tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34786661204431062792024-03-12T19:29:54.608-07:00Characters Are My HeroinFan fic, original fic, fic recs, and artwork by Keryl Raist.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.comBlogger515125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-73665098551143493222015-04-17T18:31:00.000-07:002015-04-17T18:31:40.397-07:00Shards To A Whole: Fantasy Party XY<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Chapter: Fantasy Party XY</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the things that happens when you sleep with three
other people is getting woken up. Just how it is. Only two of you can be on the
outside, so if one of you on the inside wants to get out of bed, you’ve kind of
got to scoot over at least one other person.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim thinks that if/when they get to the point where they all
sleep together most nights, it’ll be the sort of thing that he’ll get used to.
And, in his bed or Jimmy’s he’s almost to the point where he just sort of
notices it and falls back to sleep a minute later.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just like how, back when they were first together, Abby
getting into and out of bed would wake him up a bit, but now he’s so used to it
that it doesn’t touch his sleep.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
New bed, different room, and bedmates he’s not entirely used
to, so, when bright and god awful early Jimmy hops out of bed, Tim’s eyes pop
open, too. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Go back to sleep,” Jimmy says quietly as he tucks Tim back
in. (He’s a little fuzzy on how he ended up on the edge of the bed with Jimmy
next to him… bathroom run, he put himself next to Jimmy when he got back rather
than try to wriggle into the spot he left.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim scoots into the warm patch Jimmy had been in, cuddling
Breena from one side while Abby’s got her on the other, and tries to fall back
to sleep. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tries being the operative word. It’s really bright in here.
All glass walls sounds really cool, and looks really cool, until it’s 6:30 in
the morning and the sun’s shining right in your face. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He gets up, and heads into the rest of the house, thinking a
little coffee, maybe snooze some on the sofa (in the living room where, thank
God, it’s kind of dark) sounds like a good plan. Maybe find Jimmy, or read or
something. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s actually a lot less tired than he expects to be.
Probably because they slept a lot yesterday, and technically didn’t stay up all
that late, either. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s not in the living room or kitchen. Probably outside.
Sunrise on the porch. That sounds good to Tim.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s feeling a little chilly. Naked, a few minutes post
dawn, just left a nice, warm bed… He grabs the blanket off the back of the
sofa, wraps it around himself and heads into the kitchen. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He can smell coffee, so Jimmy must have been through here
not too long ago. Once his cup is full, he heads out to the back porch. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Still no Jimmy. Bedroom? He might have decided it was too
bright and wanted better sleep. Tim decides he’s happy where he is. It’s cool
enough he can see the steam rising off his coffee. He takes a deep swallow,
enjoying the warmth on his hands and lips, the bitter/milky/sweet on his tongue,
and clean pine-y air around him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe they’ll get a shot to do this next year, too.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He likes the idea of them having this time, a weekend a
year, that’s just theirs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Contemplating that, he heads to the porch railing, placing
his coffee cup on it, and leaning his forearms against it. For a second, he
notices that doesn’t hurt, at all, so he tentatively leans more of his weight
into his arms, the sort of casual positioning he never would have given a
first, let alone, second thought to this time last year. It works. His arm and
shoulder don’t yell at him for doing that. So he settles in, leaning against
the rail, watching the forest around them and lake below.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s when his eyes meander to the lake that he finds Jimmy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Oh.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim is intellectually aware of the idea that Jimmy does
yoga. Really does it. Seriously practices and is <i>good</i> at it. But, at least lately, he hasn’t seen Jimmy do much out
of the usual. Like he and Abby used to, (Tim’s not doing much of anything more
challenging than standing on one foot these days, and Abby’s grabbing every
extra minute of sleep she can, so right now there’s no morning yoga at the
McGee house.) Jimmy’s got a morning routine, and while it’s certainly
challenging in the sense of involves poses Tim’s not sure he could get into
even when he was working at it, Jimmy never really looks like he’s pushing
himself at it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s pushing himself this morning.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On several levels. First off: he’s on sand: soft, cool,
shifting under his weight, sand. Not a nice firm floor. Second of all: no
mirrors, so he can’t really see himself. (Tim needs to keep checking the
mirrors, otherwise he’ll get lost/ end up sore when he pushes his joints too
far.) Third: he’s going for <i>intense </i>poses.
Tim’s hit the edges of some of what Jimmy’s doing, so he’s got an idea of how
much strength and flexibility it takes to get into bird in a basket, (more than
he has now) let alone balance (more than he ever did, he’s toppled over every
time he’s tried it.) But right now, Jimmy’s starting with something that looks
like bird in a basket, planting both palms in the sand, crouching down, knees
on his elbows, raising onto his toes, and then shifting all of his weight onto
his hands, lifting his feet off the sand. (This is where, without fail, Tim
lands on the floor, sometimes head first.) But, he’s not stopping there.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim’s watching it, and he’s still not sure what the hell
Jimmy’s doing, but somehow he’s… God, it looks like planking, body braced on
his arms, torso and legs straight out, but… and this is the part that’s amazing
to Tim, his feet aren’t touching the ground. Or his knees. Just hands.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kfAjHjV5lCw/VTGmxeJEFtI/AAAAAAAAD-o/mxfNG2RM9bk/s1600/yoga3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kfAjHjV5lCw/VTGmxeJEFtI/AAAAAAAAD-o/mxfNG2RM9bk/s1600/yoga3.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, this really is Brian Dietzen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He does something, pulls his legs around a bit, and now he’s
got one knee on his elbow, and the other leg extending straight out behind him. Tim thinks that one’s called side firefly or something like that. It’s the sort
of thing he’s seen pictures of and immediately assumed that the use of wires or
some sort of XF team was involved.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But Jimmy’s actually doing it, hovering into gravity, and
more importantly balance, defying poses, and holding them for several long slow
breaths before unfolding himself back into down facing dog and from there back
into mountain. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For a moment, Tim’s watching and just thinking about how
beautiful it is. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s slipped into warrior, bathed in orangy-pink sunrise,
and it’s beautiful. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For another moment, he’s calm, watching, enjoying, feeling
the satisfaction that comes with seeing someone do something they’re insanely
good at.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And that’s good.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then it starts to fade away, anger creeping in. He
should be able to do that, too. Okay, not <i>that.
</i>He wouldn’t be that good, or strong, or flexible, but if that fucker and
his minions hadn’t stolen his body from him for months, he’d be able to be
there, on that little bit of beach, with Jimmy, doing his own morning workout. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He spent years working on this, okay, not a lifetime, not
yet, but he’s pretty much back to step one. The most complicated thing he’s
doing now is standing on his tip toes, on both feet, slowly building up his
ankle/arch strength. He can’t even stay in tree for more than a few breaths on
his left foot, not yet. And he hasn’t been brave enough to try anything
involving his arms. Even the idea of attempting to extend his right arm enough
for something as basic as down facing dog, let alone putting that much weight
on it, makes him want to wince.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’ll get it back. Everyone says that. Do the work and get
it back.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Great, he doesn’t want to get ‘back’ he wants to be forward.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He sees Jimmy standing, relaxed, dusting the sand off his
skin, then putting on some shorts and his glasses, which is when it hits Tim
that Jimmy’s naked. He guesses it didn’t stand out before because that was just
how that was supposed to be. Out and about in the sunrise with no one else
around, of course you’d be naked, right? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Or maybe he’s just used to Jimmy naked, so it’s not
remarkable to him, not anymore.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He doesn’t know. He does know he’s trying to shove anger out
of the way. Well, trying to be aware of it, and why he’s feeling it, accepting
that it’s real, and letting it go. That’s what Wolf’s suggested he try to do
with it, though Tim’s a bit fuzzy on the difference between letting it go and
pushing it out of his mind. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Either way, he’s fairly calm by the time Jimmy’s up with
him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Enjoy the show?” Jimmy says once he’s on the porch.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Will you take it wrong if I say yes?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What’s the wrong way?” Jimmy looks interested in that idea.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I don’t know.” Probably something along the lines of
enjoying it the way Breena or Abby would, which, he didn’t, but he’s not sure
if making that distinction is really necessary, or, given why they’re here,
warranted.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy runs his fingers through his hair. Close up, Tim can
see he’s flushed pink and sweaty. He takes a drink of his coffee and flops
bonelessly onto one of the chaises. “That felt good.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Looked like it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Been… at least a year since I had the chance to do that.
It’d freak the neighbors out if I headed out at sunrise to do a proper sun
salutation. Bob’d be over less than ten minutes later, bitching about how he’s
got three teenage daughters and what the hell did I think I was doing!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim nods. He’s met Bob. Kind of uptight and stuffy, but also
the kind of guy who will lend you a trimmer if you need to borrow one. Tim tries
to think back to what Jimmy might have done a year ago that gave him a shot at
this, but he doesn’t remember. Kelly was brand new a year ago, and he’s a bit
fuzzy about what was happening outside the tight circle of his own home/job
then. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy sees him thinking, trying to place it, and adds,
“Moonrise last time, but that’s good, too.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Where?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Last… late summer, early fall, not sure, we got down to Ed
and Jeannie’s. The girls were asleep. Just me and the sand. Dark enough no one
else was going to fuss.” Jimmy closes his eyes and is quiet for a few seconds.
“Probably as close as I ever get to how church is supposed to feel.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Reverence?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Something like that. Peaceful and connected, definitely.”
He opens his eyes and looks more carefully at Tim, catching something, he’s not
sure what, exactly, in his voice. “You okay?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim shrugs. “Would have liked to have joined you.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy looks a little surprised at that. Not that he’d want
to join in, but that he wouldn’t join in if he wanted to. “You want a formal invite
or something?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim looks at his right arm, and Jimmy says, “Oh.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim nods. He raises his right arm, a hell of a lot higher
than he could have this time last month, but he can’t get it straight up, arm
along his ear, yet. “Not quite there, yet. Pissed about not being there. Pissed
at having to go back to square one.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy nods. “Yeah.” They’re quiet for a moment, looking at
the lake. Tim leaning against the rail. Jimmy resting on the chaise. Then Jimmy
says, “It doesn’t have to be about your body. There are entire disciplines
devoted to thought and breath. Mastering your mind. Last I checked, your lungs
work fine.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim turns to Jimmy, back against the rail. “Not my brain?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy smirks. “That’s always been the question, right?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim smiles at him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Go play. Get some sand between your toes. Splash around
some. I’ve seen you sleep, so I know for a fact you can pull off corpse pose,
kiss that blanket goodbye and feel the ground on your back.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You gonna watch?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You going to take it wrong if I do?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“No.” Tim drapes the blanket over the railing, feeling the
slight chill at the air, and a vague naughty thrill at walking around balls out
naked in the sunshine. He’s never been naked outside in daylight, and it does
make him feel good, the same way peeking at his present used to.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The ground is prickly on his feet, and he’s realizing that
Jimmy walked down with flip flops, in addition to shorts. So, two steps onto
his journey, he’s turning around, heading back up to the porch, and stealing
Jimmy’s flip flops, not like he needs them for laying on the porch. They’re a
bit small, Jimmy wears a ten and a half, he wears an eleven and a half, but do
what they need to do. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once he gets down to the lake, he kicks off the flip flops,
turns, sees Jimmy watching, and waves, and then feels kind of… Stuck and silly.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The sand’s cool and pleasant between his toes. It feels
good. But, he’s not exactly feeling any desire to lay down on it. He stares at
gently swaying leaves, and water rippling against the sand. That’s more
appealing to him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim takes a few steps, finds that the air may be cool, fall
is starting to take a hold of it, but the water isn’t. Summer still flows
through the lake, days and nights of sun and heat soaking in and warming the
water.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This feels a lot better than sand.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He wades out and then jumps for it. He’s been swimming at
least three times a week since he got hurt. It’s not precisely the sort of
weight bearing exercise he needs to get himself fully back to functional, but
it is a way for him to really move and build up strength so he can get to the
kind of exercise he needs to get himself back. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s not elegant in the water. Can’t be, not without full
range of motion in his right arm or left leg. But it does feel good. He swims
half way out, looks around, decides that if he wants to get back on his own,
now’s a good time to turn back, so he does. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a longer run than he does in the pool, cooler and
deeper, too. So when his feet touch sand and stone, he’s feeling pretty tired.
He kicks his feet up, leveling out on his back, and lets the water support him.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim’s not sure how long he rests there, floating on his
back, feeling small waves lapping at his skin. He doesn’t think, beyond the
fact that he got out before he sunburned, that it matters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And maybe it’s not Church, or reverence, or any connection
to much beside his body, but it did feel good, in a quiet, settled sort of way.
So there’s that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Eventually, he hears Abby calling his name. He lifts his
head out of the water, and sees her waving him in. “Breakfast!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s in favor of that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When he gets in, he can smell more coffee, along with the
turkey sausage they got, eggs, and he can see Abby and Breena have small bowls
of berries and cream on the table for them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All of that looks really good.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby looks at him, steps closer, about to wrap her arms
around him, then she squints a bit, and says… “Ummm… shower?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s still wet all over, so he’s not feeling much need to
get wetter. He’s not getting why he’s untouchable or why he needs to wash off
right away.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy glances over at him (now wearing his glasses) and
chokes off a quick laugh.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You’ve got algae in your hair. And…” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena’s looking at his shoulders. He twists a bit and
notices that, yes, he’s got a faint greenish stain all along his back.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Ah. There better be some berries left for me when I get
back.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We won’t start without you. But shower fast!” Abby replies.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So, do we have plans for today?” Jimmy asks as he chews the
last bite of his sausage.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The girls grin at him. Yes, it’s very clear from the looks
on their faces that there are indeed plans for today.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena hops up. There’s a pen and a small pad of paper next
to the phone in the kitchen. She rips a page off the pad, writes something on
it quickly, and rips it in four.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I know we’ve all been thinking about this for years, so...”
She hands each of them a piece of paper. “Favorite, hottest fantasy time. Everything
you want is on the table. Tell us what you’ve been dreaming of. Then we get to
play in order of the numbers.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Everyone looks pretty enthusiastic about this game. Tim
glances at his and sees the one on it. He grins. There is something he’s been
thinking of for a while now. “Who’s got two? I’ve got one, but I’m not sure
we’re equipped for what I want to do. Let me check, and while I do, we’ll
listen to two,” he says getting off his stool at the breakfast bar.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Me,” Breena says.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim grins. He wants to hear what Breena’s been dreaming of,
too. “Or maybe I’ll check, tell you guys, and then settle down and listen.
Don’t want to miss any of yours. Are we just talking first?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yeah,” Breena says.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Okay, back in a bit.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They watch him wander from the breakfast bar to the bedroom,
and can hear him puttering around in there. A minute later they hear, “Abby,
where’s the toy bag?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Left night stand. What are you looking for?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’ll tell you in a second.” They hear him rummaging around.
“Good, you brought everything.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So, what’s with all the build up?” Jimmy asks when he
rejoins them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It takes props, and if we didn’t have them…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“And <i>do</i> we have
them?” Abby asks. She knows what they brought, and sure, not all of the toys
came along, but enough of them did that if they aren’t equipped for this, it
means Tim’s about to go off on one of his pretty far off the reservations
kinks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Sort of. We’ve got the props, but there’s nothing really
good to tie me to.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby smiles, wide and dirty, she knows where this is going. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena looks really intrigued. “Come on... Details!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Okay. Jimmy, you’re not… really… in this.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You’re not in mine, either.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The look they give each other perfectly understands that
they both want time with the girls on their own, and that, for those purposes,
the other guy is superfluous. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby and Breena just look from one to the other, not exactly
rolling their eyes, but they aren’t in any way surprised by this, and both of
the guys can tell that they think this is sort of silly. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim’s about to just get into it, but… he thinks a bit more,
and decides that it’s always a good idea to give everyone an out. “Breena, if
you don’t want to go along with this, I will completely understand. It takes a
really long time, like, at least an hour, and…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Are you blushing?” she asks Tim.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Probably…” He feels silly about that, but she’s already
mentioned not being wildly enthusiastic about part of this, so, yeah, he’s
blushing, and really hoping she’s game for it. “If we do this, I’ll be leaking
the whole time, and I’ll cum like a geyser, and have no control over where it
ends up.” Now even Jimmy looks intrigued. He’s generally in favor of things
that result in cumming like a geyser. “I’d love it if you’d tie me up. Abby
behind me, doing me with the strap-on, while you suck me, both of you keeping
me right at the edge of getting off until I can’t take it anymore. The problem
is, I’m not seeing anything that’ll work well for the tying. The doorway
between the bathroom and bedroom is tall enough and wide enough for me to grab
easily, but I’ll still have to hold my own weight.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Is it just so you’ve got something to collapse into, or do
you need the restraints?” Jimmy asks, moving into problem solving mode.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Both. I can hold myself still for a good long time, but I
want them to take me past that point.” He shifts focus from Jimmy to the girls.
“I want you two to go until I hit the point where if my hands are free I will
jerk myself off, and take me past that. I want you two to keep me on edge until
I can’t talk, think, hell, until I’ve hit the point where I’m having trouble
coordinating well enough to breathe. Abby knows she can get me off so hard,
I’ll black out, and I want you two to do that to me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“At home we’ve got that hook sunk into a joist.” He sees
Jimmy and Breena think for a moment, wondering where the hook is. They haven’t
played with it, yet. “Most of the time
there’s a hanging plant that lives on it.” He sees the lights go on for them.
They’ve noticed the fern, which is the only plant the McGees have in their
home. “We’ve got wrist cuffs with small metal rings on them, and we can tie
them into that hook. But there’s nothing here like that. The bed is fine for
tying me down,” The headboard and foot board both have slats, but they’re also
both low. “but not fine for tied with access to both my front and back, and I
know I can’t hold my leg up long enough to work this on my side.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy looks at him and at both of the girls. “Hold up for a
minute.” He also heads off, poking around for a moment, probably going over the
same spaces Tim was, and finding that both the closet and shower had options,
the clothing bar and shower head would work as something to tie a man to, but
neither of them are strong enough to hold Tim in place. The porch railing,
assuming Tim’s on the ground below the porch, is strong enough but there
wouldn’t be any room behind him for Abby. Trees all over the place, but… This
doesn’t look like a scene where you’d want to be wrong about how strong a
branch is.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy heads back in, sees the other three watching him,
curious.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“If you want to lean into one of the door jams, once you’re
not in control anymore, I can hold you in place, keep you from collapsing at
the end.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim’s looking at him, eyes wide. Pleased but surprised by
the offer. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I mean, not if it’s weird. Just, that’ll solve the tied
problem.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim’s nodding slowly. “Ummm… yeah, it would.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena stands up, taking Tim and Jimmy’s hands. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I thought we were just talking,” Tim says.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Changed my mind. This we have to do, right now!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy kisses her, a knowing smile on his face. “You just
want to see me get my hands on Tim.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She kisses him back, while her hands trail down Tim’s chest.
“Of course.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim smiles at all three of them, liking this idea quite a
bit. “Okay, I’m fine with now, but give me like ten minutes to get ready.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy raises an eyebrow. Tim shrugs while heading toward the
bathroom. If there’s one thing being the parents of small children does, it
makes you very matter of fact about what your body does with the food after
it’s done with it. So Tim says, “Gotta clean up, inside and out, otherwise this
is way too damn messy and nothing I want to do with a pregnant woman.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy and Breena nod at that, seeming to think it makes
sense, and also getting a pretty good idea of what all Tim might have meant by <i>props</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Jimmy, pants on. Don’t want you rubbing off on Abby,”
Breena says a few minutes later when they’re all in the bedroom.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy looks askance at that. “I wouldn’t…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The look Breena gives him has him putting on his jeans. He’s
zipping up when he says, “You do know, that of the three of you, Tim is the one
I’m <i>least</i> interested in watching get
fucked?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Love you, too, Jimmy,” Tim says over his shoulder as he’s
fastening the strap on dildo on Abby.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy sees that Abby has platform black boots on, which he
loves, and the strap on, which he didn’t think would be particularly appealing,
but when he sees her turn toward him, smiling, smallish fake dick jutting from
her pelvis, he feels his mouth go dry and decides that Breena is right, pants
are a good idea.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’m thinking the door between the bedroom and the living
room,” Abby says, taking charge. “Breena, you go on the living room side.
Definitely get a pillow and maybe a chair, so you can sit or kneel comfortably.
Tim isn’t kidding about this taking a long time.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“How about bedroom into bathroom?” Tim asks. “If Jimmy’s
holding me, he’ll be behind me, and if he wants to be able to see what Breena’s
doing, the mirrors in the bathroom will give him a better view.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Good point,” Jimmy adds, because yes, he does want to see
her do Tim. He wants to see as much of this as he can. Just because <i>Tim’s </i>the one he’s <i>least</i> interested in, doesn’t mean he doesn’t intend to enjoy every
second of this, especially watching his favorite women all happy and naked and
playing with his man.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby kisses Tim’s neck. “You want your collar for this?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He thinks about it. “Yeah.” He’s keeping his cuff on, too.
He wants all of his marks of ownership on him as he does this.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Why the collar?” Jimmy asks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Helps get me in the right headspace for this. Easier to
just let everything go and be in the moment and my body when I’m wearing it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Okay,” Abby says. “Breena, grab whatever you like, and
let’s get going.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena grabs two pillows, and then sits comfortably on the
bathroom floor. Tim stands in front of her, and gently pets her face, and then
crouches down to kiss her sweetly. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Thank you. I won’t be with it enough to say it after, so
thank you.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then he stands. The doorway is wide enough so it’s easy for
him to rest his left forearm flush against the door jam, a bit above the level
of his shoulders, hand easily curled around it. He does something similar with
his right, but with his arm down, hip level. He spreads his legs, sides of his
feet snug against the door jam as well. He rolls his neck and shoulders,
seeming to settle in and get comfortable.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby wraps her arm around his waist, and he turns to kiss her
over his shoulder. Then he bows his head, and she secures his collar around his
neck. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“All yours, Abby.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What’s your safeword?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Abigail. Same thing it’s always been.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yeah, just reminding them. He says my name, everything
stops. Stop, step away, and find out what’s wrong. He says no, stop, anything
along those lines, keep going. But Abigail stops the game dead. Got it?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena nods, eyes wide. They’ve been over this before, but
the idea that Tim might be saying ‘no’ or ‘stop’ is a little unsettling. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s feeling a little nervous at that, too. “Abby, what
are you going to do to him?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Make him come so hard he blacks out. Sometimes there’s some
begging to get off sooner involved, or some ‘please don’t push me this far.’
