Abby angled Kate towards the wall, pinning her there as she kissed her lips. She grabbed the belt of Kate's red coat, pulling her close so she could get away. Not that Kate was trying... When the kiss broke, Abby pressed her forehead against Kate's and said, "Stay with me?"

"Mm," Kate hesitated, looking longingly at Abby's apartment door. "I don't know if I should. I do have work tomorrow."

"Come on," Abby said.

"I don't have my pajamas," Kate said, smiling.

Abby raised her eyebrows, indicating she saw this as a non-problem.

Kate laughed and licked her lips. "Okay, well... would I have to sleep in the coffin?"

"Not if you don't want to," Abby said. "The coffin is a test. If people have a problem with it, they'll eventually have a problem with me. So..."

"I don't have to take the test?"

Abby slid a hand around Kate's waist, grabbing a handful of Kate's rear. "Mm, you've passed with flying colors, Kate, my dear."

Kate bit her bottom lip.

"So. Stay?"

"Yeah," Kate said softly.

Abby grinned.

---

"We're gonna freeze to death out here," MP Jonas Young said, kicking a sand dune out of his way with the toe of his boot. His partner, a few paces to the left and closer to the ocean, chuckled and tightened his uniform coat around his throat.

Jonas sighed and looked ahead, groaning when he spotted the shape laying in the sand a few hundred yards ahead. "Would you look at this," he muttered. "Kid passes out, friends don't even bother to wake him up when they leave."

They picked up their pace, standing over the body. Jonas prodded him with the toe of his boot. "Rise and shine, kid." When he got no response, he shined his light on the boy's face and gasped, backing up a step. "Holy..."

His partner hurried up and blanched at the sight. The kid wasn't drunk; his throat was slit.

---

The cell phone's chirp woke Gibbs a few minutes past five in the morning. He sat up, blinking and almost instantly alert to his surroundings. The skeleton of his current boat project loomed in front of him, the smell of sawdust filling the air. He leaned forward, snatching the phone off the end table. There was a time that the basement could've been a refuge, a time no one could have reached him down here. A time before cell phones.

He opened the phone, squeezing the bridge of his nose as he said, "Gibbs." He listened for a moment, then said, "We'll be there." He disconnected the call and dialed DiNozzo's number. "Call Kate and Ducky. Have them meet us at Little Creek."

"Gotcha," Tony said. "We got a case?

"No, DiNozzo, I'm sure the MPs at Little Creek are just eager to see your smiling face." He snapped the phone shut and headed upstairs to change clothes.

The sun was just beginning to peek through his living room window, illuminating the silhouettes of his furniture. He passed the doorway to the front room and went to the bedroom, pulling a handful of clothes from the closet. There was a shuffling behind him and he turned, the redheaded woman in his bed rising to look at him. "You never came to bed last night," she said.

"No," he admitted. "Sorry about that."

"S'okay," she said, rubbing her eyes. "Get a call?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Need a ride?"

"No." He walked over to her and kissed her forehead. "I'm going to hop in the shower." He brushed her arm as he headed to the bathroom. In the doorway, he paused and said, "Of course, if you'd like to join me..."

She smiled and threw the blankets off.

---

Kate grumbled and cursed, pulling herself away from Abby's warmth as she realized it was her cell phone making that ungodly racket. She stumbled naked across the room, her back already cold from the absence of Abby's body as she searched for her phone. After a brief search, she picked up the singing device and groaned at the Caller ID. If Tony knew she was naked...

"Todd," she mumbled into the receiver.

Tony, sounding far too chipper for the hour, said, "Hi, Todd! I was lookin' for Kate!"

She groaned. "Tony... I swear, if you're just..."

"Not me. Gibbs. We have a call at Little Creek."

Kate muttered a curse under her breath. She looked down at the wrinkled clothes piled around her feet; the same clothes she'd worn to the office yesterday. If Tony saw her like that... no way. She would have to go home and change. And that meant... "I... uh, I'm going to be late."

Tony's voice sounded strangled, as if she'd hit him in the stomach. "Late? To... a crime scene? Ooh, Kate, I'm not sure that's such a..."

"...Great idea? Tell me about it. But it's... unavoidable, Tony."

Tony sighed. "Well, all right. I'll see what I can do to cover for ya. Might be best if you go straight to the office. I'll call you with info so you can get a head start on the background information."

She hated to admit it, but she was right. She grudgingly said, "Thanks, Tony."

