip that he wasn’t the one involved with you and the Director then assumed me.”
“Why would she assume Gibbs?”
“Apparently she took that scene at the hospital after you got shot as either we were a very close team or one of us was involved with you. She managed to weed out of Gibbs the fact that it wasn’t him and she then switched to me, having seen how we interact.”
“Did she say anything about it?” There was no official rule about interoffice dating, but she knew some still frowned on it, and it could affect how she was able to do her job.
“Not that Gibbs told me. He just wanted us to know that it’s not a team secret anymore.”
Tony leaned back on the bed and turned on his side to face her. She looks up at him, noticing his face taking a thoughtful look. The hand that isn’t being used to hold his head up is playing with the comforter beside her. Occasionally bushing against her side.
“How long do you think it will take for Abby to let everyone know?” She asked.
“Are you kidding?” He asked with a smile. “They already know.”
~*~
The next morning, the director pulled her aside as they all gather for breakfast.
“I have a favor to ask of you,” she started. “Rebecca had several cases still open and I need agents to close them. I was wondering if you could temporary work with Terry to close the cases.”
“So once I am done, I would rejoin my team?”
“Yes. You and Terry will also be training new agents. One of course is Ziva David who needs to be brought up to speed on our procedures, and another is an agent I’m thinking of pairing up with Terry named Eddie Calhan. He’s a recent graduate from Georgetown that shows an aptitude for computer forensics.”
“I can do that. Although I think if he’s interested in computer forensics that McGee would be the best person to team him up with. Terry and Becca specialized in drugs and other substances.”
“I was thinking that, but Calhan’s a double major. His first major was chemistry. Which gives him a background that could be used when we find new compositions. I have decided that Agent McGee will be assigned Ziva as a partner.”
“Really?”
“Well, my advisers suggested that I pair her with Gibbs or Tony, since she already has more experience, but I think McGee is ready to have a partner.” Remembering what Tony had told her, she probably also decided to not assign Ziva to be partners with Tony because of their relationship. Kate found it odd, because she would have thought that it would be the opposite. But she wasn’t going to argue. She’d rather be the one backing Tony up then relying on someone else to do it.
But then Jen Sheppard didn’t seem like your average director.
~*~
The funeral took place in a small cemetery about half an hour of Pittsburgh, up on a hill and surrounded by trees. Tony makes a brief comment about it being from some famous Zombie movie, but his usual joy at mentioning a movie is absent and it was only done because it wouldn’t be him if he didn’t. And Becca would come back from the dead and smack him because she would have said it had the places been reversed. Tony had been happy to find a fellow film junkie in Becca.
She starts crying halfway through the ceremony after seeing Abby cry for about five minutes. Tony didn’t cry, but the lack of his customary soft grin had about the same effect. McGee stood next to Abby, letting her hold on to him. Ducky and Palmer stand on Kate’s other side. Jimmy is crying and Ducky’s not, but you can tell his heartbreak at the loss of another human being in his eyes. Gibbs and the director stand over near Becca’s family. The group gathered is small. Just family, close friends and coworkers who knew her better than most. The majority of the NCIS branch had paid their respects at a memorial service that had been put together earlier that weekend.
She is so involved with her inner slide show of memories of Rebecca Stanton that when the bugler starts to play Taps, she is startled. Tony’s holding her hand very tightly, and she’s surprised she didn’t notice. She watches as a folded flag is handed to Becca’s mother. The Reverend says a final prayer and the group begins to disperse, to allow the immediate family to be alone when the casket is lowered into the ground. As each of them passes the casket, they place a single flower on top of the casket.
Ken hugs her as she leaves the ceremony, thanking her for her help gathering Becca’s things at the office and for her and the team catching the man who killed the love of his life. She tells her condolences to Becca’s parents and older brother before moving to where the cars are lined up.
She wonders for a brief and miserable second as she enters the car what she would have done if she had stood in Ken’s place. If it had been Tony in a grave. Or any of the others. What if it were Abby or McGee in that casket.
Honestly, she has had too much time to think on that particular subject in the past month. She never thought she would be thankful for her mother and her randomness, and failure to adhere to schedules and calling ahead. But her mother had given her a distraction. Something that kept her from dwelling on the fact that when she went to work on Wednesday, Becca would not be there. Or the fact that this brought home the fact that no matter how careful they were, there was always the chance that this would be them.
The others follow her in the car. They had car pooled in two cars, the other four had been driven up in Gibbs car. Somehow she ends up in the same car as Gibbs, Abby and Jen. The first couple minutes of the ride was silent as the individuals inside contemplated the events of the day. Then Abby decided to break the silence and the mood.
“So when do you think you’ll get married?”
“Married?” Jen and Gibbs said at the same time. Jen with a smile and curious tone to her voice, Gibbs with disbelief and a look that Kate wasn’t sure she could define.
“Yep, Tony popped the question yesterday,” Abby explained, twisted in her seat to look in the back without taking her seatbelt off. “Show them the ring, Kate!”