It’s okay. It’s part of the game. He says my name, and I’ll finish him in less
than ten seconds. If he sounds like he’s past that, forgotten his safeword, I’ll
stop and check, make sure we’re still playing.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim’s nodding along at that, and adds, “Part of the game is
being able to just lay back, let it happen, and put myself entirely in her, and
this time, Breena’s, hands. Let them take care of me. And yeah, I might babble.
I know I talk when I’m having a good time, but especially for a game like this,
I’m usually not really aware of what I’m saying.” Tim smiles at all three of
them. “Ready to go?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby pets him gently and says, “Yes. Breena, while I’m
getting him ready, you can do whatever you like to him, but once we’ve gotten
him wound up, you can’t touch his dick.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Okay.” She kisses Tim’s hip, her hands on his thighs,
looking up at him. “You said you wanted me to suck you. What do you want
sucked?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s a good question, lots of happy ideas go with that.
That, and the visual of her kneeling at his feet flushes through him, making
Tim feel especially fine and sexy. “Balls, tongue on my perineum, and while
Abby might be calling the shots, I’d really like your mouth on my dick.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena smiles, standing up. “Oh, it’ll get there.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s not until Abby’s standing behind Tim that Jimmy
realizes the boots are there for a practical reason, not just to make every
drop of blood in his body go rushing to his erection.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the boots, Abby’s exactly tall enough to fuck Tim easily.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anal sex just isn’t something he and Breena do much of. They
tried once, it wasn’t particularly fun for Breena, and since Molly was born,
even the idea makes her cringe. So, he’s aware of how the general premise works,
but the details are a bit fuzzy. (It’s not enough of a turn on for him to have
gone hunting for anal specific porn.) He knows Tim and Abby were doing it at
the beach, but he didn’t have much of a view of what was going on. Tim was
talking. Abby was doing something with her fingers, but the rest of her body
was in the way, and he was so into the story he was having a very difficult
time pulling out what was really happening and what he was listening to.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This time, with the mirrors, and the fact that he’s sitting
on the edge of the dresser, behind and to the right of Tim and Abby, he’s got a
great view of what they’re doing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s not a huge dildo. Smaller than both of the guys. But
that makes sense, if it’s just about prostate stimulation it doesn’t need to be
particularly long or thick. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s expecting her to lube it up, and then while Tim and
Breena are making out, to just slide into him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But she doesn’t. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She starts with her fingers, and while he’s in a pretty good
position to watch, that part isn’t particularly interesting to him, beyond a
general awareness of the fact that she’s not going nearly as fast as he had
expected. Tim’s comments about slow and lots of lube are becoming more concrete
for Jimmy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He tucks that away on the list of things to make it more
comfortable if he and Breena ever try again, and goes back to watching the rest
of the action. Breena’s got Tim’s dick in her mouth, and that’s pulling his
attention away from what Abby’s doing. She’s teasing him, just sucking the tip,
and then stands up to kiss him sloppy and deep.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But the way Tim groans, and sort of shudders all over, not
the way a man reacts to a kiss, even a really good one, draws his eyes back to
what Abby’s doing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One finger, slow, rotating motion, Tim’s kissing Breena hard
as she pulls his dick, and Jimmy’s thinking that he’s never seen Tim look like
this before. He’s seen Tim get off, seen him fuck both their wives, but this
is… different. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Some of it is the submission aspect. He seems deeper in than
he was before. Some of it has to be what Abby’s doing to him, because he’ll be
kissing along, looking like he’s having a good time, and then she’ll shift a
bit and he’ll sort of shiver all over and groan again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Put it all together, and Tim’s gone. He’s just a ball of
pleasure with some skin on it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And they haven’t even gotten to the main event, yet.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Abby, stop thrusting.” Abby looks over Tim’s shoulder at
Breena, curious, but she stills her hips. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Don’t move, Tim,” she says as she takes a hold of his hips,
and then very carefully, without letting her tongue actually touch his skin,
licks the drop of pre-cum off of him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim groans as he watches her do it, heat and moist breath
washing over the hypersensitive head of his cock, the bead of pre-cum
stretching between his dick and the tip of her tongue. He’s been dripping for a
few minutes, at least. Abby’s been setting a slow, steady pace, rocking into
him, petting his chest and nipples, kissing his neck and shoulders and lips,
while Breena’s been in charge of the front of him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then Breena leans back on her feet, stands up, kisses Abby
over Tim’s shoulder, letting him watch Abby suck the pre-cum off her tongue,
and then kneels back down and licks a long, wide stripe up Tim’s leg. “Okay.
I’ll let you know when to pause again.” She goes back to gently sucking on his
balls.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy grits his teeth, that is the single hottest thing he
has ever seen. And that’s when it hits him that watching this and not getting
off is going to kill him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He notices that Abby adds more lube every five or six
minutes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Does it dry out fast?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“No. But I don’t want to hurt him, so keeping everything
really slick is a good idea.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Used to do this to myself,” Tim says, “and it hurt. Took a
while to figure out that adding more lube <i>before</i>
it dries out is a really good plan.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Marathon sex isn’t one of Jimmy’s specialties. Lots of quick
rounds is more his thing, but still he’s got pretty good control. Damn good
control. At least, he thought he did. But he has never seen anything like this.
They’ve been at it for at least forty minutes, and they haven’t broken Tim yet.
He’s still holding himself up, still following Abby’s directions, and enjoying
it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“God, Tim, how are you doing this?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim says something like, “Nrghm.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby pets his hair, kissing his neck, rocking easily against
him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It’s called subspace, Jimmy. Tim doesn’t do this a lot, but
when he does, he gets into it. He knows that if he lets me take charge, I’ll
make it so worth his while. Right, baby?” she says, shifting her rhythm a
little, adding a slight grind that makes Tim gasp and his fingers clench on the
door frame.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A bit later, when Tim’s left hand pulls away from the door
jam, Jimmy grabs him and starts to hold him in place. It’s an odd position,
because he’s right behind Abby, feeling her thrusting into Tim, and he’s got to
reach around her to hold his arms.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And Tim is strong. Even with his right arm not up to full
strength he’s making Jimmy work as he’s pulling hard against Jimmy’s grasp.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby sees it, and whispers to him gently, “Just relax baby,
just relax. You can do this, you know you can, and it’ll be so good when I let
you get off. So, so good.” She gently pets his hair and neck, stroking her
hands down his chest. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena pulls back from licking between his legs and kisses
lightly over his hips and stomach. Then stands up and kisses his lips. “Still
good?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim nods, curtly. He’s good, wants to be better, but he’s
good here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Tim?” Abby’s voice.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He slowly turns his head toward her. His pupils are blown
wide, and he looks like he’s in a trance. Jimmy’s seen Tim pretty far gone, but
this is… really impressive.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She kisses his cheek. “You need some help, baby?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He nods, whimpering slightly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Can you hold your own weight for a moment?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He nods again. He’s been pretty quiet for the last few
minutes. According to Abby that means he’s in his head and body, entirely
inside how what they’re doing feels. Not babbling is the step beyond babbling.
She’s not sure if he knows he gets here when she’s really playing him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Jimmy, let him go for a bit. There’s a cockring in our toy
bag, go get it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s back thirty seconds later and hands it to Breena. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You know what to do with that?” Abby asks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Goes around his balls and cock.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yep.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim feels Jimmy’s hands return to his wrists, and it’s
almost grounding. It certainly gets him through the desire to come as Breena
slips the soft silicon ring around him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Better?” Abby asks, slowly stroking into him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He doesn’t answer with words, but his head drops forward,
mouth open, and a long groan spills from his lips.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy had never thought watching another guy get fucked
would turn him on. At all. He was wrong about that. Watching another guy come
on his wife. He’d been sure that was on the list of things to drive him insane
and want to kill list. He was wrong about that, too. Tim’s inching towards his
climax and it’s making him so hard he’s afraid he’s going to pass out. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena was right, pants were a good idea, because otherwise
he would have lost it, rubbing up against Abby’s ass, a long time ago.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He honestly cannot believe Tim has taken this for so long.
He’s not the one getting fucked. He’s not even getting touched, and he’s about
to explode. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim’s struggling against him now, weakly, he’s so far gone
that he can’t put up too much of a fight, but he’s tugging at Jimmy’s hands,
trying to touch himself, trying to get off, and Abby sees it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She’s cooing softly at him, “Just a little more, baby. You
know you can take it. Gonna make you come so hard... Just a little more.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just a little more and Jimmy’s going to come in his pants. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Somehow she gets the idea to Breena to take the cock ring
off. He’s not sure how, because she didn’t say anything, but he almost feels it
when Breena does. He certainly hears the way Tim yells when she does it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena’s got him deep in her mouth, hands and lips working
Tim in tandem, and Abby switches from long strokes to a short, fast thrusts,
getting his prostate over and over, if Jimmy had to guess.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He feels it when Tim comes. Feels the way his arms try to
pull in tight, the way his knees go out under him. And it’s a good thing he’s
expecting it, because Tim really does collapse. He and Abby hold him up as his
whole body shakes and spasms.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy watches, over Tim’s shoulder, as Breena swallows, and
swallows again, and still more dribbles from between her lips, and she swallows
again. Her eyes meet his, and she grins at him, at least, as much of a grin as
she can with Tim’s cock, still pulsing, in her mouth. Jimmy closes his eyes,
and starts frantically thinking about Gibbs naked because he can feel the
tingles about to start and he is <i>not </i>going
to cum in his pants like a teenager. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim is still shaking when they get him into bed two minutes
later. Still dribbling a little. And Jimmy’s watching, fascinated. He’s never
seen, heard, or dreamed about a male orgasm lasting that long. Tim’s cock has
gone limp, all of him is limp, Abby wasn’t exaggerating about the come so hard
you black out thing, if Tim’s even remotely conscious right now, Jimmy’d be
amazed, but every few seconds another tiny drop of cum slips out of him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby’s curled around Tim, whispering something, petting his
hair and arms and chest.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy looks at Breena, daintly wiping off her lips and chin,
and he pulls her close, kissing her hard, and he can taste Tim on her, and he
has to get those pants off <i>right now</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She’s on the same page, stripping them off of him. Well,
pushing them down, neither of them have the patience to try and get them over
his feet. Then she’s got him on his back, riding him, hard and fast and deep
and neither of them lasts for more than a minute, because that was just too
fucking hot not to get off to. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim comes back to himself slowly and easily. Not entirely
sure if this is waking up or just getting all of his brain functioning again. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Didn’t matter. This is great. Everything around him is just
softly glowing shades of marvelous. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There’s a warm girl pressed into both of his sides, and
that’s whatever comes beyond marvelous. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I love you.” He means both of them as he says it, and then
kisses the shoulder closest to his lips, Abby probably. Then rolls a little and
kisses the girl on the other side, yep, Breena.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He hears Jimmy say, (and this is when it occurred to him
that he hadn’t actually opened his eyes, yet) “Hey, I helped, too!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Jimmy, I’ve got enough oxytocin coursing through me that if
you get in reach, I’ll kiss you, too.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’m fine over here.” He thinks ‘over here’ is the far side
of Breena, but he’s not curious enough to open his eyes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Thought so.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“How are you feeling?” Abby asks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“<i>Amazing.” </i>His
eyes finally laze open, and he gives all of them an extremely satisfied, if somewhat dopey, grin. “How long did we go?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“One hour and eight minutes.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He sighs, very pleased. “Thank you, all three of you.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
About an hour later, when Tim is moving again, Jimmy says to
him, “You win. Standing next to you, I look vanilla.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim smiles. “Breena, you had two, right?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yeah.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Do I do <i>anything</i>
in your fantasy?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena looks him up and down. “Yes.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Who had three?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby holds up her hand.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Jimmy, you’re up next; I’m totally fucked out.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby shakes her head. “Uh uh. Nope. Pregnant lady here, must
be fed regularly. Showers and lunch and maybe naptime is next. Then Jimmy.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When they get to the restaurant, Jimmy notices that Tim sits
very carefully, very gently. He quietly says to him. “When we get back, ice
yourself down. It’ll help with the pain and any swelling or bruising.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim nods. “Probably a good idea. It doesn’t hurt while I’m
doing it, but after the endorphins wear off…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yeah. But you’re okay, right?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Just sore. Abby knows what she’s doing. But this is part of
why you don’t want to do this with someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.
More than sore is a real possibility.” Tim looks a little chagrinned and says
in an even quieter voice, “Honestly, right now, my shoulder hurts worse than my
ass. Abby’s,” the girls are in the restroom confabbing about something right
now, “smart enough to make sure she doesn’t hurt me. I’m not smart enough to
not suggest bondage games when I’ve got a shoulder that still doesn’t have full
strength or range of motion.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Wrist?” Jimmy asks. He’d been intentionally holding Tim’s
right arm at the elbow.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Achy. More Aleeve. Ice. Rest some. I’ll be okay.” He shrugs
a little, and winces a little, he shoulder didn’t enjoy that. “Probably a good
thing I can’t get it up six times a day anymore. Enforced rest time means I
won’t do something stupid for the next six hours or so.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy smirks. “Joys of getting older.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the joys of getting older, or getting off as hard as
he did, and probably both together isn’t just a longer refractory time, it’s
also being significantly less interested in sex during said refractory period.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, while the guys are very much interested in more sex as
an abstract concept, neither of them is currently in possession of a dick
that’s up (or going to be up) for doing anything for a while longer, and for
that matter, neither of them are really feeling a burning need to get laid, <i>now</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yay!” Tim says sarcastically. “God, we’re gonna be fun in
ten years." He rolls his eyes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy raises an eyebrow and then dryly says, “They make pills
for that.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim chuckles, little, wry smile in his eyes. “And lucky for
us we know someone who can write prescriptions.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Exactly,” Jimmy says, as he takes a sip of his water. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Speaking of that…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Prescriptions?” Jimmy’s not sure where Tim’s going. Well,
he might. He supposes a script for Viagra or Cialis or something could be
arranged as a party drug for them, but… He’s not really feeling like they need
it. It’s normal to not be hot, hard, or ready for a few hours after a really
good orgasm, especially if you happen to be a middle-aged guy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“More, you being a doctor, and us taking care of each other,
what’s with you jonesing for a tattoo? That’s supposed to be bad for you,
right?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy shrugs, looking annoyed. “Wasn’t talking about getting
a whole leg done.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I know. Still…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy shrugs again. “Wanted to do something big, something
important.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim smiles at that; he fully understands that desire. “I get
that. We’re never going to be cool with something that might hurt you, or any
of us, though.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yeah.” Jimmy sighs. “I know. Just wish it was different.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yep.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a lovely September day. The sun is shining. And, the
Farmer’s Market is full swing, so, post-lunch they decide today is a fine day
to mosey around the pedestrian mall and get to know Winchester, VA. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They’re browsing along the stalls when Breena sees it. White
gold, broad, same shape as the wedding rings Abby and Tim share and one of the
same metals, the exact same metal as the ones she and Jimmy share.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She picks it off of the black velvet tray it’s on, and slips
it onto Tim’s ring finger while waving Abby over. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It looks pretty good there. “For me?” Tim’s asking, looking
at it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena shakes her head, nodding toward Jimmy’s who’s messing
around with the blown-glass orbs two stalls down. “Checking the size on you. If
it fits you, it’ll likely fit him.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Little loose on me,” Tim says. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena’s looking at it on Tim. “Then it should fit him just
right. His fingers are a little wider than yours.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’ll trust her on that, he’s never measured and isn’t
feeling any need to. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby says, “We doing a wedding band for him?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim likes the idea of that. “It’s not like it is with you
girls, no one really cares how many rings we’ve got on our ring fingers.” And,
in his experience, no one looks nearly as closely at his hand or Jimmy’s,
either. At least, if anyone’s checking to see if they’re married, he hasn’t
noticed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LecX7zI2bbo/VTGr0NOSWFI/AAAAAAAAD-4/AiL5fOIr2MI/s1600/brianhand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LecX7zI2bbo/VTGr0NOSWFI/AAAAAAAAD-4/AiL5fOIr2MI/s1600/brianhand.jpg" height="320" width="301" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep, it fits. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena jerks a little when she feels Jimmy’s hands circling
her wrists and his chin on her shoulder. He’s standing right behind her and
looks at the ring on Tim’s hand for a moment. “I like it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The guy who sells the rings is looking at the four of them
with interest, but not commenting. Tim takes it off his hand, and is about to
give it to Jimmy, lay it in his palm, and then stops half-way through that, and
takes Jimmy’s hand from Breena’s wrist, slipping the ring onto his finger.
“Feel good?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy rubs it with his thumb and shifts it between his pinky
and middle fingers. “Yeah.” He kisses Breena, and gives Tim and Abby a <i>you’re getting kissed soon</i> look. “Feels
like it belongs there.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby beams up at him, her fingers trailing over his hand.
“Good.” She turns to the guy selling them. “I don’t think we need a box,” she
says as she hands him her credit card.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They’ve almost finished the circuit back to the car when
Abby spies something interesting. She nudges Tim’s shoulder, nodding at the
café they’re walking past.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He sees the sign she did. “Poetry Slam. 5-7 Sunday.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Any interest?” Abby asks him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He shakes his head. “I haven’t done that in a decade.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena perks up at this. “Haven’t done what?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“A poetry slam.” He looks to Abby. “Besides, even if I did
feel like it, I don’t have anything ready to go.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She gives him a <i>you’re
going to try that one on me? </i>look. “I’ve got at least five of your poems on
my phone.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Wait,” Jimmy says. “Can we back up? I’m still working on
the idea of Tim at a poetry slam. You used to get up on stage and read poems?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim looks at Jimmy and rolls his eyes a bit, taking minor
offense at the hit to his professionalism. “No. <i>Read.”</i> He makes a sound like <i>ha</i>.
“I did get up on stage and perform them, but no, not <i>read.</i> That’s like… lip synching instead of singing.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s not sure he buys that, but he doesn’t argue. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Why’d you stop?” Breena asks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Just did. Wasn’t writing much poetry. Got busy with other
things. Decided I liked kicking back at a jazz club more.” He shrugs. “Decided
I was a much better novelist than poet and spent more time on that. Lots of
reasons.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You’re a great poet!” Abby says.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Only if you’re you. There’s a tiny audience of people who
love my work, and you’re it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’d love it, too!” Breena says, certain, though she hasn’t
actually read any of his poetry. Abby’s kept that for herself. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“And one day, I’ll write some for you, and yes, you’ll love
it, because it’s for you. But… I know great poetry, and what I do isn’t it.” He
feels a little silly about this, but decides that it’s true. “I write great
love letters, and most of them are blank verse. But rhythm, meter, imagery,
nah. I get moments of good, but as poetry, most of it’s just okay.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We could go listen,” Abby says.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He does like that, but he’s fairly sure the rest of this
group, none of whom he’s ever seen reading a poem, or having any interest in
listening to them, would find it boring. So, he glances back at the café,
they’re well past it now. “There has got to be something all of us want to do
with tomorrow evening. Gotta be a place around here to dance, right? And if
not, we’ve got music back at the cabin.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You’re voting for dancing tomorrow?” Breena asks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Unless you and Abby have other plans. What was that you
said about toy night?” he asks with a little wicked grin.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby wraps her arm around his neck. “Dancing could be warm
up for that.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Sounds like you’re starting to perk up again,” Breena adds.
“Maybe my turn next?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim thinks about it, does a mental check for how sore he is,
and where, and shakes his head a bit. “Probably Jimmy. Unless you’re looking
for me to be a hell of a lot less active than I expect.” Then he looks to
Jimmy. “I mean…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy nods. “If Abby’s serious about a post lunch nap, yes,
I’ll be up for playing this afternoon.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby grins, and Breena does, too, looking Jimmy up and down,
eyes promising good things to come. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby licks her lips. “Then let’s get home and napping.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So Jimmy, what’s yours?” Abby asks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim thinks Abby’s the only one who actually slept. He’s not
entirely sure about that. There was a bit of time where he was dreaming or
imagining intensely, but he’s not sure which. He was aware of the bed and Jimmy
and Breena and Abby, so probably not asleep, but he was seeing some vivid
images of flying behind his eyelids. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But now, an hour after getting back to the cabin, and
tossing off clothing, and snuggling into the bed in the bedroom (after all,
they might as well use it at least once, right?) everyone’s awake and sitting
on the mattress, getting ready for round two of the fantasy game. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy smiles a little. He didn’t sleep. He did spend his
rest hour between Abby and Breena thinking about <i>exactly </i>what he wants to do. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Before Tim went, it was a combination of both of you
running me, and watching you girls sixty-nine, and then slipping into Breena
from behind while you went down on her, and helping her lick you off, while Tim
watched. But now…”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby and Breena are both grinning widely at Jimmy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I mean, I know I can’t do that, not that long. I just
can’t.” But holy shit, watching <i>that</i>
almost blew his load, having it done to him… Oh yeah.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I couldn’t at first, either,” Tim adds. He thinks about it…
“What…Twenty minutes the first time you decided you were going to edge me?” he
asks Abby. He’d done himself longer than that, but keeping yourself on edge is
a very different game from letting someone else keep you on edge.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby nods. “Something like that.” (Correct answer, eleven
minutes. But Abby knows that if they treat Jimmy right, he’ll lose track of
time, too.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Anyway…” Jimmy cuts in. “I’ve never come that hard, and it
looked really intense, and I’d like to see how close to that I can get.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Then Breena should be in charge because she knows your body
better.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena nods at that. She’s never tried to see how long she
could keep Jimmy at just about to get off, but she certainly does know how to
keep him from getting off if she wants him going longer. She also knows that
half of how they kept Tim a hair away from climaxing is something she and Jimmy
have never done.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So, how much of what we did to Tim do you want us to do to
you?” Breena asks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby knows what she’s asking Jimmy. “It’s all about keeping
you just about to get off, anal doesn’t have to be part of it if that’s not
your thing.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Not the strap on.” He’s not sure if that’ll ever be
anything he wants. He does know today’s not the day he finds out.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby shakes her head. “Not for your first time anyway.