"You'll owe me," he added before hanging up.

She stowed the phone in her jacket and found her slacks, pulling them on. "Abby, wake up."

"Whatsit?" she asked, sitting up and looking around the dark room.

"We have a case. They'll probably need you in early."

"M'kay," Abby said, throwing off the blankets.

"I have to get home," Kate said, searching for her shoes. "What did I do with my boots?"

Abby scratched the top of her head and said, "Living room. I took them off when I was licking..."

"Right," Kate said, hurrying down the short corridor. "God, I am going to be so late..."

Abby frowned as she pulled on her t-shirt. "Why? Where's the scene?"

Kate returned with her boots, sitting on the edge of Abby's bed to pull them on. "It's at Little Creek," she said. "But I have to go home and change clothes. If I go in wearing the same thing I wore yesterday..."

"You want to borrow something of mine?"

Kate smiled. "No offense, Abby, but if I walk in there in a Memento Mori t-shirt, they won't only know <i>what</i> I was doing, they'll know who."

"Kate, Gibbs is going to kill you if you're late to a crime scene."

"Gee, you think?" Kate muttered sarcastically.

Abby paused in her dressing and said, "Whoa, hey, don't get all surly at me..."

"Well, I wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't..." She stopped herself, putting a hand to her forehead. "You know what, I'm as much to blame as you are."

Abby pressed her lips together and pulled a skirt from her closet. "You didn't have to stay, you know."

"Abby, let's drop it, okay?"

Abby shrugged and stepped into her skirt. Kate pulled on her blouse, buttoning it as she crossed to Abby. "I'll see you at work?"

"Mm-hmm."

Kate sighed. "Now you're mad at me?"

"Well..."

"Fine. Be mad. I'll see you if I see you." She grabbed her jacket and draped it over her arm as she stormed from the bedroom. Abby sat on the edge of the bed and fiddled with the hem of her dress.

---

The body was sprawled on a dune, arms and legs splayed as they would be if he'd simply fallen where he stood. Ducky and Palmer arrived in the truck at the same time Tony showed up in his car. They walked down to the body together, Tony pulling a camera from his pack. MP Young approached, meeting them halfway down the beach. "Special Agent Gibbs?" he asked, addressing Tony.

"He's on his way. Special Agent DiNozzo. Doctor Donald Mallard. The lacky is Jimmy Palmer."

The MP ignored the slight attempt at humor and motioned behind him. "Deceased is Petty Officer Jeremy McClain. I ran into him once or twice on-base. Good kid, knew how to respect his commanding officers, a real boon to the Navy. It's a shame that the good ones always end up like this."

"A lot of petty officers dying on this beach?"

"I meant dead before their time, Agent DiNozzo."

Tony and Ducky followed Young down the sand. His throat was obviously slashed, blood pooling on his shirt and in the sand around him. His eyes were wide, his mouth open slightly in shock. Tony snapped a few pictures, looking up as another truck pulled into the lot. "That would be Gibbs. I'll go grab him."

He moved up the sand, coming at the truck from behind. Gibbs opened the door, putting his foot out onto the pavement as he pulled on a pair of rubber gloves. Unable to resist, Tony moved to the back of the truck, inching silently forward. Finally, he'd have a chance to sneak up on Gibbs. Finally, payback for all those times Gibbs had just appeared out of thin air at the most inopportune mo--

"What've we got, DiNozzo?"

Tony paused, his prank ruined and looked towards the beach. "Dead petty officer. Throat slashed from here to here," he said, drawing a line under his chin from one ear to the other. "Not pretty."

"Seldom is," Gibbs muttered. He slammed the door of his truck and followed Tony down the sand to where Ducky and Palmer were moving back and forth like shadows against the darkness. Tony lifted the camera and took the opportunity to get a few more shots of the scene.

Gibbs nodded to Ducky. "Duck, hope we didn't disturb your mother, calling so early."

"Ah, Jethro!" Ducky said, rising to a standing position. "Hardly. Mother is usually up at all hours, usually watching Nick-at-Nite. She is particularly fond of Gilligan's Island, though one can hardly..."

"The body, Ducky," Gibbs prompted.

"Yes," Ducky said, shifting his gaze to the man at his feet. "The poor petty officer's throat was slashed, as you can plainly see. From the angle of the cut, I'd say the killer was standing in front of him rather than behind."

"Swinging blindly?" Gibbs asked.

"Perhaps, or a lucky shot."