Kate took the chain off from around her neck where the ring was held. She had decided on that to keep her mother from noticing it. However, amongst her friends she could wear it on her finger, now that everyone knew. Jen and Abby kept talking about it, but Kate looked at Gibbs who wasn’t speaking, although he would look back every once and awhile.
He didn’t look happy.
~*~
When Tony and the others caught up with them at the hotel, Gibbs gave him one look and after a quick look at Kate he followed him into another room.
The rest of them gathered in the small café next door to the hotel. It was nice bar, but Kate just kept wondering what Gibbs and Tony were up to. With Gibbs, you never know. It could be anything from finding out Tony’s intentions, to trying to talk Tony out of marrying her.
After all, Gibbs had three marriages to his credit. As the others ordered drinks, she really wished she had the distraction. Instead she stuck to ginger ale and hoped her fiancée lived to see the end of the day.
It was only a few minutes before Gibbs and Tony returned. She looked at Tony, asking a question silently. He made a motion with his head that told her he’d tell her later what had gone on between the two of them in the other room.
They all ordered food and more drinks and began their own celebration of Becca’s life. They shared their favorite memories and cried and laughed together. Sometimes they were silent and sometimes they talked almost on top of each other.
Abby told of a story of when Becca had pretended to be a fortune teller at a girl’s night with her and Kate.
The three girls were sitting in a circle in Abby’s living room, the coffee table full of junk food, cocktails and beer sitting between them. A CD player played Abby’s favorite music in the background, although the volume was a lot lower then her usual range at work. Abby had her back to the couch, and Kate was to her left and Becca to the right.
“I can tell the future”, Becca stated, her voice that of the pleasantly drunk.
“Really?” Abby asked in her usual hyper-way. Not even copious amounts of the special cocktail she had created herself could dull her enthusiasm.
“Yep.” Becca placed her drink on the table. “Want to me to try one for you.”
“Sure.” Becca closes her eyes and starts to do this humming thing and Kate bursts into giggles. Had she been more sober, she would have been embarrassed, but as it was she didn’t care. Becca simply opened one eye and Kate apologized while trying unsuccessfully to stop. Becca continues to hum for a few seconds, trying not to laugh herself.
“Abigail. I have your future!” At this both Abby and Kate started to laugh at the false deep tone Becca had taken on and her use of Abby’s formal name. “I see seven children! You live in a mansion in New York after you and your husband, one Jimmy Palmer, earn a lot of money writing real life crime novels. However, you will be secretly having an affair with your computer tech guy, who has a strange resemblance to a certain Federal Agent. One day, Mr. Palmer will come home and find you and challenge Techy to a duel!”
At this point both Abby and Kate were practically rolling on the floor.
“Due to their nature, the duel over Abby is done online, and many gather to watch the two men battle virtually for their love. However, Techy has an advantage of experience and beats the fair-hearted Mr. Palmer.
Abby and her seven children go off into the sunset with Techy, as Mr. Palmer is being consoled by a mysterious woman of affluent means.” As she finishes, even she is laughing. “Want me to do you, Kate?”
“Why not. Go ahead. Let’s see what I’ll be doing in Becca-land. This time, instead of making a humming noise, she just looked at Kate, her face expressing concentration.
“Got it. This year is going to be a big year for you, Missy. You’ll have a big change this year. Mr. Right will finally get his act together and ask you out. You’ll do a lot of things that will be considered impulsive. You might get another tattoo.”
“I doubt that.”
“Eventually you will become Madam Director, have five children, one of which will be a big rock star and you’ll be known more for being the mom of so-and-so then being the director of a crime investigation agency. You’ll write your memoir, but everyone will think it is fiction. After you retire, you’ll move out into the suburbs and become a criminology professor at one of the local schools. You’ll have Friday night pool tournaments, which you will always loose on purpose to Gibbs, who can’t play.”
Kate was going to respond to that when the girls heard noises outside Abby’s Door. Abby walked to the door and opened it to find McGee and Tony arguing in the hallway. McGee gave an embarrassed smile and Tony gave a less-embarrassed smile. Abby responded with an evil grin of her own before she turned to yell back at the others.
“Hey Guys, the strippers are here.” Kate smiled and was just drunk enough to play along. McGee’s face made her wish she had a camera, while Tony still grinned.
“Well, tell them to come in. “
“We could use them right about now,” Becca added with a wink. “I want the shy one.” McGee looked like he had stopped breathing and Tony was walking in like he was in his element. Kate supposed he was. Becca continued to argue over McGee while Tony went in her direction.
“And what would you like Ma’am?” Tony asked, clearly liking the role of a male stripper.
“To try you on.” If nothing else, this proved to Kate that she was very drunk .She would NEVER have said that if she was sober, no matter if it was a game or not.
“I’m sure I’d be a perfect fit.” Tony was having fun with this. However, before she could reply, McGee cried for help. Becca and Abby were pretending to fight over him, pulling him back and forth despite his insistence that they let him go. “
“We don’t need to go into that,” McGee stopped the retelling of the story, which thankfully was minus her and Tony’s interaction. McGee didn’t want their bosses to know that Becca and Abby had gotten his shirt off before they stopped playing around with him.