Fingers?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy looks intrigued. “Yes?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You don’t sound sure about that,” Breena says.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’m not. Yeah, it looked like you had a really good time,
but…” Tim knows how to read the look on Jimmy’s face, there’s a lot of
conditioning, for lack of a better word, that a guy has to break through before
thinking, ‘Okay, this might be fun,’ let alone do anything about that thought, and
he’s not broken through it, yet. “Look, it’s not off limits, just don’t
surprise me with it, either.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena kisses him while Abby says, “Not a problem.” Then she
gets up, finds their toy box, and tosses Jimmy a Fleet enema. “You know what to
do with one of those?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s not thrilled about that, but yeah, he knows what to do.
“Errr… yes. Medical residency. Nothing the nurses like better than a new crop
of residents to do the dirty work.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby grins at him. “Good, then get to it. You might be iffy
on fingers, but trust me, you’ll like tongue.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s eyes go very wide at that. <i>That </i>was very much <i>not</i>
something they did to Tim. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“So, off you go.” Abby wiggles her fingers at the bathroom.
“Get cleaned up. Get <i>really</i> cleaned
up. It’ll be worth your while.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s having a <i>really</i>
good time. He’s in the middle of the bed with both of the girls playing with
him, as Tim lounges in an armchair, watching. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim knew he was going to like watching this, because, what’s
not to like? It’s Jimmy and Breena and Abby all doing things he loves, with
each other.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He didn’t realize how intense it would be to watch this.
It’s not just Jimmy having a good time. It’s Jimmy having <i>this</i> good time, for the first time, and as intense as it is for
Jimmy, for Tim there’s a lot of memories and experiences and just heaps of
awesome attached to this, plus, watching Abby and Breena literally melt Jimmy’s
brain.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim can see it in his closed eyes, the tension in his face.
He can hear it in the way he’s gasping with every breath. Jimmy’s hands are
telling the good time story; they’re clenched on the headboard, knuckles white.
His head’s thrown back, his toes are curled, and his thighs are trembling
they’re so tight. Everything about Jimmy right now is all but singing about how
much enjoyment he’s getting out of this.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And sure, Tim can’t see Jimmy’s dick. It’s deep in Abby’s
mouth. (And Jimmy seems really pleased to have it there.) But he can see
Jimmy’s balls, or at least sort of, Breena’s mouth and hands are blocking some
of the view, but from what he can see they’re pulled up tight against Jimmy,
which is usually a very good sign of an about to be very happy guy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course, being a guy in bed with two women blowing you at
once is also, usually, a sign of an about to be very happy guy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In fact, Tim’s actually getting a little concerned, because
part of the idea is to spin Jimmy out, and Jimmy looks really close to getting
off. He’s thrusting harder as his head’s come off the pillow, and Tim knows
that if <i>he’s</i> doing that, it’s because
he’s a hair away from getting off.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then both girls stop, and Jimmy groans with frustration,
teeth gritting, head slamming back into the pillow as his hips hit the bed. They
retreat and start petting his arms and legs, Breena straddling Jimmy’s mouth,
letting him know that it’s time for him to something besides just lie there and
enjoy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim should have known they wouldn’t push him over
accidentally. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh, God, yes! YESYESYESYESYES! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy likes tongue. He might not have been sure about that
in the first place but by all means this is bloody fucking amazing and fucking
yes they are doing this again, they are doing this a whole lot, and as soon as
he gets the chance to he’s doing it to Breena because he can’t wait… <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh God! Okay, God, yes, FUCK!, he can wait, he can
definitely wait because as long as Abby’s still lapping at him he’s not going
anywhere, but once this is done and he stops twitching he’s laying Breena out
and Abby’s showing him exactly what she’s doing and they are going to do it to
Breena. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And, OH GOD, he arches up into that touch, pushing his hips
up, looking for more pressure, more pleasure, and God, he might be babbling the
way Tim was, he’s got no idea, he just wants more of this, wants it all over,
wants it to never end and...<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Shit! What?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Okay, that’s a finger, did he agree to that? Shit… Babbling
has consequences apparently. He’s not sure if he likes that, but, GOD, licking!,
again, and HOLY FUCK!, Breena’s got his ball in her mouth and Abby’s doing
something with her tongue and her finger and his brain’s about two strokes away
from completely melting and then, HOLY FUCK, how many hands do they have? He
doesn’t know what’s rubbing the head of his cock, but right now he doesn’t
care, at all, it could be Tim sucking him, hell, it could be Gibbs sucking him,
and he’d be cool with it as long as it didn’t stop.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then, oh God, no, no, no, no, no, don’t stop that, <i>please</i>! He really likes <i>that</i>, go back to
doing<i> that</i>, <i>please</i>, and OH FUCK,
nothing is touching his dick anymore, and he thinks Abby did something with her
finger, and he thinks he’s lost it, thinks he’s come, because he feel the
pulse, but… Okay… just one so, apparently not, but okay, SHIT, whatever the
fuck that is, prostate? Gotta be… YES… feels almost exactly like the pulsing
part of cumming and if, OH GOD, yes, she can do that as much as she likes, and
pussy, oh yes, pussy on his face again, okay focus on that, it’s Breena, he
knows by the smell and the taste, and soft, tickly wisps of pubic hair, GOD,
pussy, he loves pussy, and FUCK, another pulse, and… and…. wait, no, no, no go
back to doing that, don’t take the fingers away, no…. The finger is awesome,
bring the finger back!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tongue again. Oh God! He’s got no idea of how Breena’s
getting the idea to Abby, but what he’s doing to her, Abby’s doing back to him.
Sort of. Wait. Two tongues. One’s on the tip of his dick, lightly licking, the
others on his ass, and…. He slips two fingers into Breena and strokes her
g-spot… Oh, yes, please! fingers come back for him, and he feels that pulse
again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena’s matching his tongue, licking the tip of his dick
like a clit, and Abby’s using her fingers the way he’s using his on Breena, and
God, they’re fucking him the way he’s fucking her and oh oh oh oh he’s not
going to make it through this, every single nerve in his body is going to
sizzle and burst into an epic climax and<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
NOOOOOOO don’t stop! NONONONONONONONO! Get back there and do
it! NOOOOOOOOOO!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena’s cuddling him, kissing him gently and right now he
does not want to be kissed. Abby’s petting his thighs, and the last place he
wants to be petted right now is his thighs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Jimmy, you still know your safeword?” He’s not sure which
of them ask.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That slowly wanders through the crying with tension and
disappointed haze of <i>don’t fucking stop,
noooooooo</i>, and he flails around for a moment, thinking, not sure if he does
and even more not sure if he wants this to stop and have them get him off now
or spin him out further.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Finally he got it together enough to say, “No, but don’t
stop. God, don’t stop!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Don’t stop: get you off right now, or don’t stop: spin me
harder and longer?” Abby asks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Harder, longer. Don’t fucking stop fucking me.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He sees them both grin at them and then, oh god yes, more
tongues, Abby’s licking up and Breena’s licking down and holy shit, oh god, one
of them has his balls again and the other is slowly slipping a finger into him
again and God nothing has ever, ever felt like this. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim’s dick is awake again. Hard as he got off this morning
he didn’t think it’d be showing any life until dinner, and possibly later than
that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But this show… Hell, this would wake the dead.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Even with mirrors, even with the fact that he likes to
watch, Tim’s still never really seen what it looks like when he’s this deep
into sex. Because when it’s happening, he’s into it. He’s watching Abby or
watching his dick slip into her, he’s not watching himself. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But he’s watching Jimmy, and the girls, but mostly Jimmy,
because Jimmy’s teetering on the best orgasm of his life. He’s a hair’s breadth
from coming and cumming all over, every muscle tight, every nerve begging for
release, as two women he adores fuck him out of his mind.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s gone. Eyes closed, head back, gasping with each
breath, whole body flushed, whimpering softly each time Breena slowly eases
down him, and judging by the way Abby’s arm is moving she’s pulling her finger
all the way out and slipping all the way back in the same speed Breena is.
Guessing by how Jimmy jerks each time Breena gets all the way down, Abby’s
probably giving his prostate a little rub, then they both slowly move off of
him. Breena slowly eases all the way up, almost off of him, and then all the
way back down, and God, if Tim watches another second of this he’s going to get
off from just watching.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby’s kneeling between Jimmy’s legs. She gasps softly when
she feels him behind her. Must have forgotten he was there, which is fine, with
what they’re doing, they should be paying attention to Jimmy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But he can’t not touch. Can’t just sit there and watch
anymore, so he slips his legs between hers, kneeling behind her, and pulls her
back a bit, slipping into her, hissing as he’s surrounded by glorious, hot,
wet, dripping wet, sopping wet, pussy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He grits his teeth at the sensation, so, so good, and says,
quietly to her, “When you slide into him, you rock forward, when you pull out,
you rock back. Do both of us at the same time, same speed.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She looks over her shoulder, grins at him, and keeps the
pace, and when she slips all the way forward, into Jimmy, she pulses her pussy
around his tip, and when she slips all the way back onto him, she does
something else to Jimmy, but Tim doesn’t know what. He does hear the added,
breathy, ripped out of him “Fuck!” from Jimmy every time she does it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim’s not going to last long, can’t take too much of this,
even though it is slow and so wet and slick, and Jimmy’s cursing now, full out
stream of half-spoken, half-cried, all-pleasure profanity filling the air
between gasps and moans. They’re tipping him over, a long, slow full-body
orgasm, the kind that feels like it eats you alive, and Jimmy’s crying,
begging, words gone, keening with pleasure as Breena keeps up the slow steady
pace, and Abby sinks into him, easing his way out of his mind and into sparking
neurons and flaming synapses. Tim sees the rolling, jerking twitch begin in
Jimmy’s hips and thighs. He feels the way Jimmy’s legs jerk around them, and
all three of them hear him shout out FUCK!, ripping the sheets from the bed as
the first spasm hits him hard as a car going ninety before he jerks, hard,
again, and again, and once more, groaning each time, then falls limp and silent
and twitching, and seeing that, hearing it, feeling Abby on him and Jimmy’s
legs twitching next to him sets Tim off, too. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A few minutes later, when he’s fully back in his head again,
it occurs to Tim that he’s not feeling any soft twitching from Abby, and for
that matter, he sure as hell didn’t do anything that might have resulted in an
orgasm for anyone other than him when he was the focus, either. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s kneeling, butt on feet, Abby in his lap, leaning
against him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s still crashed out on the bed, somewhere between
asleep and unconscious. Breena’s got him, cuddling and petting him gently. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim kisses Abby’s throat, and she turns her face to his with
a smile. He knows that look, she’s not done. Close, he can feel that, but not
done. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His fingers slip down her sides, caressing over breasts and
hips, before settling between her legs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She sighs, very happy at that, and happier still as he
starts a quick, circling stroke. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Maybe it takes a minute, probably less, before she’s tight
and panting, before he feels her muscles clench on his softening dick and hears
her moaning.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He holds her close as she comes down, and for as good as a
slow, edged orgasm can be, there’s something to be said for fast one when
you’ve been turned on for hours. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He nibbles her ear. “So, what are we doing for you
tomorrow?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She smiles at him. “We’ll see what I’ve got a taste for
then.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He kisses her gently. “And let me guess, right now, you’ve
got a taste for dinner.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She holds his hand over her belly. “Little boy wants to
eat!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One more kiss. “Go run a shower. I’ll join you in a minute.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby gets up, kissing Breena and Jimmy as she heads out of
bed. Tim looks at Breena, “You good?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She smiles at him, nods, still gently petting Jimmy’s chest.
“Took care of myself.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He kisses her. “Okay.” And then strokes Jimmy’s face,
smiling at him, remembering how good everything feels after waking up from that
sort of orgasm, and then heads to the shower with Abby.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy wakes up feeling amazing. Everything is good. He’s one
big, glowy, mushy, ball of euphoric love right now. Breena’s in his arms, he
can smell steaks cooking on charcoal, and everything is perfect. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You and Abby are the most amazing women on the planet,” he
says quietly to Breena.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Hey!” She rolls onto her stomach, resting on her elbows,
facing him. “You’re up.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He smiles, feeling goofy. “I’m awake. Not sure if up is
happening anytime soon.” He giggles at his own joke, and Breena smiles. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Well, how about moving, shower, and eating?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He nods. “I’m in favor of all of those things.” He sits up,
stomach rumbling. “Yeah, really in favor.” He kisses her again, hands finding
her skin. He wants to get up and get moving, but he doesn’t want to stop
touching, either.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She takes his hands, and pulls them to the bathroom for a
shower.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Steaks on the porch with lots of salad, and very cold cider,
charcoal fire slowly winding down, sun easing it’s way behind the trees is
perfect.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dragging one of the mattresses into the living room, popping
up lots of popcorn, salty and buttery and crisp, while all snuggled together,
munching away, watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is amazing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And once again, sleeping tangled together, stars slowly
vanishing from the sky, covered by rain clouds, and fat drops of soft rain
pattering on the glass, is just the proverbial icing on the cake.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-86513778386325220322015-04-16T08:11:00.000-07:002015-04-16T08:14:55.785-07:00Shards To A Whole: Rainbow Party<div class="MsoNormal">
“You sure we’re not camping?” Jimmy says, as they turn off
the tiny, but paved, road onto an even tinier dirt one.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Is this place even on the GPS?” Tim asks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“It’s on the GPS, and we’ve got functional WiFi. Anyone
needs us, they can get us. We’re secluded, not vanished,” Abby replies. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They bump, slowly, down the dirt road for another minute,
and finally come to a small clearing in the woods. And in the clearing there’s
a small cabin.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy and Tim look at it. “Oh.” Tim says, nodding.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy smiles. “Looks good. Kind of wondering if there’s a
witch or if Little Red Riding Hood’s going to show up.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Axe murders and harbingers,” Tim adds.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We’re not <i>that</i>
far into the woods,” Breena says, turning off the car. “Grab the cooler, and
let’s get in.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The guys get a few minutes to look around while Breena and
Abby unpack the cooler. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim approves of the little nest they built in the solarium,
and he spies the bag the lip tars live in on top of four plates sitting on the
sofa, so he’s got a hint as to what Abby and Breena have planned for this
afternoon.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He looks over to Abby, who’s in the kitchen with Breena, and
says, “So, did you just bring everything with you?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby looks up and smiles at him. “Not <i>everything</i>.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena adds, “But more than enough for three and a half
days.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby nods. “More than enough for a week.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy returns from the bedroom, carrying the mirror. It had
been over the dresser in the bedroom, not any more. He plops it onto the sofa. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You’re really getting into being able to watch, aren’t
you?” Tim asks him as Jimmy points him toward the mattresses. Tim gets to where
he assumes they’ll mostly be, and checks the view. “Left about three inches.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy nods and scoots the mirror over a little. “We all like
it, and… Wait…” Jimmy seems to be noticing that if they can all see out, then
that means anyone else can see in. “We’re far enough away from everyone else
that no one’s going to just wander by, right?” After all, there’s a reason why
they do stuff like this behind closed doors. And sure, maybe getting caught is
a kick, but… He’s not sure if that’s a kick when it’s all four of them at once.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Actually, no. It’s not. That’s the difference between
naughty and actual danger. Get walked in on in a club with his wife, no big
deal. Maybe get smacked on the wrist and look a little sheepish. Get walked in
on mid-orgy, and that might have repercussions. (It also occurs to him that
he’s apparently getting old, because the version of him that had sex on every
horizontal and most of the vertical surfaces at the Navy Yard wouldn’t have
blinked at this. Or, another thought hits him, he supposes it’s possible that
he’s <i>learned</i> something from his
experiences with Lee.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena strolls from the kitchen to the mattresses, slipping
off her shoes, and snuggling in next to Tim. “According to Google Earth, the
closest house to us is six miles away. There’s a hunting camp three miles east,
but nothing is in season for another month and a half. People do camp out here,
but we’re on marked private property. It’s not impossible, just like it’s not
impossible that one of our neighbors at home might decide to come over at a bad
moment, but it’s as unlikely as it’s possible to be.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“This is as far away from the rest of the world as we could
get, and still have all the necessities,” Abby says, sitting on the step down
to the solarium. Tim kisses Breena and then scoots over to help her with her
boots. She can still get them herself, but, like before, he likes her legs and
she’s pregnant enough it’s starting to get awkward, so why not help? “But if
this is uncomfortable, there’s a perfectly functional bedroom over there, with
solid walls, and shades on the windows. Moving’s not a problem.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy looks at the mattresses all laid out, then looks out
at a lake and miles and miles and miles of trees, he thinks about what went
into this, and decides that he’s being silly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We’re good here.” He looks down at the little makeup bag,
the pack of baby wipes, and the plates on the sofa next to the mirror. “What’s
that?” He knows the girls brought toys, and he’s had more than enough sex to
have a clue what the baby wipes might be for, but the plates are throwing him
for a loop. He’s sure they’ve got snacks, but they’ve just eaten, so… he’s not
immediately seeing what might be in that bag or going on the plates.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby grins up at him, flexing her toes in Tim’s hands as he
gently kisses her knees. “You remember when we were talking about rings ‘or
something?’”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy nods, the idea that they’d get each other something to
mark this, and that Abby had something besides a piece of jewelry she was
interested in. He crawls into the center of the mattress, kissing both girls.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby lifts her leg and strokes her foot over Tim’s leg, and
then scoots down to join the rest of them on the mattresses. Right now, they’re
all mostly dressed, and lounging about, sitting or lying, just resting and
being comfortable.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“When we were on our honeymoon,” she touches Tim’s lips on
her throat, “we traded permanent kisses. I was hoping to add two more kisses,
if you’d be game for that.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena’s smiling at that. She’s never seen lipstick on
Jimmy, and isn’t sure if he’ll be game for this, but hopes he’ll go for it.
“How do you see this working?” she asks, knowing she’s setting up the show and
tell part of the afternoon.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby crawls over to the sofa, over Tim and Jimmy, stopping
for kisses on the way, and then dumps a huge collection of tiny tubes out of
the bag. “I brought all of our lip tars. We’ve got every color you can imagine,
and they’re liquid, so it’s really easy to mix colors or paint them on however
you like.” She grabs one of the pink ones, and squirts a tiny bit on the plate,
showing off that each one of them will have their own plate for color mixing. “I
was hoping to collect a whole lot of kisses, and give a bunch of them, too.”
She air kisses at them. “The two best prints, I’ll get pictures of them, and
after Sean’s on the outside, I’ll get them tattooed on.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s looking intrigued by that, eyeing the colors, and
heads closer to Abby. “So, you’re going to mix up some color for me, and I can
kiss you, here—“ He’s touching Abby’s throat, just below her ear, on the spider
web side.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim butts in, “No.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy looks away from Abby, staring at Tim, confused. “No?
What, is her neck yours and yours only?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby’s looking really amused at the idea that Tim might have
dibs on certain parts of her. She and Jimmy settle back down on the mattresses,
facing the other two.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“No!” Tim rolls his eyes a bit. Abby is his, but not like
that. “It’s <i>her</i> neck. The reason
you’re not going to put a kiss there is the exact same reason why my lip print
isn’t already there. It’ll look like a snack the spider’s got sitting on the
web waiting for her next meal.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s eyes go a little wider at that, and as he looks at
the web, and thinks about what his lip print likely looks like, and how from a
few feet away, especially if it’s a bright color, it would likely look kind of
caterpillarish, he says, “Oh.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena laughs. “So, besides not on your spider web, or any
of the other tattoos?” Abby nods. “Everywhere else is open?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Not <i>everywhere</i>
else. It takes about a month for one to heal all the way up. So, there are some
places I’d prefer weren’t out of commission for a month. And, since neither of
you have lips that look anything like Tim’s, it can’t be visible when I’m
dressed for work or church. Any skin you can’t see now is fair game.” She’s
still got her sundress on, along with a collar, one wrist cuff, and socks that
go to her knees. Both Jimmy and Breena are looking all over Abby. “And, of
course, for just lipstick, you can put them anywhere you like.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena shifts her gaze to Tim. “We adding some to you, too?
Is that your ‘or something,’ also?” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim smiles. “Wasn’t what I was thinking. Not permanently, at
least. With the lip tars, oh yeah, I want a full rainbow from you and Abby.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby smiles. “And we both know where you want it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He half-smiles in response; Abby’s not wrong about where he
wants it. “I’m easy to please on that. Do you want to add a kiss to me
permanently?<i>”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Maybe…” Breena’s kind of liking the idea of marking Tim. “What
were you thinking?” Breena asks him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He stands up and shucks off his jeans and socks, then
stretches his leg out, over Jimmy’s, foot resting on Breena’s hip. They’ve all
got a good view of the dragon and Kelly’s band. He touches the bit of skin next
to the dragon’s top most wing. “Molly’s band goes here.” He touches Kelly’s.
“Kelly.” His fingers move two inches below where Molly’s would be. “One here,
for Jon.” His fingers slip down, to just above Kelly’s, “Anna’s goes here.”
Back to the top. “Sean’s. That leaves a few inches for any other children we
have. Maybe Donny Palmer goes down here.” He taps above where Anna’s knot will
go. “When we’re done with babies, two four strand knots, one at the top and one
at the bottom, wrapping all the way around my leg, for the four of us.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy whistles low at that, what Tim’s talking about will
cover most of his calf.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena’s nodding. “Our family.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim nods back to her. “Yeah. All of us, worn on my skin.”