"Maybe a crime of passion," Tony offered. "Lover's stroll on the beach, guy says something the girl doesn't like, she stabs him."

Gibbs turned those icy blue eyes to Tony. "A lot of your dates carry knives on romantic strolls with you?"

"Sometimes," Tony admitted quietly.

Ducky smirked.

Jimmy Palmer arrived from the truck, pushing the gurney through the sand. Tony stepped out of its way and lifted the camera. "Got pictures of the body, surrounding scene. Gotta love the flash at these pre-dawn crime scenes, huh, boss?"

Gibbs ignored the question. "Where are Kate and McGee?"

"I told McGee to head directly to the office," Tony said, himself ignoring half of Gibbs' question. He hoped the older man wouldn't notice, but...

"That answers one of my questions."

...but Gibbs was Gibbs. He shifted from one foot to the other and cleared his throat. He had to go with the truth; Gibbs would find out anyway. "She's, ah... running a little late, boss."

Gibbs looked back at the body. When he finally spoke, he said nothing of Kate's tardiness. "All right, Duck. Get this guy to the morgue, let me know what you find. DiNozzo, you and me, walk the perimeter. Give me ten feet on either side of the body, five feet out."

"You got it, boss."

They separated, leaving Ducky and Palmer to deal with the body.

---

"Beaches are like footprint museums, boss," DiNozzo said in the elevator. They'd spent an hour combing the beach around the body of Petty Officer Jeremy McClain and had come up with nothing more than a candy wrapper and a few dozen cigarette butts. DiNozzo kept talking for a bit, but Gibbs tuned him out. He was thinking instead of Kate Todd, sitting upstairs more than likely, who had arrived late enough to miss the crime scene entirely.

Unacceptable.

The elevator doors opened and Gibbs lead the way to the squad room, already feeling the weight of the day on his shoulders. Kate was at her desk and he hardly acknowledged her as he went to his desk. She stood, watching him pass by, and opened the file. "I did some digging on Petty Officer McClain... his parents are still alive, live in a suburb of Virginia Beach. McClain was assigned to the USS Grapple, no outstanding reports from his CO, either good or bad. Nothing on the mission list."

"He live on base?" Gibbs asked.

"In the BOQ."

"Get out there with DiNozzo and McGee, see if you can find any evidence of a girlfriend."

Tony glanced at Kate. "So... you think it was a lover's quarrel?"

"No, that was your theory, Tony. It was a good one." When Kate and Tony remained, staring at him, Gibbs waved at the elevator and said, "Gloating would be a very bad idea, DiNozzo."

"Got it, boss," Tony said, darting off.

"Agent Todd," Gibbs said. Kate returned and Gibbs stood, lowering his voice so he wouldn't be overheard. "When you receive a call, you are there. Do you understand me?"

"It won't happen again, Gibbs."

He nodded and took a seat. Kate left, hurrying to catch up with the effervescent DiNozzo. Alone in the squad room, Gibbs removed his cell phone and flipped the cover open. Two text messages. He frowned at the screen, punching the small keys until he ended up on the ring-tone screen. Frustrated, he punched around until he reached the Voice Mail prompt.

"This is Special Agent Jethro Gibbs," he said into the speaker. "If it is important, call me on a real phone." He slapped the phone shut, opened a drawer and tossed it in. He stood, tugging his jacket closed and stalked to the elevators.

He needed coffee. Some people said he needed coffee like he needed his next breath, but that wasn't accurate.

He could hold his breath.

---

They picked up McGee in Abby's lab and headed down to Little Creek's Bachelor Officer's Quarters. It was set up like a small apartment building, similar to those found outside the borders of a military base. The only difference was the strict dress code. According to the background Kate had looked up, PO McClain was in Apartment 4. They got the key from the building officer and let themselves in.

"Wow," Tony said, stepping into Carol Brady's wet dream. "This guy did not know the definition of being a guy." He ran his gloved finger along the edge of the mail table next to the front door. It came back spotless.

McGee went ahead into the living room, sitting down his gear and unstrapping his backpack.

"McGee, check this guy's closet. Maybe he's got a Stepford Wife in there..."

"Stepford Wife?" McGee said.

Tony's face went pale. "Okay, I'll forgive you not knowing the Duke's movie, Cary Grant's, all the greats. But probie... please... tell me you're joking. Tell me you've at least <i>heard</i> of <i>The Stepford Wives.</i> If not the 1975 Katharine Ross, Tina Louise version, then at least the one with Nicole Kidman."