“C’Mon McGee! I haven’t even gotten to when she read your and Tony’s futures!”
“Yeah, Probie. You need to finish the story.” McGee glared at Tony.
“You only say that because Becca basically said you and Kate were going to get together.”
“You know,” Abby stated, “She was fairly accurate.” Jimmy took a quick look at McGee and gulped. “She said Kate would have a lot of changes and do a few impulsive things, which is true. She also predicted that Tony would lose his car.
“She also said you would have seven children with Jimmy,” Kate added in McGee’s defense.
“Who knows,” Abby said with a smile towards Jimmy, who gulped again as it was accompanied with a glare from McGee. “There is still time.” She winked.
Gibbs thankfully saved them all a patented “Why Not Me” McGee ramble that everyone would recognize as such except Abby and McGee. He started talking about how he had met Becca on the firing range, and how she had shot and hit the targets. The issue was that it was the targets around hers. However, after a few training sessions with Gibbs and Tony, she had improved so that she was hitting her own target.
~*~
There was a group of people dancing. It was one of those standard bar songs that one could barely understand because it was piped through the speakers so loud. They had all chosen to join the group, even Jimmy and Ducky who hadn’t had dates with them. Ducky had gotten a partner in a woman who could be around Kate’s age but dressed like someone much younger, and Jimmy had picked a girl who looked like she was experiencing her first outing after becoming a legal drinker. McGee and Abby were dancing the wrong dance to every song just to have fun. Currently they were doing the robot. They were oddly in sync with each other.
Gibbs was slow dancing with the director, and while the distance was polite and to the average person say nothing, the rest of the group noticed the strain. It wasn’t till a few dances in that Gibbs seemed to give up on pretense and pulled Jen closer. Or perhaps it was the fact that amongst these people they didn’t have to pretend. Kate wasn’t sure. Again, there was nothing that would suggest they were more than causal friends to the untrained observer. However, it did put a lot of credence to Tony’s theory.
Kate observed from where she stood swaying slightly to the tune, Tony’s arms around her. Neither of them were much up to actively dancing, choosing instead to stand at the edges and observe the others while enjoying each other’s company. Of course this reminded her of what got this whole thing started.
They had danced in Paraguay. However at that time they had both been pleasantly drunk and living up the South American atmosphere. And they spent more time getting away from the dance floor then they did on it.
She remembered talking to Becca about it before they went. Abby had been busy on another case so they had gone to lunch together and Becca had teased her.
“Scuttlebutt is you’re going to Paraguay with Tony.”
“Yep.” Becca had a smile on her face that made Kate wonder what she was up to. “What?”
“You and Tony. Alone. “
“We will be working on a case.”
“Not the whole time. I’m sure there were will be a few hours before you get a ride back to have some fun with your partner. Try him on so to speak.” Kate glared at her, for both what she was saying and for the reminder of Kate’s drunken behavior the week before.
“I doubt that, and besides we aren’t like that. You are almost as bad as Ducky.” Kate had told Abby and Becca what had happened.
“Well, it’s true. Hell, if my fiancée ever looked at me the way Tony looks at you sometimes, I would never make it to work. And then there are the looks you give him when you think no one is looking. Seriously, sometimes you two could burn up a room with that tension. We were about to start a poll as to when one of you would finally snap and have at each other in one of the interrogation rooms”
“You are making that up. We have a strictly work relationship.” Becca laughed.
“I’d stay and argue that one all afternoon, but I have a conference with the Seattle branch in MTAC in about thirty minutes and I got to get back to prepare. But if I can give you one piece of advice, honey, I’d use this trip for all its worth.” Becca winked at her before putting money down on the table and standing up and leaving her to finish her lunch alone with a lot of images in her mind that she had been very good at keeping at bay till now. But before she had gone out of hearing, she left a parting shot.
Becca had been right, which is why she hadn’t outright denied it when Ducky mentioned it. But a weekend in Paraguay hadn’t done anything to help the situation. It made things worse, putting them each into a standstill. It wasn’t till after the whole wet t-shirt photo fight that they started to fix things. Which lead them to where they were now, engaged and expecting their first child.
She wondered what Becca would have thought about the baby. She had briefly thought about using the name Rebecca if it turned out to be a girl. She decided against it, knowing Becca had never liked the idea of naming people after dead people. Had actually ranted on it a few times, right after her rant on names spelled uniquely and right before the rant on why one should not name their children odd names like after a fruit or comic book character.
“The Director wants us all to see the company psychologist,” Tony stated, interrupting her thoughts.
“She’s probably right in that. I’m sure we could all use someone to talk to.” She knew having Tony and Abby around helped her, but she was pretty sure that the three that were there, the ones who saw Becca die, would need something more than that. Someone who knew what questions to ask to help them cope with what they saw.
“I suppose.” He paused for a second. “Sometimes when I think about her I can still feel the blood on my face. Do you think that’s going to go away?”
“Eventually,” she said, hoping it was the truth.
~*~
End of Book I
This story will be continued in Book II, where Kate & Ziva tackle one of Becca’s open cases. It will take place during the episode Mind Games.