He’s got on a t-shirt, so he raises the sleeve a bit to show the band he and
Abby share. “I was telling her that when hands that love you touch you, it
should leave a mark. It should change you. That’s the change I want to make. Is
that… You guys good with all the kids on me?” They haven’t specifically talked
about the kids they already have, but Tim knows he’s thinking of all of them as
‘theirs’ and sure some of them are his and some are Jimmy’s for the sake of the
outside world, but in his head at least, they’re <i>theirs</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yeah,” Breena says softly, her fingers drift to the tiny
diamond solitaire she wears around her throat. “Thanks for remembering…"</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim nods, and looks to Jimmy who nods back at him. Jimmy
looks away for a second, blinks hard, and then makes himself smile, pulls his
shirt off, and says, “So… rainbow party?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mlpt7bvWUHc/VS_K-6cbkeI/AAAAAAAAD8k/aDm-k6bCf7Y/s1600/bluelipstick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mlpt7bvWUHc/VS_K-6cbkeI/AAAAAAAAD8k/aDm-k6bCf7Y/s1600/bluelipstick.jpg" height="284" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Massive Dork</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The thing Tim didn’t think of when he suggested a rainbow
party to Abby is that he, still, thinks he looks like a massive dork when he’s
wearing lipstick.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And sure, for playing, he likes the result of all those
pretty kisses on Abby’s skin. (And hers on his.) But he doesn’t like how he
looks with it on. (Actually, he doesn’t like how he <i>thinks</i> he looks with it on. He still hasn’t looked at himself when
he’s doing this.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But, and this is the part that’s biting him in the ass, as
both Jimmy and Breena are enthusiastically getting into this, it’s that Jimmy
and Breena are, by default, also going to see him with lipstick on. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sigh. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the upside, if he looks as stupid as he thinks he does,
Breena probably won’t mention it, and Jimmy doesn’t have anyone to pull into
teasing him about it. He’s wearing it, too, and Tony’ll completely flip out at
the idea that <i>this</i> is the sort of
thing they get up to when they’re on their own.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Still, he’s warily eyeing the colors as Abby’s putting tiny
dabs of them on the plate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You weren’t kidding about every color, were you?” Breena’s
asking, playing with one of the tubes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Nope. All of them. We might have gone a little crazy on
them when we decided we liked this.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena laughs. “Come here, babe,” she’s patting the spot on
the mattress right in front of her, and Jimmy’s scooting over. She laughs at
that, too, giving Jimmy a quick kiss. “Other babe.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Oh, me?” Tim starts to head over. “You need different
nicknames for us.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena inclines her head in agreement, but right this second
she’s not feeling much need to wrack her brain for new terms of endearment. “Close
your eyes.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s looking amused, as Abby’s getting him settled and
gently brushing the primer on his lips.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Why?” Tim asks, feeling a little nervous, wondering what
the hell she’s going to put on him that he can’t see while she does it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Because watching makes you uncomfortable.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Oh.” She’s not wrong. So his eyes shut, and he can hear her
messing around and humming a bit, followed by the slightly wet, ticklish
sensation of having his lips painted. “Open up.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim does, letting her mess around with him. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Ohhh… Good pick,” Abby says.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Can I pick my color?” Jimmy asks, “Or are we just the toys
you’re playing with today?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby lets off a diabolical laugh. “Mental note, toy night is
going on the list.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim can feel Breena nodding at that. He can imagine her
smile.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yes.” Abby says to Jimmy. “Though I was thinking of mixing
a few together for you.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Mixing them how?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Let me do it, kiss it on me, and if you don’t like how it
looks, we’ll do any colors you like.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim hears Jimmy say, “Okay.” He’s trying not to squirm as
Breena’s gently putting on… It feels like a lot. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Lighter hand, love.” Abby says to her.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We want a bunch of prints, right? Enough for both of us,
not just you.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Oh!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
More dabbing at his lips. It didn’t take nearly this long
when Abby did it. He’d like to ask, but she’s putting more stuff on his lips
so…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“How much are these?” Breena asks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Eighteen dollars. They’ll last pretty much forever. For
just casual wear, you only need a tiny bit.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“That’s what I’m thinking. Better texture than what I use at
work. Might have to invest in some of these.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim finds that a little off-putting, he’d rather not be
thinking about Breena’s clients right now, but, he’s still not saying anything
because she’s lightly flicking the brush over his lips and humming again. He’s
got the sense that if his eyes were open, he’d see her critically looking at
what she’s done. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s about to open his eyes, but then the brush flicks out
and there are a few more light flicks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Okay, all done. You want to see?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s done, so he opens his eyes. And, okay, yes, he looks.
He’s right. He looks dumb as hell with lipstick. Eyeliner is fine. Tattoos are
good. The kilt rocks. This looks stupid. Fortunately, he gets something he
likes out of this.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s dark, metallic blue. Shiny cobalt. Not a bad color on
him, if it was a shirt or something, hell, eyeliner even. DUMB on his lips. But
the girls seem to approve. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s about to rub his lips together, because seeing that’s
made him very aware of them, and Breena immediately whacks him lightly on the
shoulder. “No you don’t!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s not sure if he can talk without messing it up, but he
tries anyway. “Okay. Shall I do you?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena lights up at that. “Do me how. My lips?” She lightly
touches her bottom lip. “Or are you going to decorate me?” She gestures to all
of her naked skin.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim whistles a low breath, remembering, vividly why he likes
this. So many good options with that. He knows that eventually these will dry,
and once they dry they don’t budge, so…<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Decorations first, then you’re going to sit in my lap, and
I’ll paint your lips, and you’ll decorate Jimmy and I.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She grins at that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
His eyes slip all over her, and he laughs a little. She
arches an eyebrow, as Abby says to Jimmy, “All done.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim answers Breena’s look. “Virgin territory. Miles and
miles of untouched skin.” Then, as he’s checking out what Abby did to Jimmy, he
carefully lays a kiss on Breena’s shoulder. The kiss on her skin is blue, bold
and vibrant. He glances over and sees the kiss Jimmy’s putting on Abby’s inner
knee in dark green and oaky brown, looks like she decided to match his eyes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a2kmlM4QsLw/VS_Lk-7YcjI/AAAAAAAAD8s/8wfmfJPPeAw/s1600/greenlipstic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-a2kmlM4QsLw/VS_Lk-7YcjI/AAAAAAAAD8s/8wfmfJPPeAw/s1600/greenlipstic.jpg" height="316" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still not a great look</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He doesn’t think lipstick looks as dumb on Jimmy as it does
on him, but it’s not something he’d ever suggest Jimmy should do for a going
out look.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim does like the look of Jimmy’s lips on Abby’s skin
though. And as he lays another kiss on Breena’s throat, matching the one on
Abby, he really likes how his lips look on her. Yep, Abby, Breena, either and
both of them, this hits that little possessive kink just perfect. He’s idly
wondering if Breena might be game for a tattoo, as he decides where Abby needs
another kiss.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim slips over a bit, laying his next kiss on Abby’s breast.
Lifting it gently and leaving a blue mark on the underside along with a deep,
gently biting kiss. Then back to Breena. Enough of the tar came off on the
first three kisses that this one should leave a really nice print. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Where?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s also over with her, so for the moment she’s a bit
distracted as he’s marking her inner thigh. Right where her thigh and pelvis
meet. She gently taps the other thigh, and Tim smiles. He waits for Jimmy to
pull back, and then lifts her leg, gently nuzzling from her knee to her pelvis,
and finishes with a wet kiss to match Jimmy’s.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As he’s doing that, he feels lips on the small of his back,
and he’s not sure if they’re Abby’s or Jimmy’s, and right now, he doesn’t care.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim scoots up an inch, and over an inch, gently nosing
Breena’s pubic hair. “Next time you shave, my lip print goes here.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Sunday. All four of us slick and smooth and bare.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That sounds awesome to Tim.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy groans at that idea, and Tim looks over to see his
kiss print on Abby’s mound, one slightly higher and to the right on her hip,
another one next to his on her breast. Breena pulls away from Tim for a second,
and kisses Jimmy, deep, on the lips, and then says to him, “Wanna see it? Me
riding you, your dick slipping in and out of me, with Tim’s lips right on my
pussy.” Jimmy groans at that, too, and gently pushes her back onto the bed,
trailing fainter and fainter kisses from her throat to her pussy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby’s not wearing any lip tar yet, so she glances to Tim,
and then snuggles into his lap. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“One sec.” He’s got something he wants to do before his lips
dry. He gently lowers her onto her back and lays a kiss right above her belly
button. Good one, clear edges, and then grabs a brush gets a bit more tar on
it, and writes his name right under it. He gets a picture, too. Her tummy,
gently swollen with Sean, his lips and name just above her belly button.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby’s staring at that, looking amused, and he kisses her lips,
leaving faint traces of blue, while saying, “Just signing my work.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby giggles at that, and Breena does, too. (Jimmy’s busy,
and guessing by the sound Breena makes, he does something to make sure she’s
paying attention to <i>him.</i>) Jimmy’s
maybe missing something of the spirt of this, in that he’s kissing Breena over
and over in the same place, but she’s having a very good time with it, so…
Maybe he’s got the idea just right.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim grabs a baby wipe and wipes the blue lip tar off the
brush. Then he starts up on Abby’s lips. He’s not as good with the brushes or
the colors, but he thinks he does a passable job of mixing and then painting
her lips blow job red. (He’s a tad distracted by her in his lap, all warm and
soft and gently rocking against him.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But, after a bit, her lips are done, and Abby’s ready to get
kissing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby kisses Tim. First print on his collarbone. Then, after
one last warm, rocking moment on his lap, she kisses his cheek, and pats him
gently so he kneels up, and closes her lips around the tip of his dick. He’s
not full hard, yet, they’re just getting started, but that’s certainly helping
things in that direction. “That’s where you want them, right?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He smiles. “I like them all over, but…” he looks down at the
first of the rings of color on his penis, “Yeah, you know it!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby winks and then flips around and gently kisses Breena’s
breast, leaving her lips in scarlet on Breena’s nipple. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Next one’s on her ribs, and Tim’s not sure if he wants to
just watch, or if he should jump in. He settles for at least another second of
watching as Abby gently licks Breena’s lips, and then shifts over to leave a
bright red print on the nape of Jimmy’s neck, then one just below it between
his shoulder blades.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He takes Breena’s hand in his, and kisses her wrist, one
last, light somewhat smeary blue kiss, as she’s arching against Jimmy, hand
clenched in his hair. (And yes, she’s tugging on his hair, and Jimmy’s moaning,
maybe at that, maybe at what he’s doing to Breena. Tim’s not sure which, but
either way, they’re both having a good time.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He pulls back, knowing he’s got to put more of the lipstick
on if he’s going to leave more kiss prints. Abby’s looking busy, trailing
kisses down Jimmy’s back, and he thinks she needs some kisses on her back, too,
go he grabs a brush and the plate with all the colors and heads to the mirror. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not difficult to pick his second color. He might think
black’s the only acceptable color on him (at least in the sense of not looking
like a total twit) but for the sake of how it’ll look on Abby and Breena, he
snags the brush, and mixes the silver along with a little green, thinking that
looks good, and is different enough from the green Jimmy’s wearing right now,
to make it easy to see whose lips are whose. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A minute of taking off the remains of the blue, another
minute of putting the new silvery-green on, and he’s ready to go.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He looks at Breena and Abby. God, so many good options.
Miles and miles of beautiful skin, all begging for a little color. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena looks done for the moment. She’s relaxing, purring,
Jimmy’s head resting on her thigh, as she gently pets his hair. Abby’s kissing
her way down Jimmy’s back. Tim finds the red lip print on his right ass cheek
especially amusing. Then his eyes slip away from Jimmy’s ass (kind of boring to
him) to Abby’s (much more fun) which is nicely high in the air as she’s kissing
the back of Jimmy’s knee.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yep, <i>that</i>
definitely needs some kiss marks. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim’s lying on his back, left arm extended over his head,
Abby kissing up his leg while Breena’s got his arm.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He thinks he’s purring. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s not a cat guy, (lifelong cat allergies means he sees
them as fuzzy annoyances at best) but right now he’s feeling awfully feline,
all stretched-out, naked, spotted with glorious color, beautiful women petting
him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena gets to his wrist, looking at the one kiss mark that
won’t wash off when they’re done.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What if I want to put a kiss on you that won’t wash off?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim tilts his head toward her. (His wrist is above his head,
so he’s looking up and backwards.) “I told Abby a long time ago that I’d
proudly wear any mark she wanted to put on me.” Breena leans down and kisses
him, planting a candy pink kiss on his lips. “Same goes for you.” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena’s eyeing his wrist. “And you don’t have your heart
set on another ring or something like that?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I’m fine with the cuff, or a ring, or… It just has to be
something from the three of you that I wear on my skin. Beyond that, it doesn’t
matter.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“What are you thinking?” Abby’s asking, looking up from the
trail of kisses she’s painting up Tim’s thigh.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena scoots over, next to Jimmy, who’s adding another
color to his lips. She spends a few seconds looking at the already mixed
colors, and then takes the periwinkle blue that matches her eyes and paints her
lips with it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“The cuff covers from here to here?” She touches just below
Tim’s palm to two and a half inches lower.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yep.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Okay.” Breena takes his wrist in her hand, and lays a kiss
on his wrist. Between hers and Abby’s it look almost like he’s got a 7 on his
wrist. He’s a little puzzled at the placement, until he gets where she’s going
with this.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy gets it about the same time Tim does, and he looks at
Tim, raising an eyebrow. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Go kiss that off on the girls.” Jimmy’s got a dark red on
right now, and it’s too close to Abby’s blow job red to work on his wrist. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You want my kiss?” Jimmy asks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim almost shrugs at that. Jimmy’s lips tattooed to his skin
was never on his list of dearest hopes, but he likes the symbolism, likes the
closed triangle. He’s looking at two thirds of his loves, and… it’s just not
done without Jimmy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Not done without you. Unless it makes you feel weird.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Nah.” Abby’s closer to him right now than Breena is, so he
pulls her close and kisses her ear lobe. Then puts another one on her shoulder,
giving her angel a kiss halo. One more right above the cuff tattoo on her arm,
and then over to Breena. He lays a dark red kiss on her ankle, another on her
shin, and one on her knee cap before the tar has mostly wiped off. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back to the colors he goes, spending a moment thinking, and
another moment mixing. Like Breena, he decides to match his eye color. So, deep
greeny-brown. Tim would call it ‘cool moss’ which is probably just him being
poetic, but if there’s ever a time to be poetic, describing your lovers’ kiss
colors is probably it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim sits up and holds out his wrist to Jimmy, who takes it
in his hand and gently presses his kiss to close the triangle. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim takes a moment to look at it, all three sets of lips on
his wrist, and nods. He likes it. It feels… right, and done, and he likes the idea
of it hiding under his cuff. Likes the idea of carrying their love on his skin
everywhere he goes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He looks at his dragon, and touches it gently. “This is who
I want to be.” More than that, it’s his love for them, worn on his skin. He
looks at but doesn’t touch the lip prints. Jimmy’s is still wet and he doesn’t
want them to smear. This is their love for him. “And this is what lets me be
him.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rainbow party is, forgiving the pun, a brilliant idea.
Everyone’s covered with pretty splotches of color. Tim’s got reds and pinks and
coral and blues and greens and purples all over him. Kisses on hands and feet
and everything in between. Both he and Jimmy are sporting rainbow covered
erections, and the four of them have taken about three million pictures to go
with this. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena’s still looking Abby over. She’s covered in kiss
marks, his lips, Jimmy’s, and Breena’s but so far, Breena hasn’t found a place
she wants to leave her forever kiss. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then she does. Tim sees the way she lights up with it,
and then springs over to the plate with all the colors on it. She’s carefully
mixing as she says, “Tim’s is black; I want my lips to be lip colored.” After a
few seconds, she’s got her color mixed up, and applied onto her lips, then she
kneels on the bed behind Abby, gathering her hair in her hand, and gently,
carefully, kisses the nape of Abby’s neck. “Right there. Between your hair and
the collars you like, no one will see it unless you want them to. But it’s
still close and sensual and romantic.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim grabs his phone and takes several pictures. Making sure
to get the color as true to life as possible, as well as good, close-up detail
of the kiss. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby takes the camera from him. “Yeah. I like that.” She
turns and kisses Breena. Not trading marks, this is just lips on lips and
happiness slipping from one body to another. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“How about it, Jimmy, which one of yours is going to be
forever?” Abby’s looking over the kisses, some green and brown, some blues,
some purples, a few in black, and a few more in dark red, that are all from
Jimmy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s also looking, thinking. He looks up at Tim, and then
back to Abby, “When you’re touched by hands that love you, it should leave a
mark, huh?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim nods. “That’s what I was thinking.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“He’ll cover our lips with his wrist cuff. You wear one most
of the time, how about always?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby nods. “I can do that. You thinking about my wrist?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Forearm, really, but you’ve already got tatts all over
them.” Jimmy lays his palm along the inside of her forearm, the bottom of his
palm just about at the bottom of hers. “This is the first place we touched.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://38.media.tumblr.com/7415f3ba4a5bd504dcf558c377d84f53/tumblr_nir4zx7zOw1qanrf2o3_250.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://38.media.tumblr.com/7415f3ba4a5bd504dcf558c377d84f53/tumblr_nir4zx7zOw1qanrf2o3_250.gif" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She smiles at that. “When you glued your hands to my arms.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Who knew what that’d turn into?” Jimmy reaches over and
grabs a baby wipe. He wipes off Abby’s arm, removing several kisses, and after
her skin is dry, he lifts her wrist to his lips, kissing along the faint blue
shadow of her radial artery. “There.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby smiles at it, and then kisses him, holding her arm
carefully to let that print dry properly. Tim gets a shot of it, nodding,
liking the placement and symbolism. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s looking over his skin, and then stands up to check
his back in the mirror. He’s looking at the kisses, gently touching the now dry
blow job red kiss between his shoulder blades, while thinking about the idea of
forever. “So, how bad does getting one of these hurt?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Not the end of the world or anything, but it stings,” Abby
says. “Why?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Thinking about it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“No.” Abby’s shaking her head. “There’s no reason for you to
do that.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s looking irked at that. They’ve got them all over
their skin, why not him? “How about liking the idea? Sounds like reason to me.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Jimmy, you react badly to henna,” Abby says.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“And Sharpies…” Breena adds.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“You tried that?” Tim asks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena’s nodding, pulling Jimmy back to bed. “I did a little
design on his calf, and the next day the whole thing was swollen and red for <i>days</i>. You and ink don’t get along. So,
let’s not inject it into your skin and see what sorts of new, fun allergies
you’ve got.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Fine.” Jimmy’s not looking thrilled, but he doesn’t want to
argue. Not right now. Not with pretty and naked people all around him. (Though Tim’s making a mental note that
Jimmy’s got first dibs on the shower when they’re done.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It looks like a Crayola factory exploded. Or… that holiday
in India, with the dye, Ducky would know what it’s called, it looks like that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There’s four sweaty, smeary, spent people on what were once
black sheets that are now very much <i>not</i>
black sheets.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Apparently, if you get sweaty, and apply some silicon based
lube that gets smeared to other places, along with natural lube, and saliva,
you come up with a cocktail lip tars cannot withstand. Most of those nice,
defined, brilliant kisses have bled into the most conspicuous camouflage
pattern in existence. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And Tim wouldn’t have it any other way. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He’s spooned up behind Abby, her body still soft and wet on
his. He lightly kisses the smear that was once Breena’s lips on the nape of her
neck. She purrs a little, shifting, and he slips wetly from her, coaxing one
last, soft twitch from her body.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He can feel an arm slipping against his back. Jimmy’s, he’s
guessing by the hair. He’s not rubbing Tim’s back, not as his main focus,
(probably). Tim’s not quite feeling energetic enough to look up, but he thinks
Breena’s on top of Jimmy (she was before he and Abby rolled to their side to
finish up with a slow and lazy spoon), and he’s gently stroking her back, and
just rubbing Tim’s as a side bonus.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim drags his arm down Abby’s side, resting his hand on her
tummy, holding her close as he scoots back an inch to get closer to Jimmy and
Breena. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena kisses his shoulder, and he feels her hair on his
back and shoulder, so he guesses she’s snuggled her head in against Jimmy’s
shoulder, back of her head to his back.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For a few more heartbeats they rest there, tired and happy.