"I've heard of it," McGee admitted. "I just don't know what it has to do with this. I mean, these <i>are</i> the bachelor quarters, right?"

Tony snapped, "Go check the bedroom, probie."

McGee disappeared down the hall. Kate chuckled and said, "You don't have to be so hard on him, Tony. Not everyone has a Blockbuster Gold card like you."

Tony smiled. "Ah, c'mon, Kate. We're alone now! Don't you want to talk about more interesting things? Like... why you were late?"

"I just... overslept."

"Then why didn't you answer your house phone?"

Kate paled. "You called my house phone?"

Tony's smile widened. "No. But now I know you weren't at home." He picked up one of the magazines on the coffee table, noticing the name on the address label was different. Tracy Fiddle, next apartment over. "Guy gets his neighbor's mail... apparently keeps it, too."

"Look, Tony, where I was isn't important."

"You're right, Kate," Tony acknowledged. He walked past her, pausing and putting a hand on her shoulder. "What is important... is that you owe me." He laughed evilly and headed into the bedroom. "McGee, what've you got?"

"Laptop, a couple of tame love letters," McGee reported, holding up a handful of purple paper.

Tony took them and whistled. "Wow, if <i>you</i> think they're tame..." He unfolded one, reading it. "Man. Someone should definitely learn how to talk dirty. These are... yeah." He folded them back up and said, "All right, McGee, what's in the laptop?"

"No clue. We have to get it to Abby to hack in, get past the password."

Tony nodded and scanned the walls of the bedroom. "Cartoon posters. Most guys go for the Pamela Anderson, Carmen Electra stuff, but no... no, Petty Officer McClain has cartoon characters on his wall."

McGee followed Tony's gaze. "Oh, that's He-Man." Tony slowly turned to look at the probie, who mistook it for genuine interest. "He-Man, She-Ra... Prince Adam and Skeletor..."

"Probie," Tony snapped. "I am very, very worried about you right now."

McGee sighed. "It's all right for you to reference every movie under the sun, but when <i>I</i> have some knowledge..."

Tony held up a hand. "When <i>I</i> do it, it's trivia. When you do it... it's just sad, McGee." He sighed and went back to the front room. "Okay, Katie bear, what have you for us?"

"An apartment ready to show to future renters <i>tonight</i>," Kate said. "Everything is alphabetical. The DVDs, the cereal, everything. There's not a speck of dirt in the place, no sign that anyone actually lived here."

"Neat freak," Tony said. "Had a girlfriend like that once... I had to take a shower every single time we..."

"Please, Tony, please," Kate interrupted.

Tony shrugged and said, "All right, bag and tag what we've got. Let's get back to the office." Kate and McGee snickered. Tony frowned at them and said, "What?"

"You're becoming Gibbs."

Tony pointed a finger at McGee. "Watch yourself, probie."

McGee nodded. "Yeah, in about three years? You'll have that down to a pointed stare."

Kate said, "He's right. You're Mini-Gibbs."

"Gibbs-on-the-go," McGee offered.

"The next best thing to real Gibbs."

They were still laughing when they left the apartment. Tony muttered, "If I was saying those things, Gibbs would have heard me. Some how, some way..."

---

Coffee in hand, Gibbs headed to autopsy. Ducky had already opened the man up and was examining the chest cavity. Palmer was at the head of the table, valiantly refusing to look sick. Gibbs stepped between Ducky and the assistant, looking down at the body. "What can you tell me, Duck?"

"Cause of death was indeed a single slice to the jugular. Manner of death, however, is a bit trickier. There were no defensive wounds on the young man's hands or arms."

"So maybe he didn't see it coming."

"Yes, or he did it himself..."

Palmer said, "Knife made out of ice!"

Gibbs and Ducky both looked at the young man, who finally blanched under the combined powers of their stares. "Um... I was j-just saying that... if it was a suicide, then it would be like that... riddle... of the man who hung himself? And there was nothing to stand on, but there was a puddle..."

"Palmer's right," Gibbs said.

"I am?" Palmer asked quietly.

"There was no knife found at the scene. Either someone carried it away, or..."

"I assure you, Jethro, this cut was made by steel."

Gibbs nodded. "Well, always good to keep our options open." He smirked at his old friend and said, "Let me know if you find anything else."

"Indeed, I shall, Jethro." On his way out the door, Gibbs overheard Ducky say, "A knife made of ice? Honestly, Mr. Palmer..."

---

Abby looked up, surprised to see McGee carrying another box in. She turned as he entered, smiling at the offering in his hands. "Ooh, another box of evidence in one morning? You're spoiling me, Timmy."

He smiled. "Hey, there's the Abby we know and love!"

She curtsied and said, "I just needed to get a little caffeine in me, that's all." She held up her Caf-Pow and stepped up to the table, examining the bounty. "Laptop computer, that's sweet. What are these papers?"

"Love letters," McGee said. When Abby's eyebrows rose, he said, "Don't get too excited. They're extremely tame love letters. Apparently, Petty Officer McClain had very dreamy green eyes."

Abby frowned. "McClain had blue eyes."

"Are you sure?" McGee asked.

Abby nodded. "I was down in autopsy while you guys were gone. Ducky was telling us all about the frequency of dark haired, blue-eyed people versus brown-brown and blonde-blue. Very interesting stuff, actually."

"I'll bet," McGee said, taking the love letters and dumping them on the table. "Maybe whoever wrote it just wasn't very observant."

Abby tapped her fingers on the edge of the desk. "What color were your first girlfriend's eyes?"

"Blue with a hint of... gold... near the pupil," McGee sighed, realizing what she'd done. "Okay, you have a point. But still, maybe it was just that... they were blue-green. Did you actually see McClain's eyes?"

"No," Abby said.

"Maybe Ducky's blue is the Mystery Writer's idea of green. Who knows?"

Abby shrugged and opened the computer, booting it up. "Let's see what we've got here. Oh, awesome, Castle Greyskull wallpaper."

"Oh, yeah," McGee chuckled. "He had posters all over his room. Some guys just can't grow up..."

Abby looked at him and said, "Really."

He blanched, forgetting that she had seen his apartment. "Um... y-yeah... well, I didn't say I wasn't one of them..."

She clicked on the files and groaned when a prompt came up. "Guy protected his files. This could take a while."

"Yeah," McGee agreed.

---

Kate and Tony walked to Gibbs' desk, Tony waiting until Gibbs was paying attention to speak. "Guy was a serious neat freak. Had labels for everything in his cupboard... 'vegetables, more than two weeks old'; 'cereal - fruit-flavored'; 'cereal - plain'... the guy was a panic attack waiting to happen."

"Might be why he joined the Navy," Kate suggested. "Someone who needs that much order probably relished the opportunity to have such a rigid schedule. When to get up, when to eat, when to sleep..."

"Any signs of a girlfriend?" Gibbs asked.

"A few love letters on scented paper. They're not Shakespeare, but Penthouse wouldn't publish them, either. We had McGee drop 'em with Abby along with the guy's laptop."

Gibbs perked up slightly. "The love letters were hand-written?"

"Yeah..."

Gibbs actually smiled a bit at this news. "Dear God, there might be hope for this generation after all..."

"I still hand-write all my Christmas cards," Tony said.

Gibbs stood. "Good work, DiNozzo."

He walked off and Kate held her hands out. "What, you were alone in that apartment?"

"I was in charge..." Tony said, going to his desk.

"He flat ignored me. He's punishing me for being late, isn't he?"

Tony shrugged, putting his hands on his head. "Kate, Gibbs is like a wounded puppy. He'll ignore you for a while, but once the hurt has gone away... he'll be eating the kibble out of your hand again in no time."

Kate smiled. "Well, you would know... being his doppelganger."

Tony's smile faded. "You want the whole team mad at you, is that it?"

Kate shrugged and pulled off her jacket. "Who knows... I might actually get some peace and quiet around here."

Tony shook his head and went to work. He opened McClain's file, searching his history. Enlisted at nineteen, out of high school. Digging a little deeper, he found that McClain had graduated a year late. He spent most of his freshman year in the hospital after a car accident. A few notices for disorderly conduct, fighting and the like. Nothing too eye-catching.

"Looks like our petty officer had a little bit of a short fuse."

"I'm reading an incident report by a Petty Officer Beaman. No charges brought up on either of them, witnesses say that Beaman provoked McClain with homophobic comments."

"Hm. You think maybe McClain was... ah..." He made a hand motion.

"Just because the guy actually has a tidy apartment doesn't mean he's gay, Tony."

Tony shrugged. "Doesn't mean he's straight, either."

Kate rolled her eyes.

Tony picked up his phone, dialing the number on the screen. "I'm going to see if I can get a little more background on these other fights."