Then his phone buzzes. He doesn’t want to get up, but… But it could be… God,
what time is it? Sun’s low, so it’s got to be past six. So, Sarah maybe, or work
or… He sits up slow, kissing both girls, and tries to remember where the hell
his phone ended up.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Eventually he sees it in the corner of the solarium, and
reaches for it with pink/purple/green/blue hands, digging his phone out of
his pocket. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BdNLmnjCcAAz31J.jpg:large" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BdNLmnjCcAAz31J.jpg:large" width="306" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a text from his sister. <i>We’re doing just fine. </i> Under
that is a shot of Kelly sitting on one side of a nicely set table with Sarah on
the other. Looks like dinner’s in full swing, for them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He flops back to the center of the bed, showing off the
shot. “Looks like they’re getting on okay without us.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Abby looks at the picture, and takes the phone from Tim. <i>Abby here. Awwww! <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>You guys having a good
time? ;)<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Yes!<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Then I’ll let you get
back to it. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Thanks. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jimmy’s still laying on his back, but Breena’s starting to
get up, too. She gently pokes him. “Come on, shower time.” Tim glances at her,
and yes, both of them are thinking that getting the pigments off of Jimmy is a
good plan. Yes, they’re designed for skin wear, but… just in case.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Then feeding the pregnant lady!” Abby adds. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Shower big enough for the four of us?” Tim asks. Now that he’s
not all post-orgasmic glow-y, he’s starting to feel a bit sticky and gross. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Nope.” Breena’s pulling Jimmy up, and he’s making less than
happy noises about that. He looks like he wants to sleep, but finally he
lurches up. “Fifteen minutes, then it’s your turn.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim nods, and Abby looks around. “Come on, phase two. Won’t
take us more than a minute.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Breena grins at them, herding Jimmy toward the bathroom.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tim glances at her, covered in her own rainbow of smeary splotches,
hair spiky and sweaty, eyes glowing at him. “You’ve got a phase two?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Oh yeah.” She’s smiling brilliantly. “And you’re going to
love it.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Really?” If phase two involves anything beyond a shower and
sleep, he’s not sure how useful he’ll be for it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Yep. Come on, let’s get the sheets off and clean sheets on.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That sounds like a step toward sleeping. “Okay.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://36.media.tumblr.com/4a949de14515b7057e7973f1a919e9fa/tumblr_nmvcdxsFmp1r8t9gdo2_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://36.media.tumblr.com/4a949de14515b7057e7973f1a919e9fa/tumblr_nmvcdxsFmp1r8t9gdo2_1280.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Half an hour later they’re on phase two, and Abby is right,
he loves it. They’re all showered and dried off, naked and comfortable. (All
four of them hitting more of a second wind once they got up and moving around
again.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They put clean sheets on the mattresses, as well as blankets
and pillows. There’s sushi and lettuce rolls, cold dumplings, sake and tea. There’s
feeding each other, bits of dinner nibbled from each other’s fingers, as they
lay around. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then, from there, there’s falling asleep watching the
stars come out above and the last of the summer fireflies flitting among the
trees.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-56814196117963978292015-02-28T20:12:00.001-08:002015-02-28T20:12:20.424-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 426: Bad ShootMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
Chapter 426: Bad Shoot<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
For a split second, Tony glances at Ziva, shooting her the, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I really wish these assholes would stop running</span> look, before they break into a run after their suspect.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Where the hell does moron think he’s going to run? He’s in a tenth floor apartment. What’s he going to do, fly?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva tacks right, through the living room. Tony takes left, into the kitchen.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The perp is cornered in the dining room. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Two ways in, and each of them has an armed Federal Agent pointing a gun at him standing in the middle of it. He puts his hands behind his neck without being asked and smiles at Tony and Ziva.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It’s automatic. They’ve done this so many times they barely have to think about it. He keeps his gun on the Perp. She lowers hers, grabbing her cuffs, heading (wide) to cuff the perp. They’ll take him to the car, toss him in the back, then down to the Navy Yard, Processing, Holding, and Interrogation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It’s textbook.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He’s looking at Tony, and something’s wrong. He’s still smiling. He’s <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">looking</span> at Ziva. He’s not acting caught.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Something is wrong. Tony feels it all through him. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Something</span> is wrong.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony fires before anything other than <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">wrong</span> can form in his head.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Oh God!” <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Oh godohgodohgodohgodohgod please, please, please pleasepleasepleaseplease.</span> Tony feels like he’s going to shit his pants, puke, and pass out all at once, and the only thing stopping that is that he’s got to see if the man he just killed has a gun.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He’s never… He’s shot people before, but never… SHIT. Ziva’s just staring at him, stunned, and he can’t move, can’t do anything but stand there, too awash in too much everything to even see if his life is about to end, too.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Bad shoots happen. That’s just part of being a cop. You get twitchy and someone moves wrong and FUCK! He can feel the tears starting. He didn’t wait. He didn’t see. He didn’t say stop, or freeze, or hands where I can see them, or anything. He just fired, three shots, all in the chest.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva finally moves, to the body, not bothering to check if he’s still alive, they can tell by the smell and the puddle of urine to go with the blood that he’s gone. She reaches behind his neck, guessing that’s got to be what Tony saw, and then says to him, “He had a gun. It’s taped up between his shoulder blades.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods once, exhales long and shaky, and then his knees go out, and he hits the floor, shaking.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
When he’s got control of himself, he notices Ziva’s moved something. Their perp (victim) had been standing behind the dining table in his home. Behind that table was a painting of a woodland scene. Ziva’s moved it, swapped it out. Now there’s a mirror over the table, and he guesses the woodland scene is wherever the mirror was.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She’s calling it in, officer involved shooting, no need for an ambulance. AI will be here soon. He’ll give them his statement. Perp had a gun and went for it. Cut and dried…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Tell me what happened,” Ziva says, crouching on the floor next to him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“I don’t know.” Because he doesn’t. Not really. That’s not true, he does know. He knows exactly what happened. Someone made a threatening… something… not exactly a move, but something, toward his wife and child, and he killed the man for it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Wrong answer.” Ziva’s cool, and in control right now. She’s in clean up mode, and he wonders, vaguely, how many times she’s done things like this. Made a bad kill look good.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He rubs his forehead, takes a deep breath, lets it out, swallows, and then says, voice calm, “We chased Darner in here. I pulled my gun and told him to stop. He looked around, saw there wasn’t an exit, then turned to face us, hands up. He put his hands behind his neck. I nodded at you, and you holstered your weapon and proceeded to take your cuffs out. I kept my gun on him. You were going through his rights. I…” He doesn’t know. He’s not sure if he saw it, felt it, sensed it, or just knew, but somehow, something, maybe a twitch, maybe his arm tightened slightly, maybe it was a little move (<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">maybe he was just going to scratch an itch</span>, the little, and not very helpful, voice in the back of Tony’s mind says) but whatever it was, Tony read it as a threat, to Ziva, and he open fired without warning. Tony’s eyes flick to the mirror, and what Ziva’s given him with that. “…saw him reach for his gun. I told him to stop. He didn’t. I fired three times.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva looks at him, eyes steady. “Exactly.”</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
AI takes hours. Jimmy and Allan have come, taken care of the body, and gone while they’re still talking. Warner’s team has come, cordoned off the building, and processed the scene, and he and Ziva are still talking to AI.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Their stories match, but not perfectly. They know how this works. They’re pros. The main details are all the same, but Ziva remembers him saying ‘Freeze’ he remembers it as, ‘Stop.’ Little details that get muddled when you look at real eye-witness statements are different, instead of rehearsed, prepped statements you get from people who don’t know how to do this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva claims she saw Darden shift his left hand toward the gun. Tony claims right. Tony was watching in the mirror. Ziva saw it from in front of him. Just little things like that, easily explained by people being people.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It’s not a fun six hours, but when it’s done, it’s done. Tony’s a good cop, with sixteen years at NCIS and a clean record. The wrong guy tried to see if he could get the drop on the wrong cop.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You gonna yell at me for this, too?” Tony asks Jimmy as he steps into Autopsy. (He’d gotten a text saying, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Come down.</span>) “Gonna wake up and find you’ve pulled some cruel shit to go with another bad decision?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy raises one eyebrow, and Dr. Allan decides now is a very good time to dematerialize. Two seconds later, he’s vanished, and Jimmy says, “Guy draws on your pregnant wife, you can shoot him as many times as you want and then cut his balls off and wear ‘em for earrings, and I won’t say boo.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy takes two steps over and gives Tony a hug. Tony stands there, stiff, not letting himself be comforted. Jimmy sighs, so much for trying that. He steps back.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“I called you down so you can run me through it. If anything doesn’t match your version, it’s not going to make the report.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You don’t need to--”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You’re right, I don’t. But I will. Because you did the right thing, and I see no reason for you or Ziva or your child to suffer for it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That gets through where the hug didn’t.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“I don’t know that I did.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“He’s dead. She’s not. You did the right thing.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“I shot before he reached for it. I think he was thinking about it, but…” Tony shakes his head, leaning heavily against one of the autopsy tables, staring at Darden, who is lying on the other table. “I didn’t see him move.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Shit.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“He was looking at her, and…” Tony’s replaying it, again, trying to find the trigger, what made him move. “It felt bad. Something was wrong, but… I didn’t know about the gun until after he was dead.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Ah fuck.” Jimmy bites his lip and says, “All the more reason to make sure everything’s clean then.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony narrows his eyes. “You ream me out for Jeanne but give me a free pass on this one? This one is dead because I fucked up.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You’re a good cop. No one has ever doubted that. It felt bad or wrong… So you got him before he went for it? You don’t spend half your life training your gut to scream when something’s wrong to ignore it. You don’t have to let him take a shot at Ziva, not for me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony’s eyes are narrow, and he’s not looking relaxed or comforted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“I didn’t ream you out on Jeanne for making a mistake. Jeanne wasn’t a mistake. It was wrong and you knew it and you did it anyway. This, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">at worst</span>, is a mistake. People make mistakes. It happens. Place a credible threat against Breena, and I’ll attack, too. Tim’d do the same for Abby. Anyone who tries to mess with Abbi Borin better be ready to have so many holes in him he’ll work as a sieve. And that’ll be before Gibbs even gets to him…” Tony flinches. “What?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Gibbs’d have to get in line, because Abbi can take care of herself and she’s got all of those years of training and a gut that yells when there’s danger.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Ziva didn’t feel it. She was relaxed enough in it that <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">she</span> was looking down and getting her cuffs.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy winces, too. “Nothing?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“After, she looked at me, and she was surprised. That I remember.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Then you made a mistake. It happens. And this wasn’t some unarmed, innocent bystander, and it’s not like you were gunning for him because he wasn’t paying taxes or had a joint on him. He’s wanted for…” Jimmy waits, letting Tony fill in the blank, hoping that saying it out loud will help.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“A few bombings, believed to have killed three cops in the UK, mostly he’s a courier. Gets things from point A to point B.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“So, this,” Jimmy points to him, “was not a good guy. This is not Mr. Wrong Place Wrong Time, and he’s sure as hell not Mr. Even If He Is Guilty of What You’re Saying He Did, That Doesn’t Deserve the Death Penalty. If you brought him in, and he didn’t deal, we’d have fried him.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.knife-depot.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/dv-01small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.knife-depot.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/dv-01small.jpg" height="193" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“And, here… haven’t sent them over to Abby and trace yet, but…” Jimmy grabs the bag that has Darden’s belt in it. It looks like a plain, black leather belt with a silver tip on the tongue. Jimmy tugs on that tip, and out slides an inch long knife. “Razor sharp. Can’t stab with it, but it slashes just fine.” He places Darden’s boots on the table next to Tony, flips one of them over, and turns the heel. There are lock picks in there. “God knows what else he’s got hiding that I haven’t found, yet. What else he may have had in that room. Take me through the shooting.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony shakes his head. “Don’t need to. It’ll all match up right. Everything in the story happened the way it really did. Only difference was I saw him go for the gun in the story and told him to stop.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Okay. AI done with you?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“For now.”</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Two days later, his gun is back in his holster, and the case is behind him.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Professionally.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Personally… Not even close.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He can’t talk about it. Not yet. Not to Ziva, not to anyone. He can give the route answers as to “what happened,” but they’re lies.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He fucked up. That’s what happened. Doesn’t matter what he had tucked away. Doesn’t matter that Darden wasn’t a good guy and the world is better off without him. He <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">fucked </span>up. There are procedures. There are steps in play to make sure you take the guy, and all of the information in his head (which was why they wanted him) into custody, alive.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He and Ziva were out there. A man, who he didn’t know was armed, made a move (probably, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">something</span> had to set his threat sensor off) and he took him out. All of it happened before the part of his brain that actually <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">thinks</span> got into the act.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
On a sub-thought level, he knows they were chasing Darden because he was part of a trafficking ring. He ended up on their radar as a link to a link that Bishop pulled out of their data feed. He was, of all covers, pretending to be a Petty Officer working for the Quartermaster out of Norfolk. Not a bad way to get things from here to there. He could find a ship, add an extra box of, something, and whoever else he had in his circle could pick it up later. He was wanted for moving humans, drugs, guns, money, anything that anyone might want, into and out of the country. According to Interpol, ‘he was a person of interest’ in two bombings (thought to have been the guy who got the explosives from point a to point b). He had successfully escaped capture three times, and killed cops twice to do it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
When Tony thinks about that, he feels better about jumping the gun. (Literally.) Obviously this guy had some sort of ace in the hole. (A plastic derringer taped to his back. And lock picks in the heel of his boot. And a tiny knife hidden in his belt. But he didn’t know that until after.) Tony likes to think all of that was processing in the back of his mind, and that, plus that move (that he doesn’t know if he actually saw or not) made his body fired before Darden could get the drop on him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
When he thinks about the fact that there are no good reports on how Darden had killed those cops, (bodies were found burned to skeletons and parts were missing) that there was no way for Tony to have known he had a gun, that he shot on blind panic, that he does not, in fact, remember seeing a move, he feels terrible.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Bad shoots happen. They just do. The cop who’s never screwed up is like the surgeon who’s never lost a patient, one who’s been on the job for such a short time the opportunity just hasn’t arisen.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
If you’re lucky, like Tony, you’ve got cover, you guessed right, and the next day you go back, promising to do a better job.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
If you’re not, that’s the end of the perp, and it’s the end of you, too.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But the fact that it happens. That everyone has one… That’s not making it easier to deal with the little voices in his head. </div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It’s been a week. It’s well after midnight, and he’s not sleeping.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He rolls out of bed and grabs his phone. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You up?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Five minutes later, when he’s decided that Gibbs probably is sleeping, or might be at Borin’s or something, he gets back. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Door’s open.</span></div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs is in his basement, working on Little D’s rocking chair. He’s actually been up all night working on it. After dinner he hit his groove and has been happily crafting away. The only reason it took him so long to respond was he didn’t hear his phone buzz. He’d been sketching out the shapes he wants each piece to be on the wood he’s using and decided his pencil was a bit duller than he likes for this kind of work. When he turned to the bench to sharpen it, he saw the text icon on his phone, and replied.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He knows that Tony killed someone last week. They talked about it a bit at Shabbos, but he blew it off, and Ziva gave them that little headshake that said, ‘Sensitive, don’t poke.’ So they didn’t poke.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But Gibbs knows that look. He’s worn it himself. He’s seen it on Tim. He’s seen it on Fornell. And he’s seen it on Mike. No matter what actually happened, Tony thinks it’s a bad shoot.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And he knew, when he saw Ziva’s headshake, that Tony’d be here, sooner or later, when he’s ready to talk.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
By the time Tony gets there, Gibbs has two more slats sketched out, and the bourbon poured.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“She had to move the mirror,” Tony says in lieu of Hello.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs would have to admit that that’s a tad more cryptic than he’d like, but he can pretty much figure out what Tony has to be saying by it. Only one she he could be talking about, and only a few reasons to move a mirror.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs hands over the drink, and pretty much puts Tony onto a stool. “Start at the beginning.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So he does.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony gets to the part about seeing or not seeing or whatever it was, and Gibbs interjects, “The gut knows.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Try telling IA that.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs inclines his head. “I know.” Then he looks at Tony, waiting for the rest of the story. And, finally, the mirror comment makes sense.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“She gave you cover, something you could explain to IA.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah. She knew it was a bad shoot—“</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Stop that. Your wife and child are breathing. Any shoot that accomplishes that is a good shoot.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Jimmy said that, too, but I didn’t know Gibbs, I panicked.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You knew. You knew he was dangerous. You knew he was in his own home. Why run into the room with no exit in his own home? Not like he got lost. You knew he’d killed other cops. You didn’t know how, but you knew he’d done it. He puts his hands behind his neck, not his head, why? Without being told, why? You knew.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Felt like panic. I’ve made good shots, besides the first one, I never almost pissed myself or hit the floor. Never didn’t sleep for a week after a good shot.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“But all of those things did happen the last time you almost lost Ziva.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah. That’s why I panicked. That’s why I didn’t say stop. I shot before anything…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“And it was a good thing you did. He had lock picks in his boot, a hidden knife in his belt. You yell stop. He stops. Ziva grabs the gun, cuffs him, hands behind his back. Into the car you go. Call it in. On the road, he picks the lock, pulls the knife, holds it to Ziva’s throat until you stop the car and let him out. Maybe he takes your gun, too. Maybe he slits her throat before he runs, knowing that calling for help and trying to keep her from bleeding out means you won’t follow. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The gut knows</span>. You knew. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“As a husband and father, as the man guarding my daughter and grandchild, you did the right thing. As your father-in-law, friend, mentor, whatever it is we are to each other, I am proud of you. Your family comes first, above and beyond everything else.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“As your ex-boss, as a cop, you fucked up, and not because of the shot, but because you had the person you’d take a blind shot for on your team. That’s why you were ready to piss yourself, not because it was a bad shoot, but because Ziva was the one next to you. You wouldn’t have taken that shot if Bishop had been there, and knowing how close to FUBAR you could have gotten wouldn’t have hurt so bad if Draga had been in that car with you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“There are a lot of good reasons for 12, and that’s one of them. I have been <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">exactly</span> where you are, and the only reason I was even around to ever be your Boss is when Jen and I finally got the shit cleaned up, enough people had stopped breathing that no one besides us knew what had happened.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Jen and I split after that. Lots of reasons, but one of them was I’d made it clear I couldn’t work with her. Same for you. You’re done. You can’t work with Ziva. Since you’re the problem and she isn’t, normally I’d say you need to hand in your badge, but you know she’s planning on leaving soon, and there’s no one else you’d make that mistake for.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods, feeling absolved.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“But don’t put that gun back on if you go out with her. Better yet, don’t go out with her. I know it’s early days, but it might be time for her to leave, or go on desk work, or whatever it is she wants to do.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony shrugs. “She’d been talking a bit about working with you on the houses.”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs smiles at that. He'd like having Ziva working with them.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-25340718041450544582015-02-28T20:02:00.000-08:002015-02-28T20:13:27.440-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 425: Talk It OutMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Chapter 425: Talk It Out<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It’s Wednesday when Jimmy gets a free lunch period and heads down to the Dungeon to find Tim. He’d been hoping to get some time to talk with him, but between the dead body they collected on Monday morning and giving himself some thinking and experimenting time, Wednesday’s the first day he’s been ready to really talk.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Got time for lunch?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. “Yeah. What are you thinking?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Pretty nice out today, how about the Smithsonian? Grab some food, eat in the sculpture garden.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Sounds good.” He takes a moment, logs out of whatever he’s working on, sends a quick <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Out for an hour or two </span>text to the Minions (he’s been wanting to talk to Jimmy, too.) grabs his crutch, and off they go.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