---

McGee abandoned her a few minutes after arriving, heading upstairs to use the head and to try hooking McClain's computer up to his own to see if that got him anywhere. She cranked up the music and headed into the inner forensics area with McClain's cell phone in an evidence baggy. She'd barely gotten her funk on when the music was shut off. She went back into the main room and saw Gibbs stalking away from the stereo.

"You're harshing my buzz, man," she complained.

"You're damaging your eardrums," he countered. "Where's McGee?"

"Head," Abby said.

Gibbs pointed at the evidence baggy. "McClain's belongings."

"Geez, Gibbs, give a girl a chance to get acquainted with the evidence before you ask for a profile." She walked to her computer and typed in a sequence, watching the screen as the information popped up. "Okay, we've got a laptop computer, a couple of love letters scented in something even Ducky's mother wouldn't wear... some video games, typical guy haven. Except no porno."

"How about photo albums? Pictures in a wallet, that sort of thing?"

"Probably stored pictures of his girl on his cell phone."

Gibbs grumbled under his breath and said, "All right, see if there's anything on the computer that could find her for us."

Satisfied he'd gotten everything possible at this point, he headed for the door. Abby hesitated and then turned around, hoping she didn't regret the lie. "Look, don't be mad at Kate. It wasn't her fault she was late to the crime scene."

He stopped and turned, glaring at her. "Whose fault was it?"

"Mine," Abby said. "I was really..." She waved her hands, looking for the right words, and said, "Really out-of-sorts last night. I called her about midnight, she came and got me. She was still with me when Tony called her about the crime scene."

He nodded slowly. "All right, Abs. By out-of-sorts..."

"I was... a little drunk."

"And now..."

"I'm fine. I don't get hangovers. You know that."

Gibbs nodded and headed back to the elevator. "Thanks for letting me know, Abs."

Once he was gone, Abby exhaled and leaned against the table. She hadn't really known she blamed herself until she said it aloud. She would have to find Kate later, before things got too icy between them. It was just a stinking overnight stay... no reason it should cause this much strife.

---

DiNozzo was on the phone, his back turned to the rest of the room, when Gibbs returned to the squad room. McGee was at his desk, but far enough away to be out of earshot for a whisper. He stopped in front of Kate's desk and leaned forward, startling her when she looked up. "If this happens again, and it shouldn't... just tell me." He straightened and stepped away, heading to his own desk.

"Wait, Gibbs," Kate said, glancing towards McGee's desk. The probie was now paying slightly closer attention to the conversation. "Tell you what?"

"Why you're late." He sat and explained, "I was just talking to Abby."

Kate's eyes widened slightly. "And she... told you why I was late?"

"She did."

"And... it's a valid excuse?"

"You were helping a friend."

Kate frowned and said, "Yeah... I-I guess..."

Gibbs looked up, suddenly intrigued. "Just out of curiosity, what <i>were</i> you doing?"

"What did Abby tell you?"

"I'm asking you."

Even without speaking, Gibbs knew he'd been lied to. He sighed and shook his head. "Looks like Abby is the one helping out a friend."

Kate closed her eyes, shoulders sagging. "Sorry, Gibbs." She returned to her desk, resting her head in one hand as she turned back to her computer.

---

Abby called them down to the lab about an hour and a half later. Gibbs led the way, brushing past Kate on his way to the elevator. She hesitated before falling into step behind him. They rode down in silence, Tony between them, and each waited for the other to take the first step from the car when they reached the destination. Tony looked nervously at Gibbs and eventually pushed Kate forward.

She stumbled, turned and glared at him. He shrugged and followed her, Gibbs coming out last but barreling ahead. "What did you find, Abby?"

"Actually, it was McGee," she said, indicating the probie sitting next to her. He had headed back down a few minutes earlier, a frustrated grimace on his face.

"Well, I just happened to figure out the guy's password. It saved us a lot of hacking time."

"You guessed a total stranger's password?" Kate marveled.

"Well, he seemed to follow the He-Man fandom, what with the DVDs and the VHS tapes of..." He caught Gibbs look and said, "I... uh... noticed the 'O' key on the laptop keyboard was slightly worn indicating slightly... more... use than normal." He cleared his throat and nodded at the monitor. "We've accessed his private emails."

"I'm hoping they're more interesting than the He-Man story," Gibbs said.

"More love letters. Very, very steamy love letters from some girl named Tracy."

Tony straightened suddenly. "The quarters next to McClain's are registered to a Tracy Fiddle."

"Fiddle?" Gibbs said.

"As in 'hey-diddle-diddle'?" McGee asked.

"I'd have gone for 'fit as a,' McGee," Tony said. "It's a little more masculine than nursery rhymes."

Gibbs ignored the banter. "How did you glean this information without McGee or Kate finding out along with you?"

"There was a stack of mail in McClain's apartment." He walked across the room to the evidence box, digging around and coming back with an Entertainment Weekly. "A couple of magazines, some junk mail envelopes, were addressed to Tracy Fiddle. The address put her right next door to our dead guy."

Gibbs nodded and said, "Let's go see Ms. Fiddle. Abby, see what else you can find. I don't care if you have to input the names of Bart, Homer and Eliza, you get me everything on that computer."

McGee went back to work on the computer and Gibbs headed back to the elevator with Tony. Knowing she only had a few seconds, Kate put a hand on Abby's elbow and led her away from McGee's prying ears. "Hey, I wants to talk to you about..."

"Special Agent Todd!"

She looked over her shoulder and saw a furious Gibbs holding the elevator door open. "Later," she said. "Please, Abby?"

"Yeah. Go."

She hurried to the elevator and slipped in, praying he wouldn't tear into her too badly. In a voice like ice, he said, "You do not want to make me wait a third time today, Special Agent Todd."

"Won't happen again, Gibbs."

In a moment of silence, Tony muttered, "Lisa."

"What?" Gibbs snapped.

"Nothing, boss."

---

The Bachelor Officer Quarters were set up like a small apartment building. Gibbs led the way down the dark corridor, coffee in one hand and an address in the other. "Right down here," Tony directed, aiming him in the right direction. They found Petty Officer McClain's room and moved down one door. McClain was in Apartment 4, while Tracy Fiddle was in the next room, Apartment 6. The slots for their mail were stacked, four on top of six.

Gibbs pounded just below the peep hole, his wallet out and ready. When the door opened, he raised it and executed the well-practiced hold-and-flip to show both his ID and badge. "Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. We're looking for Petty Officer Tracy Fiddle."

"That's me," the man in the doorway said. He was wearing uniform slacks and a white t-shirt, his eyes half-mast from being woke. He glanced at Kate and Tony. "They NCIS, too?"

"They are," Gibbs said, doing a very good job of hiding just how rattled he was. "How well did you know your neighbor, Petty Officer McClain?"

Fiddle shrugged. "We were on speaking terms. Mailman screwed up a lot, so I ended up with some of his magazines and vice versa." He sniffled and looked nervously back and forth among the agents. "Is he... in some kind of trouble?"

"The worst kind," Tony said. "He's dead."

"What?" Fiddle said quietly. "He... how?"

"On the beach," Kate said. "Did you ever exchange emails with Petty Officer McClain?"

Fiddle shrugged. "Yeah, I don't know... sometimes..."

"Were those emails of a sexual nature?"

Fiddle's face tensed. "I... I mean, you know... I ain't no fag or anything..."

"Course not," Tony said. "Your boyfriend was."

"You shut up," Fiddle practically hissed.

"Up late last night?" Tony asked. "Kind of late for you to still be Droopy Dog."

Fiddle glared at Tony. "I had some files to sort. Took me a while."

"Files to sort," Tony laughed. "Is that the new euphemism? It doesn't make sense, but then, not a lot of them do..."

"DiNozzo," Gibbs warned.

"You make him shut the hell up," Fiddle growled at Gibbs. "He's trying to make me sound like some kind of..."

Tony leaned forward and whispered, "The word is homosexual."

Fiddle's fist was a blur, cutting through the air and connecting with Tony's jaw in a flash. Gibbs was twice as fast, his coffee dropping to the ground to free up his hands. He put one hand on Fiddle's upper arm, pushing his elbow in with the other hand. Fiddle yelped and fell to one knee. Gibbs wrenched the man's arm behind his back, pushing his face against the wall.

"You have the right to remain silent," Gibbs said, reciting the Miranda rights as he snapped the cuffs onto Fiddle.

He turned and saw Kate was already gone, inside the apartment. She returned empty-handed, but reported, "We have several knives. Pocket knives, butcher... but the one I'm interested in is the switchblade sitting in the sink. Did you have really rare steak last night, Fiddle?"