As they head toward the elevator, Jimmy watches how Tim’s walking. “Looking pretty smooth.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. “If we were staying closer, I’d have left it in the office.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Good.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“I guess. Friday I might get my last two fingers back.” Tim holds up his cast hand. “Or he might take a look at the scans and give me two more weeks in the cast.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Either way, by the end of the month you’ll be down to the wrist cast. By the beginning of September, you’ll be out of them, period.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It really is nice out. A day that belongs in May, cool, breezy, bright sun, not the traditional hot, sticky, smog, walk outside and feel like you’ve been hit in the face with a steaming hot, wet, wool blanket that’s a usual August day in DC.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Perfect day to grab a bite amid the artwork.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.gardens.si.edu/images/hirshhorn-600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.gardens.si.edu/images/hirshhorn-600.jpg" height="197" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Better yet, in that it’s August, the place isn’t covered with tourists. Most people know to show up in the Spring or Fall, so the Smithsonian Sculpture garden isn’t abandoned, there are several people hovering around snapping photos, and a few locals, like Tim and Jimmy, taking advantage of a lovely day, but for the most part, it’s pretty empty. Which suits Jimmy just fine. He doesn’t mind if strangers overhear this. Two nameless, faceless guys talking about something personal, no big deal, but they’re well away from the office for a reason.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy’s been looking for a way to start this conversation since last night, when Breena assisted him in a very successful experiment, which did indeed help him figure out why he slid into that fantasy so fast and hard, and also why he’s somewhat uncomfortable with Tim running the show.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, yes, turns out that he does, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really</span> like having someone else run the show for him. (At least, as a fantasy, they haven’t tried for real, yet. Given how much he liked it as a story, Breena’s intrigued about trying in real life.) A story of Breena and Abby tying him up and playing with him, telling him what to do worked <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">just fine</span> for him. A very good time was had by all, and there were no lingering concerns about why that was a big deal.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But he’s damned if he can think of a good way to say to Tim, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So, yeah, I loved the stories, those were hot as fuck, but don’t Dom me, that’s squirmy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Instead, he ends up saying, “So, you do anal bareback? Isn’t that… risky?” because it’s easier to talk about the mechanics of sex than the emotions, and he’s sure they’ll get to the emotions sooner or later. (Plus he is curious about this, too.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs. He knows it can be, but so far he’s been careful and lucky. “I’ve never gotten a urinary tract infection, if that’s what you mean.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Some. Kind of messy?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim’s looking at him with dry humor in his eyes. “I’m sorry, didn’t you spend your whole morning elbow deep in a corpse?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy raises an eyebrow at him and replies, also dryly, “Yes, but I was wearing <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">gloves.</span>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, chuckles a bit. That’s a point. “Yeah, it’s messy if you don’t prep for it. I mean, look…” Tim’s searching for a way to say this that isn’t too gross. “It’s obviously not something you want to do without hitting the head first, and especially if there’s going to be rimming, you don’t just take a shit. You do need to really clean up, inside and out. But anal’s not an on impulse thing, usually. Between the lube and the prep and… most of the time whoever bottoms puts it on the menu and makes sure to clean up properly. And in that case, it’s not any messier than any other sex.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods, remembering that comment about Abby’s strap on, which he assumes is a dildo of some sort. He’s not sure if he should ask, though. Apparently it shows on his face.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Just ask,” Tim says, taking a sip of his iced coffee.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Whoever</span> bottoms? And is bottoming what I think it is?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim looks a little amused a little bemused. “I’d imagine so.” He takes a bite of his tuna wrap. “And yes, both of us can and do end up on the receiving side of anal. I take it you’ve never tried that?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy’s not sure if he’s feeling shocked at that or not. No… he was kind of expecting that answer, so… mostly curious. He’s not seeing why anyone would want to do that. He gets why being on the doing side would feel good, but when he tried with Breena, she said it hurt, so… He’s not getting the appeal. “Uh. No. Don’t have anything against it, but… Just never thought about it.” Not entirely true. Like most guys he’s been teased about it, and responded with the traditional and expected ‘over my dead body’ line. But that’s a knee-jerk reaction coming from being teased and poked at by other guys. Beyond that, it’s really not anything he’s ever <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">thought</span> about. “Is it good?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles, many happy memories in mind. “You ever hear the line, ‘Beer is proof that God loves us?’”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah.” He’s staring at Tim wondering how those two things could possibly be related, but Tim’ll get there soon.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Okay, I can take or leave beer… and God for that matter, but, I’m sure, that if there is a God, your prostate is proof that God loves you and wants you to have a <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">very</span> good time. Yes, it’s <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">good.” </span>He nods at that. “Not if you do it wrong. Hurts like a <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">bitch</span> if you do it wrong, but just like when you’re doing it to her…” Tim realizes he’s making some assumptions here. “Um… have you done it with Breena?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy shrugs a bit. “Once. Didn’t seem worth it…” Felt good to him, really good, but Breena said it hurt, so they didn’t get past two strokes. “…And especially since Molly, that’s a no-go area.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Oh.” Tim was thinking that maybe Jimmy just didn’t know what he was doing, but some vivid, overheard conversations about how bad post-baby hemorrhoids can be spring to mind, and that’d put him off anal, too. “Okay, well, anyway, you take your time, lots of lube, lots of slow prep, but <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">yeah</span> you do it right and it’s blow your mind, cum like a geyser, maybe pass out, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">good</span>.” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That has Jimmy looking intrigued. He’s all in favor of ‘cum like a geyser.’ “So, that comment about Abby with a strap on…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yes, she really has one. I wasn’t just making that up for the story. It’s fairly plain, dark purple, kind of small, and she really knows how to use it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Huh.” Jimmy slowly chews a bite of his salad.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Why are you asking? Want pointers? I’m sure Abby’d be happy to talk Breena through it, especially if we get to watch.” And suddenly watching Breena bugger Jimmy hops onto the long list of things Tim wants to see. Even better if Abby’s playing with him, too. Tim swallows and licks his lips. “I mean, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really</span>, it’s <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">well</span> worth trying.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy shakes his head. “Wasn’t exactly what I was thinking.” He’s not entirely sure what he’s thinking. But… Tim likes that, and he just scooped Jimmy up and started playing with him, he woke up with the guy wrapped around him, and Jimmy knows Tim was watching him, getting off on it… And, Tim’s got that excited look in his eyes at that idea… So…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim eats some of his tuna wrap, waiting for Jimmy to say what he’s thinking.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Are you straight?” Jimmy asks.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Uh…” Tim kind of remember mentioning that, but… that was before they started playing, and… okay, he’s been thinking about it, so Jimmy probably is too. Plus, there’s a few directions Jimmy might be interested in taking this, and Tim’s not sure where he’s going, so might as well get it out. “Yeah…Probably. I think so. Abby says I am. Why? I mean, does it matter?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Just, you like <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that</span>, and you were watching me…” Jimmy says, quietly, fiddling with his fork.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Because it feels good! And... you were watching me, too,” Tim shoots back.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Well, yeah,” Jimmy looks back up to Tim, “because it was <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">hot</span>.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Exactly</span>,” Tim pauses for a moment, another possible direction this might be going, and why Jimmy might be asking springing to mind, really surprising him, because he never got even a hint that Jimmy might be interested in something along those lines, but… well the can of worms is open, so might as well deal with it. Still… and Tim’s thinking this is a pretty definitive sign of not being bi, the idea of Jimmy topping him is really squirmy, and not in a good way. “Uh… I don’t want you to do that to me. Abby or Breena and a strap-on is fine, but… not you.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy jerks at that, looking utterly stunned, and Tim can see, even before Jimmy starts to talk that he completely misread that situation. “What? Okay, I was <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">so</span> not offering! And…” Jimmy cringes, and Tim’s sure he’s thinking through the mechanics of how that would work. “I don’t think I could, even if you wanted me to.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“But I don’t.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Okay. Umm… Good, right?” Jimmy’s intensely staring at his food right now. “Just, it really was hot, you know?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy looks back at him. “Been thinking about that.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Me, too. Thought it’d be all about watching Breena and Abby, but… It wasn’t. But, even with as hot as that is, I don’t want to have sex with you.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods at that. “Me, either. But I want to watch you fuck the girls.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods emphatically at that. “Yeah. Same thing. Or watch them do you. Don’t want to do you myself.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods again. “Okay, good, on the same page.” He takes another bite of his salad, and says, quickly, “I loved the stories, but don’t Dom me again.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Now it’s Tim’s turn to look really surprised. “When did that happen?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“What do you call it when you tie someone up and tell them to just sit there and watch while you run the show?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
For a second, Tim’s about to say, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">It was just a story, I didn’t actually</span> do<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> it, </span>but decides that the heart of this is not whether or not he actually <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">did </span>it. The heart of it is that even the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">idea</span> of it was weird for Jimmy, so instead he says, “Oh. Yeah. Shit, sorry. Um… I like that, so…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“It’s not that I don’t like it… It’s, I don’t want <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">you</span> to do it. Just like anal, the girls can do it and it’s fine, but, not you.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Oh. Okay.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Would you like it if I ran that story?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim thinks about that for a moment, it’s not making him feel weird, but he’s also going at it as a thought, not a reality. Of course, being topped by Jimmy was a thought, too, not a reality, so… “It’s not hitting me wrong, but it’s not real, either.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Why tie me up?” That’s been chewing at the back of Jimmy’s mind, too.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs again. “Like I said, I like it. I thought you’d like it, and I was working off a story Abby and I had already started so…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“What story?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“When we were at the club, Abby set the story, all four of us, in bed, me on my back, wrists tied to the headboard, Breena on me, hands tied behind my neck, you doing her, anal, from behind, Abby lying next to us, necking with me and Breena, controlling the vibrator in my ass. We don’t get to move. You and Abby run the show.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Fuck!” Jimmy’s not sure he could even say that out loud, let alone to Tim. “<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That’s</span> the story you were telling? And once again, you kiss your baby with that mouth?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs a little. “How do you think I ended up with that baby I’m kissing?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy snerks at that.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Anyway, that’s the story she told. She and you were running the show. You’re setting the pace for half of the action, and Abby’s got the control on the vibrator, so she’s got the other half, and Breena and I are just going along for the ride, completely in your and Abby’s control. So, I’m telling the story now, and all of us are there, and I want to keep some of the themes, but I want to play with them too, so, you get tied up and watch, Abby goes from watching to involved, but since she was running it before, she’s not getting off, and Breena and I are untied and get to play.” Tim thinks about it more, searching, making sure that’s what he had going through his head. “And I knew the girls would like seeing you tied up. Abby especially. She really likes that.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“So, you liked it though… If Abby had run the story…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“It would have been fine.” Jimmy notices one of the tourists is getting closer than he wants for this conversation, so he drops his voice, and Tim leans in a bit to hear better. “You asking if I want to watch you fuck my wife is one thing; Abby doing it is something else.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods at that. “Yeah, been having some thoughts like that, too. Are you straight?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Always thought so.” Jimmy rolls his eyes some. “Part of why this weekend’s got me thinking. You know, you watch porn, and there’s a guy in it, but…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“But he might as well be furniture, and you’re mostly watching the girl?” Tim finishes for him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah. You can take him out of the show and it’ll be just as hot. But it wouldn’t have been as hot without you.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Thanks.” Tim says with a smirk.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy whacks him on his good arm with the back of his hand. “I’m being serious here.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“I know. Okay, honestly, I spent most of my babysitting time thinking about this, and my great revelations on the subject came to this: A: It doesn’t matter if I’m straight or not. My number of sexual partners from here on out is maxed at… two… three… Shit. Do you count as one of my sexual partners?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy rolls his eyes and shrugs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Anyway, I mean, none of you care, right?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“So it’s a moot point. B: Watching real people enjoy real sex is hot. C: If you subtract Breena and Abby from the mix, your naked body is just about as sexy as over-cooked cauliflower to me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Are you saying I’m white, lumpy, and mushy?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim just looks at Jimmy. Then he smiles and continues on with, “D: I think it’s mostly an empathy thing, been there, done that, it was fucking excellent, and I’m getting off on getting to see you enjoy it, too.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy thinks about that some. Those seem like fine points, but he’s got the feeling that he’s interacting with Tim’s brain right now, who Tim wants to be, not his guts, who he is, and that there might be some deeper levels here that he’s working out for himself. He thinks about holding Tim and waking up with him, and how all of this… stuff… fits together. Then he puts his salad on the bench next to them, fork in the bowl, and takes Tim’s hand in his, twining their fingers together.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
For a millisecond, Jimmy thought Tim’s going to jerk away, but he doesn’t, and once again Jimmy’s got the sense that the brain wants one thing and the body wants something else, but the brain is winning.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Meanwhile, brain in charge, Tim’s looking at him, curious about what’s happening with their hands. “Experimenting?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah. Remember the first time you held Abby’s hand?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim thinks, but that’s lost to memory. He shakes his head. “I remember the first time I touched her.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“All sort of sharp and tingly and your whole body lit up?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah. We had a lunch date, and I headed down to the lab, and she looked up and said, ‘Hi! You must be Agent McGee,’ then she came over and hugged me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“What’d you say to her?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“’Hi. Call me Tim.’”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy snorts at that. “And only fourteen years later…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Eleven years. </span>Okay, yeah, it took a while. It happened.” He looks down at his hand in Jimmy’s. “This doesn’t feel like that, does it?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy shakes his head, letting go. “Feels a little bit like holding Breena’s hand now. There’s no rush at it these days. It’s warm and comfortable. Feels good, reassuring, but not sexy.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods; that’s a decent description. He’s not entirely sure about comfortable, but he’s not feeling any sort of negative sensation from it right now. Of course, they’re dressed and in public, and it's definitely not erotic. This couldn’t be less sex if they tried… Okay, it could, they could be talking about work, but, that was very clearly a platonic hand hold. And… and he’s rationalizing… more than whatever it is, he wants it to be comfortable, and if he’s got to tie his brain in knots to get there, that’s what he’ll do.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But that touch hints something else, making him think about comfort, and about his time thinking on the beach, and the first time he touched Abby, well, the second first time, because that time he knew he was in love with her. “Are you in love with me?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“No!” Snaps out of Jimmy. He’s giving Tim the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">what the hell is wrong with you even thinking of asking that </span>look. It occurs to Jimmy as he says that, that it’d be easier to wake up naked with Tim in his arms every morning than say, ‘I’m in love with Tim McGee,’ out loud. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Great something else to ponder.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim hits him with his <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ve got a point here</span> look, and deliberately takes Jimmy’s hand in his again. “Do you love me?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy glances at Tim’s hand in his, wondering what he’s doing with this, but then looks back to his eyes and says, “Yeah.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“What’s the difference? Been thinking about that a lot this weekend, too.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Oh. I…” Jimmy thinks about it, there’s got to be a difference, right? The romance thing, right? But… he’s felt the full-on hearts and flowers romance thing without being in love, and he’s been with Breena more than long enough to see that romance comes and goes, but the love doesn’t. “I don’t know.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You’re in love with Breena and Abby, right?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah.” That one’s easy to answer, doesn’t make him feel off balance.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Only thing I can come up with is that I want to have sex with them, and I don’t want to have sex with you.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy squints a little at that, like he’s thinking hard. “There’s supposed to be more to it than that... Right?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah, but I can’t find it.” Tim taps his fingers on the back of Jimmy’s hand. “I love you. I love Gibbs. I do not feel the same about you as I do about Gibbs.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Okay.” Jimmy flashes him a smirk. “Probably be kind of awkward if you did.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim elbows him gently. “I love Tony and Ducky, too, and all of those relationships are different.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Got you.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“But I don’t feel like there’s a huge difference, besides the sex, between how I feel about you, and about Breena. I mean, there are some differences… Like… I think I’d be more protective of her than you, but that’s because she’s a girl and I know you can fight, not because I feel differently about her than I do about you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“And I want to do nice things for both of you, but I don’t check in with either of you a few times a day, like I do with Abby. But I actively miss you if I go a few days without seeing you. And I run into things over the course of the day that I want to tell you about, and I make note of them so I can tell you about them the next time I see you. And I don’t tend to feel that way about Tony or Ziva. I’m always happy to see them, but if we don’t cross paths at work, Friday’ll be soon enough. But I’ll text Breena a few times a week just to see how she is and what’s up, ‘cause I know I won’t see her until Friday. I don’t know what, if anything, that means, but I’ve been thinking about it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy shrugs. Tim knows Jimmy’s got more thinking to do, and for that matter so, does he.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Best guess,” Jimmy says, “just like if either of us qualifies as straight anymore, I don’t think it matters. It’s love; it’s making us happy; that’s enough.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods then he looks at his hand in Jimmy’s. “Is it making you happy?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah. Confusing as fuck. I’ve never spent this much time thinking about love stuff, but yeah, it’s making me happy.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Me, too.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/686710/chapters/6862136">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-29315584875272737832015-02-28T19:55:00.001-08:002015-02-28T20:03:00.398-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 424: Deep Thoughts (Reprise)McGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Chapter 425: Deep Thoughts (Reprise)<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim is a snuggler. He wasn’t always. Back before they were dating he was very careful about touching people, and making sure not to invade anyone’s personal space. But now… that’s part of how Abby can tell that Tim’s feeling happy and comfortable; he’ll touch people.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And sleeping Tim… Sleeping Tim has always (well, as long as she’s been sleeping with him, granted, in the coffin it’s not like there was much in the way of non-snuggling options) been a snuggler. Abby has mentioned to both Breena and Ziva how, no matter how big the bed, or hot it is, Tim will immediately snuggle himself against her. If she’s in a ‘don’t touch me’ mood, he’ll keep his hand near her. If she leaves the bed, he rolls into the warm spot she’s left, and as soon as she gets back, he’s glued to her again. It’s cute, and, especially in the summer, kind of hot and sweaty, but she’s well-used to the fact that she’s got a large, affection-seeking teddy bear in her bed at night.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She’s also noticed, that since the attack, he’s even more snuggly. If she’s in the bed, he wants to be wrapped around her. And, especially right after the attack, he’s wanted physical contact, with her, or Kelly, or Gibbs or Jimmy or Breena or anyone who happens to be nearby.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby’s not even sure if he’s aware of the fact that if he’s sitting next to someone, he’ll have his hand or foot brushing theirs. She does know he’s aware of the fact that whenever she’s near, he touches her. And all of this makes perfect sense to her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
However, in that right now pregnant bladder makes her want to leap out of bed the second she’s awake, and in that Tim will scoot into where she was, in search of someone warm to wrap around, she and Breena have been running a private pool as to exactly how long it would be before Jimmy wakes up with Tim hugging him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They’ve both been amused to see Tim’s keeping just enough of his awake mind in place that when Abby gets up, he’s not snuggling into Jimmy. He stays put when Abby gets out of bed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Until this morning.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Like every other morning, Abby’s woken up feeling like her bladder is the size of a thimble and trying to hold a Mega-Gulp Caf-Pow. But, unlike the last three mornings, this time, as she heads back, she sees that Tim has indeed snuggled up to Jimmy, who is also, apparently, deep enough asleep to not have noticed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She feels a huge smile spread across her face, and detours to the dresser for her phone. Ten or so photos later, she’s done. Jimmy’s on his back, face pointed toward Breena, lips against her forehead. She’s on her side, neck over his arm, leg over his, arm across his chest. Tim’s on the other side, fetal position, as close as he can get with his face against Jimmy’s shoulder, and his lower shins against Jimmy’s hip and outer thigh.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby hops into bed, snuggling up against Tim’s back, resting her arm against his hip, waiting to see what happens as the guys start to wake up.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy’s very used to waking up to the sensation of someone breathing on his shoulder. That’s an every morning sort of thing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, he’s pretty sure that’s not what’s jerking him from asleep to ‘something’s really wrong’ full-on awake.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It takes him a second to place himself, and okay, yeah, Breena’s exactly where she normally is. Okay, good, so… what…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He turns his head and notices that warm, damp, scratchy sensation on his right shoulder is Tim, sound asleep, curled up between him and Abby, who is propped on her elbow, watching this with a huge smile on her face.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Morning. </span>She mouths silently at him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy closes his eyes and tries to rub his face, but as he lifts his right arm, Tim snuggles in closer, one of his legs slipping over Jimmy’s. He’s not yet awake enough to notice the person he wants to be rubbing that hard-on against is behind him and not in front of him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, Jimmy just lays there, not sure what to do with this, kind of wishing Abby wasn’t grinning so much about it. It’s not bad or anything, kind of annoying. Stubbly chin pressed into his shoulder is making him think that he’s got to be a bit more careful about what he does with Breena first thing, because if his face is really that scratchy, that’s kind of appalling.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He’s looking at Abby with a sort of <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Would you please get between us </span>expression.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And she looks back with <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No room.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
After four mornings of waking up together, Jimmy’s pretty sure what Tim likes to do when he wakes up, and he’s just not really interested in having another guy’s morning wood rubbed against him. He can already feel it hot on his hip and that’s a bit more closely acquainted with Tim’s dick then he ever hoped to get.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, he gets his right arm up and gently pokes Tim. “Hey, wake up.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Sleeping, nice, warm happy sleeping. “Hey, wake up.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim doesn’t want to wake up. He wants to be sleeping, but there’s an arm moving around and… Okay, body heat on both sides of him, and that’s nice, he likes that a lot, so he shifts further forward, leg slipping over the hip in front of him, feeling… W<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ait… Hair, lots of hair… Okay… This is not… Shit, is that a testicle on my leg?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim makes a very confused sort of sound.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yeah, it is.</span> He goes perfectly still and stiff, not even breathing, as he tries to figure out what the hell is going on. Warm on both sides, the body in front of him is VERY much not Abby. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jimmy. Oh God. </span>Tim knows how he usually wakes up rubbing against Abby, and he feels a flash of mortification, hoping he wasn’t just sexually assaulting Jimmy. Then it hits him he’s still cuddled up against him. A second after that, eyes still closed, he scoots backward, leg slipping off Jimmy’s, while mumbling, “Uh, sorry.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“No problem. Just, know how you like to wake up. Would have been awkward.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Uh… yeah.” <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Because this isn’t awkward, at all.</span> Tim can feel Abby behind him, and starts to roll in that direction, until his arm reminds him that he still can’t lay on his right side. He’s on his back, and she’s on her side next to him. He lightly nips her on the shoulder quietly saying as he nods to between him and Jimmy, “Would you get over there?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So she does, quietly giggling, spending a moment straddling him, taking advantage of his supine position and morning erection (which he enjoys), before settling herself between him and Jimmy, on her side, completely naked, only two inches from Jimmy as Tim cuddles up against her back.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Better?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Mmmm…” He’s still sounding very sleepy, (feeling sleepy, too, wondering how much earlier than usual they woke up) rocking gently against her, face pressed against the nape of her neck. “His hip is pretty boney. Yours isn’t.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She can see Jimmy roll his eyes at that, as she grins.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Hairy, too.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Speak for yourself, sandpaper chin.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He very lightly rubs his chin against Abby’s neck. “It’s not <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that</span> bad, is it?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Not like that, it’s not. But you were full-on pressed into his shoulder. That can be prickly.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“And drooly.” Jimmy adds.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Oh.” He gently strokes against her neck again, and she shivers a bit. “But this is good, right?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah, that’s good.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He does it again, slow and light, followed by a slow, light kiss to the back of her neck as he rocks gently against her bum. “That good, too?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She shifts him a bit, so he can slide between her legs. “Mmmm…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“He’s close enough you can feel how warm he is, right?” Tim asks. Blankets are all about hip high, and Abby’s <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">maybe</span> two inches away from Jimmy, so her bare torso is very close to his.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Like to wake up like this? Between us?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That gets a little, content purr.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Barely awake, not sure who’s doing what.” His voice is low, basically just whispering the words. Jimmy can hear them, but Tim’s hoping that if Breena’s still asleep, they won’t wake her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Dreaming of us, not sure if it’s real or not.” Her leg hooks over his hip, and she takes him in hand, giving him some help with the angle as he slips into her, biting gently on her neck, inhaling sharply at the feel of her on him. “Waking up all wet and slick, aching for it.” He thrusts gently, looking up over her shoulder for a second. He can see half of Abby’s face, so he knows her eyes are open, and she’s smiling. He can see all of Jimmy’s, knows how the two of them are watching each other. Faces inches apart, not kissing, but holding smoldering hot eye contact. Jimmy’s very lightly stroking himself, just the tips of his fingers dragging over his dick. Abby’s rubbing herself, too. They’re close enough her knuckles are probably brushing Jimmy’s hip as she does it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby’s pace is quick and steady, like all morning sex, this is fast. “Should I hold your hands, Abby? Both wrists above your head? I’ll thrust, and Jimmy can rub you off.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy’s eyes jerk up to Tim’s, not sure if this story is real or not, and he gives a little shake to his head, not because he doesn’t want him to touch Abby, but because Breena’s still asleep, and this isn’t a line they’re crossing without all four of them in on it, awake, and sober.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby’s moving faster, getting close, and Tim pulls his eyes away from Jimmy, focusing on the wet, tight slip of her body against his, the rising crest of the pleasure of this. He lets himself go, steeping in the way she feels on him, and when she starts to pulse, he thrusts a little faster, joining her in a few strokes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Long drive home with a sleeping baby means lots of time to talk, and given how this weekend went, Tim’s thinking talking is a good plan.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“So… how does being bi work?” he asks as they get onto 95, starting the trek north.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby laughs a little at that. “Weekend got you thinking?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Looking at Jimmy different?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He opens and closes his mouth. “Sort of… maybe… Shit. I don’t know… I don’t want to fuck him, but…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“But you <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">liked</span> watching. Liked watching in a way you usually don’t?” After all, she’s seen how Tim watches porn, seen how he reacts to that, and to Jimmy and Breena, both at the club and this weekend. “And waking up snuggled with him wasn’t bad, was it?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim rolls his eyes a bit at the snuggling suggestion. No, it wasn’t <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">bad</span> but… It wasn’t comfortable, either. But, it’s also something he hasn’t thought nearly as much about as the sex stuff, so it’s going on the back burner until he’s got some processing time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The sex, on the other hand, that he’s thought about. “Thought it’d be…” he feels a little silly about this, but it’s true, “live action porn, you know? Extra sexy because it’s real, but I’d be staring at Breena, enjoying her, and Jimmy’d just sort of be there.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“But that wasn’t it, was it?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“No, and... So… How’s it work?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby laughs a little at that. “I’ve never been anything but bi, so… I don’t know. How’s being straight work?” She’s mostly asking because she wants to understand how this works for him, because she’s going to have a much easier time building off that than going into this based on how she <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">assumes</span> he reacts to the women around him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs, and thinks for a mile, watching the traffic, then says, “Okay, I’m aware of the fact that the world is filled with guys and girls. And the girls, even ones who aren’t very pretty, are all much more interesting to me than the guys. And the ones who are very pretty are more interesting to me than just about anything else. And the guys… I’ve got friends. There are guys I enjoy, guys I love, but… they’re personalities, and I don’t care about, or even look at, much, their bodies. My guy friends could be brains in jars with a voice for all I care about their physical bodies. I know what an ‘attractive’ guy looks like, but, beyond trying to see how I measure up to them, which I don’t really do anymore, it doesn’t matter to me. For girls… it took an embarrassingly long time to get to the point where I routinely started seeing the person in the body rather than the body. I mean… you know I’ve done a pretty good job of not… acting like it. I can be friendly and professional and… I can… not shut it down, but keep it in the background, but it’s always there. I always see the body first, and it used to be a lot more intense than it is now. ”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles at that. “What’s an embarrassingly long time?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“I got honey trapped by a pair of big blue eyes and really nice boobs when I was in my thirties. An <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">embarrassingly</span> long time.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“After we hooked-up?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah. Apparently, it’s easier to see women as people and not sex on legs if I’m getting laid regularly.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby giggles at that. “I love the fact you’re honest about stuff like this.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“With you.” He glances away from traffic to her. “Penny could tie me up by my toenails, and I’m never admitting that.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“That’s because you aren’t stupid.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He inclines his head, accepting the compliment. “Sooo…” <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tell me how it works for you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Sooo… Okay, my sense is I’m not typical on this, but I rarely just look at someone and think, ‘Wow, gotta get some of that!’ It happens, but it’s not common.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Does it happen with both sexes?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods at that. “Guys more often than girls, but yeah, with both. What happens much more commonly is that I see someone who makes me interested for some other reason… I liked your voice. You sounded adorably nervous and a little flustered, and that got me intrigued because that’s not a usual personality for a cop. So, how’d you end up with a badge? We had lunch, we hit it off, and… well, usually, if I like someone, and I’m interested in them, then I want to know all about them, and sex is part of that. So… I haven’t slept with everyone I’ve been friends with, haven’t wanted to, but most of the people I meet and like, then I want to see what sex with them is like.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A horrifying thought hops into Tim’s mind. “Are you saying you would have done Tony?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Eww… no! I knew he’d be good for a good time, but he’d never respect me after, so he went on the NOPE column. Actually, that was a big reason for not making a move on Gibbs beyond flirting. I could see that the next morning he’d get weird on me. And God was I right. You remember him and Jen? He had no idea how to deal with her. But the first time I saw Kate, I knew she was special. Would have jumped her in a heartbeat. And… if Ducky had been fifteen years younger--”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Wait, you met him back in… 1999? Right?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“So, he was, what sixty-five then?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Sounds about right. I was twenty-five, and twenty-five years older than me is my upper limit, so… yeah.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That astounds him. He knows Abby’s got really specific dating rules, but he didn’t know they were <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that </span>specific. “You actually know, in that much detail, where your upper limit is?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You don’t?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shakes his head. “No. I’ve never given it any thought.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby shrugs. “You probably didn’t get hit on a lot by older women.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. “Yeah… Let’s see… You. Diane. And, yep, there’s the end of the list.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“I’ve been getting hit on by older guys since I was sixteen. Good plan to draw the line early and stick to it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Ah.” He thinks about that for a moment. “So, you’re basically saying, that if you like someone enough to be their friend, you also like them enough, most of the time, to sleep with them?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah, that’s how it works for me. Unless there’s some sort of warning sign or red flag saying, ‘Nope, this’ll turn out bad,’ I’m interested.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim thinks about that for a moment. “Yeah, that’s really not what’s going on.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles and nods. “Like I said, I’m probably not typical. And no one expects you, or Jimmy, to suddenly decide that after thirty plus years of only wanting to sleep with girls, that now you’re all hot for each other.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods at that.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Look, whatever level of messing around and playing you want to do, I’m going to be supportive of. This is fun, and love, and… playing… really, that’s it. This is playing with our best friends, exploring things that make us happy. And if it’s ever not that, then we won’t do it. So, we stay where we’re comfortable, and… if you want to play with Jimmy… I mean, I don’t know where his comfortable zone is. Like you, he’s probably doing a lot of thinking, but you were having pretty bad nightmares the one night, and once we got you calmed down, he snuggled you while I was in the bathroom.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“What?” Tim had not known that. He’d certainly noticed waking up snuggled into Jimmy, and feeling weird about that, but…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“No biggie. He looked a little weirded out by it, because you were both naked, but he did it, because love and comfort and supporting each other is part of this.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“How weirded out?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby shrugs. “I don’t know. Like it was making him think. We didn’t talk about it. He was more weirded out by you snuggling in while he was asleep.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Well, yeah, another two seconds and I would have started frotting on him, and that would have been weird.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“So, there’s your line. No sex. If it changes, it changes. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.” They drive for another few miles. Abby’s humming along with the music; she can see Tim’s thinking, then something else occurs to her. Tim really likes labels. He likes order and knowing what goes where and when and how. And whatever is going on, this is probably challenging his deeply internalized labels.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Most of the queer people I know pick their terms by what they <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">usually</span> like. First and foremost it’s about attraction, not action, and secondly there are no hard and fast rules on this. One of my lesbian friends is married to a man. She likes girls. That’s her main thing. But this one guy showed up and he was really special, and they just clicked, in a way no one else ever clicked for her. But she’s not straight because she’s married to a man. She’s not bi because she’s not attracted to <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">men</span>. She loves this one specific guy, and the fact that that’s true doesn’t make her suddenly not a lesbian, and the reason it doesn’t make her not a lesbian is because women are what turns her on. I didn’t stop being bi because we got together. The fact that I’m primarily having sex with men didn’t suddenly turn me straight, and if I’d hooked up with Kate, that wouldn’t have made me a lesbian. Breena likes men. She’s straight. She’s still straight when she’s making out with me because it’s about attraction, not about who you’re playing with. If you and Jimmy ever get to the point where you’re seriously playing with each other, you’re still straight, too. If you ever get to the point where you are checking out the guys in the gym and getting flustered at them, having a hard time seeing the guy in the body, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">then</span> you’re bi.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods at that, and Abby’s thinking she hit what was running around in his head.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Long drive, good thinking time, especially with two napping infants in the back.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy’s watching the road, glad that Breena’s either thinking, too, or knows that he needs some time in his own head today.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He said yes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Do you want to see your wife come on my cock?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Yes.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena came when he said yes. He could feel it, she was so tight and so close, but not quite there, and he was, too. So close. And he said yes, and she moaned and twitched, shuddering on him, rippling against his body, nails digging into his thighs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He’d been so in it. When he and Breena tell stories, he’s always still in his real life. Usually he’s more focused on what they’re actually doing than the stories. He likes them and all, and they’re good and sexy, but he never falls into them, not like he did last night.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Eyes closed, all four voices, Breena rocking on him, he could see it, and feel it, there were times when he had a hard time remembering he could use his hands, and… God, he <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">wanted</span> it. He said yes because he wanted it. Only reason he didn’t come when he said yes was that Tim had told him not to. He’d been so close, felt his balls go tight and the tingles a breath away from starting, he’d even pulsed once, one hard twitch, before he yanked his brain away and gave his balls a really hard squeeze to shut it down.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He could see it, Abby between his legs, squirming against his dick, her back soft and warm against him, and Breena in front of him, Abby licking her out, Tim standing behind her, holding her leg and breast and slipping over her again and again, his dick wet and shiny with Breena’s cum, slipping between her lips, just edging her closer and closer, and finally asking him, and that ‘yes’ just ripped right out of him because he wanted it, all of it, so much.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tied up, helpless, watching another guy fuck his wife.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He said yes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He’s not supposed to want that. Right? That’s the bridge too far. Right? It’s one thing to share a women, plenty of guys do that, but… he wasn’t sharing, he was letting Tim and Abby take over. Let them turn him into a passive watcher in that fantasy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But it was so hot, hit buttons he didn’t know he had, and when he said yes, he wanted it more than pretty much anything he’d ever wanted before.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
For all the kinks Jimmy’s got, and he’s got more than a few of them, watching another guy fuck his wife isn’t (wasn’t?) one of them. Sex in public, sure. Quickies where anyone can find you, oh yeah. Being watched, loves that. Shoes, God yes! Spankings, not often, but when he’s in the right mood, yes, please! Watching, yes, he likes that, too. But, tied up, helpless while another guy fucks Breena two inches from his face, makes him watch, gets her off, makes her moan and beg…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“God Tim, fuck me, please!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They’ve played with this idea before. Breena’s told him stories of the four of them. He was watching Tim and Abby go at it all weekend. And he knew, saying yes to this, that he’s moving them closer to swapping or swinging or foursoming or… oring, whatever.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He knew he was going to like anything involving the girls with each other. When Tim first suggested that, his dick was more or less jumping up and down cheering on <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that</span> idea. He was fairly sure he was going to like watching Tim and Abby together. Live porn! What’s not to like? Watching them at the club was awesome, and they didn’t even get the full show then. He knew he was going to like getting watched. He’s known that about himself for a long time. Part of loving quickies and danger sex is loving the rush of the idea of someone else catching him, seeing it. (Hell, he’s had this fantasy of someone else watching, getting so turned on they can’t not touch themselves, and jerking off from it for <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">years</span>, and this weekend hit all of those buttons with a sledge hammer. That was amazing!)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But he didn’t expect he’d want to see Tim fuck Breena. He was kind of aware of the idea that it’d probably happen sooner or later. And he thought he was okay with the idea, because he’d be sharing Breena with Tim, or fooling around with Abby at the same time, but he didn’t expect to be more than okay.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He didn’t expect saying yes to make his cock twitch and practically spurt.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It was just a fantasy, but he fell into it so fast. He can’t believe how fast he sunk into it, how deep he went. Could feel the silk on his wrists, could see Breena standing over him, Abby’s lips on her pussy, Tim’s hands, mouth, and dick on her, and…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You okay?” Breena asks.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He jerks slightly at that. “Uh. Yeah… Think so. Why?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You want me to drive? You don’t look all there.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Um… No. I’m good.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Sure?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shrugs. “Thinking.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“About last night?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah. You got off when I said ‘yes.’”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena nods at that. “Liked hearing you say it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods, too.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Felt you twitch when you said it. Thought you’d gotten off, too. You were really close, right?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods again. Good thing Breena was already coming, because he had to pull his hand away from her to stop himself getting off. If he’d been less deep into the fantasy, he would have realized he had <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">two</span> working hands, but he was sure his left hand was tied.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Was that okay?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shrugs. “Thinking about it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Me and Tim and Abby?” They’ve played versions of that fantasy before, and it never seemed to bug him in the past, but she can feel an edge to him right now, and isn’t sure what’s causing it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Maybe…” He smiles at her, trying to be reassuring. “I’m… good with all three of you. That didn’t change. I’m not quietly melting down or freaking out over here, at least… not on that level…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Then…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“It’s silly.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She shrugs, silly isn’t a problem. “Doesn’t matter. Something pops up, we talk about it. That way something that’s silly now doesn’t turn into trouble later.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles at that, too.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Pops up, that’s a way to put it…” He shakes his head and bites his lip. “I almost got off when I said yes, too. Would have if I hadn’t grabbed myself.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She’s watching him carefully, waiting to see what else he says.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shakes his head again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Me and Tim, that’s bugging you?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“No… not… how I’m reacting to it is bugging me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Thought you liked it. That’s how it felt.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“I did like it. That’s why it’s bugging me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena’s eyes narrow. “Would you rather be pissed at him?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“No! But… It wasn’t just nice… I <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really</span> liked it. I liked all of it. Tied up, helpless, watching him and Abby fuck you. I’m half-hard just thinking about it. I’m having a much easier time dealing with holding him naked and feeling him rubbing up against my hip this morning than that.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena’s eyebrows scrunch together. She’d woken up at the tail end of Abby getting off, and immediately had her hands full of very horny Jimmy. She and Abby got a few minutes alone to talk while they were getting packed up. Basically, the guys woke up together (which was insanely cute, she cooed over the pictures) and then both of them kind of freaked out, followed by Tim more or less tossing her between the two of them and both of them proving exactly how heterosexual they are by hopping on her immediately. And, given exactly how enthusiastic Jimmy was this morning (not that she minded or anything, but morning sex is usually a lot more relaxed)… she’s not thinking Abby’s diagnosis as to what was going on was far off. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You like watching people have sex…” Breena leads, trying to help Jimmy work this out.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah. I know. Part of why feeling weird about this is hitting me. And, yeah, deeper level, the idea of watching you and Abby was just fine. I liked that a lot and I’m not feeling weird about it at all. Hell, I even know the anthropology about sperm competition and how some male mammals get off on seeing their mates with another male. I intellectually know how this works.” He bites his tongue. “But it still feels weird that it hit me <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that</span> hard…” He sighs and puts it into words. “This weekend was an amazing cornucopia of sex, and the thing that hit me hardest was him asking my permission to fuck you.” Jimmy thinks for a second, that’s not quite right. “No… he didn’t ask my permission, he asked me if I wanted to see him fuck you. That hit harder than watching Abby suck my cum off your tongue, and… I don’t know what to do with that.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Do you have to do anything with it?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shrugs at that, too.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Only fifty miles to go!” Abby says, looking at the GPS display on their phone. Traffic snarled in Richmond, and all of the alternative routes they could find were also moving at about ten miles an hour. Finally, they’re starting to pick up speed again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yay.” Tim says weakly.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“At least Kelly’s conked out again.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Amen on that.” In order to get out of the traffic, they stopped for an early dinner, hoping it would have eased up by the time they were done.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Didn’t work that way, they ate, let Kelly run (toddle) around, got back in the car, drove for a nicely zippy ten miles, and found themselves right back in the same snarl, just slightly further down the road.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“What was I dreaming about? You know…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods. “The usual.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Anything new?” He doesn’t remember the dream, or any of it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Something about it’s supposed to hurt, stop crying and taking it like a man.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim thinks for a few minutes on that, looking for what memory that was. “Oh.” Been years since he thought of that. “He was on land when my first real girlfriend broke up with me. Somehow my mom had the insane idea that we should have some sort of man to man talk about it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Oh God.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah, it went just as well as you think it did. He was okay with the idea that I was bummed out about her dumping me, and if he could have taken me out for a beer and a strip joint, he probably would have been able to deal with it, but that’s not appropriate with a fifteen-year-old. So, he didn’t know how to cheer me up, and I was crying over it, and I couldn’t stop crying, and he got more and more upset about me crying, and then he decided since yelling at me to stop crying wasn’t doing to job, to double down and hit me on every reason why a girl would break up with me, supposedly ‘giving me pointers for next time’ and… Yeah, that was one of the less pleasant days of my life.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Fucker.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods his head in agreement. “On the upside, Mom had gone out with Sarah, left us together for ‘man time’ and apparently she had some sort of little fantasy of us talking and commiserating and getting closer together or something. She gets home, he’s got steam pouring out of his ears, and I’m in my room, sobbing. She left Sarah with him, took me out for ice cream, told me it was okay to cry when you lose something you love, and that he was being a dork about it. That made me feel better. Then we got home and she yelled at him for not doing his job right, and that his job was to comfort me, not make me feel worse. So, bad day, but that was one of my better nights.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“What happened next?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“He turned bright red, stormed out, and we didn’t see him for two days. I think he called, because Mom was in a really sad mood the next day, and she wouldn’t say why, just shook her head when I asked.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The idea that that’s one of his better nights makes Abby’s heart hurt.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He squeezes her hand, maybe it is the talking about this stuff with Wolf, or just… letting it out more, but stories like that are starting to hurt less in the telling. “So, what happened? I’m doing my usual talking in my sleep, and you’re cuddling me…” He knows she does that, because sometimes he wakes up in the middle of it, and sometimes she tells or asks him about it later.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“He woke up in full-on ‘go get crying baby’ mode, took a few seconds to realize crying baby wasn’t the problem. I kept cuddling you, trying to pull you out of it, he petted your face a little and added his voice to it, you slipped back into normal sleep, and by that time my bladder was going to explode, so I gave you to him, took care of business, came back a minute later, and snuggled in between you two.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You said he was acting weird about it. What do you mean?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She waves that away. “Nothing concrete, just the sense that it had him thinking. Once I got back into bed, you curled around me, and he scooted a few inches over, back into Breena. I fell asleep pretty quick, but I noticed as I was drifting off that he reached over and held your hand. He was still doing it when I woke up in the morning. Beyond that, you’ve got to talk to him about it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You and Breena didn’t?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah, Breena and I did, but neither of us are Jimmy, so…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Okay.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“We talked about this morning, too.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Of course. She okay?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“She thought the pictures were adorable.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You took pictures?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah! My three favorite people are snuggling, of course I’m taking pictures.” She’s driving right now. “Go in my purse, get my phone and look at them.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Why?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Why don’t you want to?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“I…” That’s actually a good question. He goes and gets her phone. Not too hard to find the photos, they’re the newest of the bunch. He’s analyzing composition and lighting, which makes him think that he’s got some walls up against really dealing with the image.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Walls he’s trying not to have.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He looks, really looks. They’re sweet. Any other three people on earth and he’d, well, not coo, but that shot (of three other people) would cause a warm feeling of, ‘oh, how nice.’ In that it’s him, Jimmy, and Breena… he doesn’t know what he’s feeling.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He looks at Abby, putting down the phone. “Why does this matter? If you or Breena were in the middle, it wouldn’t be an issue. If she was snuggled into his side, and I was spooned up on her back, we’d all be happy and fine. Even just sleeping, the three of us, not sex at all, it’d be fine.” He touches her phone, indicating the pictures. “It’s not sex. Him hugging me, me cuddling against him, it’s not sex, so… Why does this feel weird?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Why does the sex part matter? You’re not attracted to him, that’s fine, but… Breena’s not particularly attracted to me, either, but the two of us making out isn’t ‘weird.’”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He stares up at the car ceiling. “Uhhh…” That’s nothing that’s ever occurred to him. Of course sex would be different, right? He looks at the shots again, flicking through them, then through the much sexier ones that Abby took. (Apparently she took pictures of Jimmy oiling Breena up and playing with her. He’d been far enough out of it that he hadn’t noticed. He flips a bit further, and realizes he took some pictures, too. Some really good pictures… Abby’s butt and Breena’s boobs in one shot, he likes that a lot, and decides now is a really good time to close the photo ap because he does not need to get distracted.) “I don’t know, but… It does, you know?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“If I had to guess, it’s that you spent your whole childhood being told that this was the most awful thing you could do or be, and your brain knows it’s not, but it’s still in there, and that’s why this feels weird, and why the fact that it feels weird annoys you.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shrugs, that’s likely true. “I was thinking about it, on the beach, making myself imagine playing with Jimmy, and it wasn’t gross or scary, but, I didn’t want to do it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“That’s okay.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah, but… okay, love and care and joy and… and it feels weird to get comforted. On the beach, I felt cool with this and now it’s less cool and I just… I don’t want it to matter. He’s a guy, so what? It shouldn’t matter. Love the person, not the body, that’s what you and Penny say, right?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods. “You do love him, right?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yes. A lot. Probably,” and he feels weird saying this but he does, because it’s true, “more than anyone who isn’t you.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Well, sex and love aren’t the same thing. You love the person, great. Maybe you’ll never be comfortable with too much in the way of touching.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Fuck that! That feels like a massive, steaming pile of homophobic bullshit, and I am better than that!”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby sighs, wanting to pull over, curl into his lap, and kiss him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Patterns don’t shift overnight. Remember how long it took before you could bottom without it hurting? Your brain was into it way before your body got there. But it got there, because you wanted it. You want it to not matter, and you’ll get there. One touch at a time. This time five years ago, you couldn’t have slept naked in the same bed with him. Or… when he hugged you guys for the wedding presents—“</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You saw that?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah, I was coming up and saw him pull the three of you in for a hug and you looked really surprised and jerked a little when he touched you, but you slid into the hug anyway. You don’t do that now.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Yeah.” He shakes his head a bit. “I don’t want to stop doing this. This weekend was awesome, and I loved it.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Me, too.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“And not just hot sex all over the place, you know? Close and intimate and warm and it was <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really good</span>.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She’s smiling at that. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“But I don’t want to feel like I’ve got to jerk away if I touch Jimmy, and I don’t want to feel like I need to grab you if I do and show off how straight I am.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“You heard that, huh?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods. “And you’re probably right, that’s part of what I was doing. My first though on waking up was how nice it was to be warm and snuggly on all sides, I really liked it, so I scooted in further, then I figured out that soft fuzzy thing against my thigh was a testicle, and not one of mine, and I kind of freaked out at that. And Jimmy didn’t exactly feel relaxed about it, either, and… Shit… I don’t know. There’s got to be something in between wake up and give him a hand with his morning wood, and wake up and jump back as soon as I notice it’s not you or Breena.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods. “Wake up, cuddle some, kiss him, kiss me, roll over when your arm’s up for it, and have at it while he’s at your back. That’s probably his skin not freaking you out, but you’re not actively fooling around with him, either.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim thinks about that. Then he nods. “Not sure about kissing him, but… yeah, that’s the basic idea.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They’d gotten on the road about an hour after Tim and Abby did, so they got the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Stay the fuck away from Richmond; it’s a mess!</span> text well ahead of the mess.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, as Tim and Abby are finally just starting to pick up speed, Jimmy and Breena have parked the car, pulled the girls out, put them to bed, and crashed on their own sofa.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Unpacking can wait until tomorrow.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There’s a thought that’s been bopping around in Breena’s mind. Something Jimmy mentioned but didn’t stress, something she’s wondering about. She’s not sure if he’s aware of it, or if she’s on the right track or…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She’s just not sure.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, yes, when she saw Abby slip that collar onto Tim, she knew what it meant and why Abby would do it. She was a bit surprised to see it there, and given the answer (and Abby adding in the next day that Tim’s a switch and can Dom or sub as the mood takes him) her surprise wandered off. That he’d like to have times where he’s not in charge, and others where he’s running the whole show, makes a lot of sense to her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She doesn’t like running the show. She just doesn’t. They read 50 Shades, and she noticed that Jimmy seemed intrigued by the idea of power games, and she’s happy to sub, she likes having a set task and doing it perfectly, but she doesn’t like giving orders; that’s being at work; it’s not fun for her. But… she’s wondering, because Jimmy was interested, and maybe he wasn’t just interested in being the guy giving the orders.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It never hit her that he might like having someone take him over, partly because that’s (was, at the time) his job.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But that’s what Tim did. He ran the story, and Jimmy dropped right into it, and now she’s wondering if that hit him so hard because sometimes he wants someone else in charge.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Helpless, tied, watching…” he mentioned all of those things.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy’s laying back against the sofa cushions, head back, glasses off. Breena scoots around a bit, pushing him a few feet over, so he’s on the far end of the sofa, and she can comfortably lie with her head in his lap. For a few seconds, he just rests there, and then she feels his fingers gently slipping through her hair.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Mmmm…” That feels nice.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He starts gently rubbing little circles into her scalp, knowing how much she likes having her head rubbed, especially at the end of a long day.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She licks her lips, debating if she should just let him think about it, or if she should ask and see what happens.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ask</span>. This works best if they talk. “You know I like it when you tie me up and play with me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“I never asked but… would you like that?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