"Get a CSU team down here and call for a warrant," Gibbs said, hauling the man to his feet. "Not that we'll need one, what with you taking a swing at one of my men." He looked at Tony and said, "Antagonizing the suspect is pretty dumb, DiNozzo."

"Well, that's my method... it's not pretty, but it works," Tony said, massaging his sore jaw.

Gibbs smirked and headed for the door, tugging Fiddle along with him like a dog on a leash.

---

"He confessed everything," Kate said. "Hardly even worth going all the way to interrogation. McClain took him for a midnight stroll on the beach, started talking about feelings and their relationship."

"But, since Fiddle was only in it for the warm body, he took offense at McClain's accusation," Tony picked up. "They got into a little bit of a tussle and Fiddle just happened to find his knife in his hand."

"Family heirloom," McGee said. "His grandfather gave it to him. This morning, he was trying to get McClain's blood out of his grandfather's initials. Benjamin Franklin Fiddle, if you can believe it."

"BFF," Kate said. "Best Friends Forever."

Tony chuckled. "Aw, Kate. I'll bet you had lots of those little heart-lockets. Which side did you keep? The Be- Fri- For- side or the -st -ends -ever side?"

Kate rolled her eyes and headed back to her desk.

Gibbs stood, tossing something to her as he passed. She fumbled with the package, frowning at the contents. "What is this?"

"Travel alarm," Gibbs said, not bothering to slow down. "Don't be late tomorrow, no matter where you're sleeping."

Kate looked at the present and glared at Tony. Tony held his hands up innocently. "Hey, don't look at me! I didn't say a word."

She looked at McGee who shook his head. "I have no idea what any of you are talking about."

Tony snickered and picked up his jacket, pulling it on. "Well, Kate, I hate to mock and run... but those of us who were here at five-thirty get to go home early. I'll see you two tomorrow."

"Night, Mini-Gibbs," McGee said from his desk.

Tony froze, rolled his shoulders and shook his head before striding to the elevators.

---

Abby dropped off what she'd found out about the shell casings with the officers upstairs and returned to her lair, heading to her desk to grab her stuff before heading out. She didn't notice the stereo was off until Gibbs' voice came out of the silence. "Abby."

"Geez, Gibbs!"

"Sorry."

"Why are you lurking?" she asked, jabbing a finger at him. "You know you can't sneak up on me, so you lurk?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" he said, remaining still and boring a hole through her with his icy blue eyes.

"Tell you...?"

He stepped forward. "If you are going to sleep with a member of my team, it had damn well better not interfere with the performance of their duties. Is that clear?"

She nodded, more than a little scared.

He nodded back and put a hand on her shoulder. "She's probably upstairs getting ready to leave soon. I can tell her to wait."

"She's going to come down when she gets off," Abby said quietly.

He nodded again and headed for the door. Abby watched him go and then rushed after him. "Wait. Gibbs!" He stopped. "Don't you have anything to say?"

"About what?"

"About... who it is."

He hesitated. "Yeah," he said finally. "Thank God it isn't DiNozzo."

He smirked and headed to the elevator. When the doors opened, Kate nearly stepped into him. She froze, looking up at him as if afraid of what he was going to do. He widened his smile and said, "She's waiting for you, Kate." He slid by her, stepping into the elevator and cleared his throat. When she looked, he tapped his watch.

She held up the travel alarm and said, "Early, even."

He nodded and said, "Good girl," as the doors closed. Kate exhaled sharply and went into the lab, finding Abby next to her desk. "Gibbs..."

"...knows," Abby nodded. "I'm sorry, Kate, I tried to cover for you."

"Yeah, I... screwed that up. Thank you, though. It means a lot."

Abby nodded.

Kate brushed her cheek and looked at the dark lab. "Quite a day."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry, Abby," Kate said. "Me being angry this morning had nothing to do with you."

Abby smiled. "Well... it had a little to do with me."

"I guess I'm just not as adjusted to the idea of us as an... us... yet. Give me time?"

Abby stepped forward. "You want time... which means..."

"I'm not done figuring you out yet," Kate said.

"What did Gibbs say to you just now?"

Kate looked at the present he'd given her earlier; a small travel alarm clock. "I told him I wasn't going to be late again."

Abby smiled.

---

The next morning, Tony looked up from his breakfast and frowned. "Morning, Kate."

"DiNozzo."

"Isn't that the same outfit you had on yesterday?"

Kate smiled and took off her coat. "Yes, Tony. Yes, it is."


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