His head shifts off the back of the sofa, so he’s looking at her, surprise on his face. “You don’t like doing that.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“I know, but, I never asked; do you like being on the subbing side of it. Maybe… That could be why you slipped into it so fast and hard. If you like it, but I don’t, it’s something you want that I’m not giving you, and you’re not getting it at work anymore, so…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He’s holding up his hands, looking appalled. “Getting it at work?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Not sex. Just, if you like having someone make the decisions and tell you what to do. If you like playing the game instead of making the rules… You used to do that every day, and you don’t, now.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Oh. Um…” He’s never thought much about that, let alone in any context along these lines. “It’s not something I’ve ever looked for. I don’t jerk off to fantasies of you tying me up and telling me what to do.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods. They’ve talked about their fantasies, and it’s nothing he’s ever mentioned.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He thinks about it. It doesn’t feel quite right, but, maybe it’s next to whatever’s going on, or part of it. He thinks some more, gently rubbing Breena’s head, enjoying not driving, and finally comes up with this, “Tim and I have always been equals. Started the same time. Same age. Same low man on the totem pole. I’ve never been in competition with him for anything. I’ve never had to defer to him, not really. And… maybe you’re right, maybe falling into it so fast was wanting to be taken charge of, but, I think feeling weird about it comes from the fact that he’s not supposed to be in charge of me.” He thinks about that more, the second, third and this morning’s story hadn’t hit Jimmy as hard, but they also didn’t weird him out. Him and Tim and Abby, that was fine. Watching (in the fantasy) Tim and Abby sixty-nine with Breena, that was hot, and it’s not hitting him the way the first story did.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Do an experiment with me?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena smiles up at him. “Always. Tonight?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shakes his head. “Tonight I think we’re resting until we’ve got enough energy to brush our teeth, then going upstairs to bed and crashing.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Sounds like a plan. So, what’s the experiment?”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Tomorrow, the next day, when you’re feeling inspired, tell me a story where you or Abby takes over. I want to see how that hits me.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“No problem.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
When they get home, Tim’s not exactly feeling sexy. Mostly he’s feeling tired. They put Kelly to bed as soon as they got in, and he’s thinking that’s what he’s going to do with himself, too.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Unpacking can wait for tomorrow.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Everything else can wait for tomorrow.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby seems to be on the same page he is with this. It’s 9:30 and she’s brushing her teeth, getting ready for bed. He joins her on that, tossing off his clothing, ready to crash.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They’re in bed, and have been for about a minute, and he’ll admit a good long sleep, especially with work tomorrow morning, sounds really good.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, as he’s starting to drift one thought hits, and it gets his lips moving from his usual sleeping routine of pressed to the back of Abby’s neck to kissing her.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She murmurs something, not really words, but not ‘back off’ either. On the second try she gets out, “Thought you’d be all fucked out.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles a little. “I am.” He lays a wet kiss on the back of her neck. “But I want you to know that it’s still you. It’s always you. I love them, and I want Breena, and that was insanely hot, but at the end of the day, at the end of the journey, it’s you.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He feels her smile, and then she rolls over to face him, her lips finding his. “Always you.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
“Always.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It’s slow, and sleepy, and compared to the sex this weekend, nothing special, just their average, late night, checking back in with each other, sex. But that’s the point of it, too. It’s them with each other, coming back to each other, and that matters more than all the firework sex on earth.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Or like Jimmy had said to him, ‘We went home and made love and nothing had changed, I was still hers, and she was mine, and we hadn’t lost anything.’</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And, as he’s drifting off, he knows that there’s probably a lot of thinking left to do about this weekend, but his bedrock is still there. Nothing was lost, and a lot was gained, and he’s eager to see where this goes next.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-425-talk-it-out.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-57646868898026743952015-02-28T19:42:00.003-08:002015-02-28T19:56:54.157-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 423: Story TimeMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
Chapter 423: Story Time<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy feels something wet hit him, right at the base of the skull, and then dribble down the back of his neck. He jerks at it, looking around, but doesn't see anything.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Probably just some spray or something. He's in the ocean, waist deep, boogie board in hand, waiting for a breaker. Storm's rolling in, this time tomorrow the whole coast will be drenched, but right now, the sun is shining and the waves are high, which means he, Tony, and both Abbies are getting as much surf time in as they can.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A thought hits as he's looking at the waves which are not really likely to be providing the sort squirt of water he just felt, and he tentatively reaches back to check. Good. Not a seagull.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The next squirt is definitely not a bit of spray. It hits in exactly the same place, and there is no chance that this isn't water pistol fire. Jimmy quickly searches the beach, making sure that Jethro isn't on it, and no, he's not. So, where the hell is he shooting from? It's a water pistol, not a rifle.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Granted, it would be easier to tell what was going on if he had his glasses or contacts in, but he's fairly sure that even without them, he can see something the size of Gibbs that should be less than thirty feet away. But no, all he's got in range is water, more water, a little water to the left, and water with DiNozzo and both Abbies to the right. (And none of them are firing a water pistol at him.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
One more squirt, this time to his chest, which means he should be staring right at him, but he can't see where he's being hit from.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy does another 360, looking everywhere, but he can't tell where Jethro is, or where he'd been shooting from. Then, a few seconds later, he's staring at the beach again, and there's Gibbs, sitting in the sand, rubbing Mona's ears, and tossing the tennis ball for her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's also head to toe, dripping wet.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy catches the next wave, rides in, and lands near Gibbs. "You were shooting from under the water?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs smiles, very satisfied. Then he holds up two plastic bendy straws. "Always take advantage of your location and the tools around you."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You kinky bastard!" Tony says, sounding sly, bringing the plate with all of the chicken breasts over to the grill. Tim's on grilling duty. (He volunteered, thought it'd be good exercise for his foot and ankle. So far that appears to be right.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim jerks a little at that, feeling startled by it. "Uh…" He's looking at the chicken breasts, laying them on the grill.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Got a late swim last night, heard you and Abby."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Shit." Yeah they were trying to be quiet, but apparently not succeeding. Though, he'd have to admit he's a bit fuzzy on what exactly happened last night. He can clearly remember really liking it, and he's got some interesting bruises on his chest which have a few clear memories attached to them, but for the most part he just remembers feeling <span style="font-style: oblique;">really</span> good, about the sex in specific and the universe in general.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"In the room with Jimmy and Breena sleeping, and the girls… Damn! I get you like the thrill of almost getting caught, but… That's really taking it to the edge." Tony's got a happy, dirty grin on his face, and Tim's got the sense he's sort of cheering Tim on with this.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Still, it looks like Tony doesn't know precisely what was going on last night. Granted, Tim doesn't either, but he's got a much more accurate version than Tony does. Tim shrugs a bit, deciding that Tony doesn't need to know what was actually happening, after all they still haven't decided exactly what they're telling anyone who isn't Gibbs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What'd you hear?" Tim's curious because they were trying to be quiet and while he knows they weren't silent, he didn't think anyone was moaning or groaning. He knows one of the bite marks on his chest is from keeping Abby's mouth quiet, so…</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Your room's right over the kitchen. Kept hearing a little shifting noise and a thunk when we got a drink after the swim. Shift, shift, shift, thunk, and repeat. You guys are in the bed right? Not sleeping on the floor with your arm like that. Or is Palmer the kinky one?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Probably Jimmy and Breena going full speed toward the end while Tim and Abby were chasing their orgasm, too. Bed was definitely rocking then. (Tim makes a mental note to see if there's a screw driver around here anywhere, probably a good idea to tighten up the joints before they leave, or else Ed and Jeannie might wonder what happened to their bed when they sleep here next.) Tim nods and grins. "Palmer's always the kinky one, but no, we're not sleeping on the floor."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony smiles wide and elbows him gently. "Glad to see all of the important bits healed up and are working just fine."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim laughs. He takes another sip of his cider, then sticks out his tongue and quickly wiggles it. "Yeah, they do."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony almost chokes on his drink he laughs so hard at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What has you two giggling away?" Abbi asks, heading over to the grill with shucked corn on the cob.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smirks. "Rule 69."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi looks confused. "Never trust a woman who doesn't trust her man?" That doesn't sound like the punchline to a dirty joke to her, and that kind of laughter goes with a dirty joke.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Some numbers have multiple rules. Gibbs doesn't know we've co-opted sixty-nine for this one, but it is one of his rules." Tim says, smirking even wider.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oral always counts," Tony says, grinning.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi closes her eyes for a second, laughing quietly, and then puts the corn down. "And what got you guys making that rule?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony squints a bit, remembering. "God… That was your bachelor party, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "Yeah. He might have said it before then, but that's where I'm remembering it from."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And what were you talking about?" Abbi asks, sure she knows.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim and Tony shake their heads. Tony replies, "Even if we could remember, we're not saying. You wanna know, you've got to ask him."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh huh…" She looks at them dryly before heading off, still chuckling.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony looks at Tim. "You still at seven?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Takes Tim a minute to remember that was the number he gave for how often he was getting off a week. "Ish. This weekend's bumping me up some," he looks at himself, getting the injured idea across, "but most of this summer's been pretty dry."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods. "Jimmy was right, getting married was great for sex."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim grins at him and turns the chicken breasts, then adds the corn to the grill.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
After dinner, Tim's looking at Jimmy, Breena, and Abby. "You guys can go out. I'm good with babysitting." It's a token protest, just because that's the sort of thing he would say, and they all know it. Right now, he'd be pretty mopey if they left him to go dancing and he ended up with Marvel movies and his left hand for company.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, in that most of this group does not know what's going on, and it is the sort of thing he would say, he does say it, and Jimmy and Abby and Breena all do their part of saying, 'No, we're good at home with you, no problem' sort of thing.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://images.latinpost.com/data/images/full/21934/marvel-avengers-2-age-of-ultron-news-hysterical-low-budget-trailer-on-youtube-will-have-you-in-stitches.jpg?w=600" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://images.latinpost.com/data/images/full/21934/marvel-avengers-2-age-of-ultron-news-hysterical-low-budget-trailer-on-youtube-will-have-you-in-stitches.jpg?w=600" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, once dinner's cleaned up, and after babies have been put to bed, the four of them are lounging around on the sofas in the living room, Age of Ultron queued up, popcorn popping, waiting for the other half of their crew to head off.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They're about ten minutes into it, watching Thor get all cocky about Mjolnir, and then silently freak out when it looks like Cap can shift it, (Abby's talking about how Cap can totally lift it, but isn't because that really would freak out Thor, and he's too nice of a guy to do that) when everyone else comes down. The girls are in pretty sun dresses and flip flops. The guys… Tony and Ducky have both opted for the linen pants, short sleeve button-down, right off the beach in Jamaica look. (Jimmy makes a comment about pink really being Tony's color.) Gibbs doesn't appear to own linen pants, because he's in cargo shorts, bare feet, and an NCIS t-shirt.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
All in all, they look ready for a night of alcohol, sand, and music.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Don't wait up!" is the last thing Penny says as they head out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They actually do watch all of Age of Ultron, for several reasons. One, if asked they want to be able to answer questions about it. Two, it'll look really suspicious if there're bowls of uneaten popcorn sitting around/popcorn in the trash when everyone gets home. Three, if something goes wrong and they end up coming home early, it'd be really odd if they were all suddenly not watching the movie. And four, it's a good double date, sitting on the sofa, petting and necking movie. After all, in that many minutes of the movie can be condensed into: Big Ass Fight Scene it's not like they miss much in the way of motive plot by not having eyes glued to the screen.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, by the time Ultron is over, they've eaten the popcorn, are sure no one 'forgot' anything and needed to run home to pick it up, and two hours of necking and petting means they're all in a pretty good sexy mood, too.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There's an idea Tim's been playing with all day. He remembers that Jimmy and Breena like sexy stories, and he knows Abby and he do. And, as much as he's been loving watching Jimmy and Breena play, he also wants something interactive, but not too interactive. He doesn't want to break the rules they've set. And this wouldn't break any of the rules they've got set up, but it's still a step past just watching.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Also, he's thinking, if this story goes the way he thinks it will, then that'll take him and Jimmy a quarter step further toward the idea of playing with each other's wives, and if it's good… then it'll be really good. And if it's not, if they can't easily play with just the idea, voice and images and stories, then they know they can't do it for real, and they get to find out that they can't cross that line without getting hurt.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Plus, when they get upstairs, Abby heads to the drawer that's got the lube in it, and grabs it and the cock ring, dropping them on the bed, and then says, "Gotta clean up first."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim grins at her, knowing what that means, and licks his lips. So, with that in play, he knows that he's got at least fifteen minutes of gentle slow stretching time to fill, so… yeah, story time.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena sits on the bed, and picks up the cock ring. "You like these?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "Got two more at home." Breena's stretching it between her fingers. "That's the plain one. Also have one with a bullet, and a leather one."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena looks away from the ring to Tim. "Don't like the ones that vibrate. They're more of a distraction than a turn on."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim pretty much agrees with that, but the bullet ends up at the base of his cock, and buzzing there doesn't do much for him. It's more fun for Abby. "So, you've got some of these at home, too?" Tim asks, thinking he'd really like to see what sorts of toys Jimmy and Breena have.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods. "Kind of like this, silicon, it's got a little nub for clit stimulation. Good for grinding together." She looks at the ring and then back at Tim. "Doesn't it make it harder to come?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He grins at that. "Sometimes I can use all the help I can get. Plus it's a really nice combination with anal. And harder is always a good thing. Right Jimmy?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's been leaning against the edge of the dresser, watching this conversation the look on his face somewhere between curious/learning and turned on. "Feels good to me." Jimmy pauses for a second, not sure if he wants to say what's in his head, and then decides to say what he's thinking. "Tend to like the way they look, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods; that's not something he's ever said out loud before, but… it is part of the appeal. "That's why we've got a leather one, too. It's not as functional, but it looks cool."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, this is jewelry for you guys?" Breena asks, not looking like she buys that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs and Jimmy shakes his head, because no, that's not quite how it works. "It's not how the ring looks, per se," Jimmy adds, "it's how I look wearing one."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sounds like jewelry," Breena says. "And if you like the leather one…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, I know for some guys they really are like jewelry. They make metal ones, and yes, some of them look cool, I've seen some I did really like, but I'm not comfortable sticking my dick and balls into something that compresses blood flow and then just hoping I'll be able to get it off after. The absolute last thing I want to do is end up hoping that the guy with the bolt cutter won't take my dick off." Jimmy's cringing along in sympathy at that. "But, even with that, it's more that they make my dick look great, and above and beyond that, bigger, fuller, more sensitive and it takes longer to get off is an awesome combination, especially with anal sex. And, if that's why girls wear jewelry, then yes, it's like jewelry."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena giggles. "That's not precisely why I wear jewelry, but that's some of it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby opens the door to the bathroom, naked, smiling, and says, "You all look way too dressed for this party."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You guys like stories, right?" Tim asks after they're naked and in bed.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy and Breena nod.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim grins. "Then we're taking turns tonight. You two watch, enjoy. Touch each other all you want, but no touching us."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I thought that was already the rule," Jimmy says, looking confused.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Making sure we're all clear on it. I tell great stories, but they're just stories. Not an invitation. Not tonight, at least. Tonight, you guys get to listen in, but don't do, okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay." Jimmy says, looking at Breena and then back at Tim and Abby.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim grins and kisses Abby. They're naked and sitting against the headboard of the bed, Abby across Tim's lap. Jimmy and Breena are at the footboard. It's a slow, wet kiss, deep, tongues stroking and petting. When Tim pulls back from Abby, he asks her, "You remember that story we started at the club?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"When we were dancing and they were fucking in the booth?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby grins, looking at Jimmy and Breena all over, enjoying them naked and turned on, licking her lips. "Couple of them."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah." Tim kisses her ear. "You think they may want to hear something like that?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Maybe." She grins and then kisses his bottom lip. "You going to tell it the same way?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shakes his head. "Nope. Gonna play with it. Can't not play with my stories." He kisses her neck, fingers falling to her breast, gently circling her nipple. He looks up to Jimmy and Breena, "Stories are never done, not really. Sometimes you let them out so other people can see them, but you'll always want to fiddle with them."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She grins at that. "So, where are we starting then?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hmmm…" Tim's eyes droop to half-closed, he's seeing the set-up, feeling Abby on him, and getting into story-telling mode. He's also watching Jimmy and Breena, who are sitting across from him, Breena in Jimmy's lap, kissing a little, but mostly watching, listening, looking eager for what happens next. "I think we're at home. Babies are spending the day with Pop and Ducky and Penny, so we've got hours and hours just to ourselves." He kisses Abby again, staring at Breena while he does it, and then looks to Jimmy, licking Abby's lower lip while he does that. Abby sucks his tongue, and Jimmy squirms a little at it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Black silk ropes," Tim says when Abby lets go.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby grins at that, too. "Good place to start." Tim runs his hand through her hair, tracing his nails down her neck and spine, feeling her shiver on him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, really good place. Breena's going to come over and spend some time with me." Tim looks at her, eyes hot. "You're going to sit in my lap, and we're going to kiss." He kisses Abby, hot and wet, deep and slow, making love to her with tongue and lips, his fingers trailing over her throat and breast. Tim breaks the kiss after a moment. "Just like that. Wet and slippery and however you liked to be kissed. You're going to show me what you like, and then I'm going to do it. And Abby's going to get up, and she's going to take Jimmy's hands, and get him nice and comfy, sitting like I am, against the headboard on our bed. It's wood, you know, mission style, two inch slats three inches apart. She's going to make sure the pillows are set nicely behind his back." Another long kiss, and Abby either knows where Tim is going with this, or she's leading him. She shifts a little, so she's straddling his legs, facing him. His hand trails down her back to cup her butt. "Perfect, baby." He's looking up at her, eyes sparkling. She leans down a little, so her lips brush his as he says, "You're on Jimmy, just like this. Soft, warm body on his lap." Abby drops her face a fraction of an inch, kissing Tim, and when she pulls back, he says, "You kiss him like that? Just a little tease."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh yeah. Think he likes it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim grinds up a little, so she can feel his dick, not quite full hard, but getting there fast, against her pussy. "Yeah, I think he does." Over Abby's shoulder, he can see Jimmy nodding. He's not sure how interactive the story is. And Tim gets that. "You guys can both talk, add to the story. I can run the story with all four of us playing, or you can just lay back and let me tell it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What next?" Breena asks, as Abby sits down a bit more firmly on Tim, and he grinds against her again.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.turntopretty.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/silk-rope-black.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.turntopretty.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/silk-rope-black.jpg" height="271" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Black silk ropes," Tim replies. "Abby's in Jimmy's lap, rocking against him, kissing him deep and steady, then she reaches for the rope and ties one wrist and then the other to the headboard. Sorry, Jimmy, you're just watching this round."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Asshole." Jimmy's sounding pretty disappointed at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim grins at him. "Don't worry, you'll love the show. 'Cause you get to watch Abby and I fuck Breena until she's flushed pink, quivering, and screaming with pleasure."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby adds a little to it. "Don't be cruel, Tim, not just watching. Once you're tied, I'm going to undo your jeans with my teeth, and then slip them off. You're wearing a button down, and I'm unbuttoning it. Still on, can't really take it off, but open." Breena's smiling, she likes this image, and Jimmy's watching Abby, his eye's hot, waiting to see where she's going to go with this. "Tim's right, then you're going to watch. You're going to hear every moan, see every gasp, watch Breena go pink all over. You'll see me licking and fingering her while Tim fucks her."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's eyes close and he groans, teeth clenched. Breena eyes light up and she smiles, delighted.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby turns away from Tim, so she's still in his lap, but facing Breena and Jimmy. She's rubbing her butt against him, and Tim spends a moment, head back, feeling it, watching his dick sliding between her butt cheeks. He's got the lube within reach, and grabs for it. "You prep yourself, want to be able to keep using my hand." He says, kissing along her shoulder while he drizzles the lube onto her hand.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He puts it down and goes back to stroking her nipples, feeling her hand brushing against him as Abby plays with herself. Then a second later he's moaning softly as she gets the cock ring set. Very full, very hard, yeah, he loves how that feels. Once he's got his voice back, he says, "I think, so Jimmy's got a good view, we need to be right in front of him. And Abby's already in his lap, so Breena, how about we go stand in front of them?" Tim licks Abby's earlobe, while Breena nods at his suggestion.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How do you want me?" Breena asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles at her, licks his lips, and looks her up and down. "Every possible way you can think of, and probably a few you can't, and once we've done all of them we'll go online and find some more."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena beams at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Showoff," Jimmy says quietly as he realizes that his hands are not in fact tied (he's been sitting with them just pressed to the footboard. He jerks a little when he moves one and breaks the illusion of the story) and are free to pet Breena. "Get over here, you." He pulls Breena into his lap and a deep kiss.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"The wall's right behind the headboard, so, he's sitting back against it, Abby's in his lap, facing you. You're going to face her, and him, and the wall, leaning your weight into your arms, hands flush on the wall above their heads, so she can kiss you, and he can watch from two inches away."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Where are you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Right behind you. Your hands don't leave the wall. If you take them away, Abby and I stop."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's looking at Jimmy carefully, and then Breena. They're sitting on the far side of the bed, not doing anything besides holding each other, waiting to see where the story is going to go next.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Jimmy, you're, what, an inch shorter than Tim?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Something like that, yeah." He blinks, not expecting that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And Breena, you're… 5'5"?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Why?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I stop straddling Jimmy, let him know to spread his legs, and then sit between them, back against his chest, hips against his dick. Otherwise I'm too tall, and I won't be in the right spot to do a good job licking you. Plus, he's going to want to see more than just the back of my head… So, yeah, you and Tim are going to take a step to the left, okay? Need you two at something of an angle, otherwise he won't have much of a view."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy closes his eyes, seeing it in his mind, and then opens them, kissing Breena hard, before saying, "You're trying to see if you can get me so turned on my heart blows, aren't you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena kisses Jimmy at that, quick peck. "Time to put all that cardio training to the test." Then she kisses him long and slow, rocking in his lap. He growls a little at her, looking like he's enjoying the teasing, and enjoying teasing back about being annoyed. When they break the kiss, Breena says, "So, I'm standing there, hands on the wall, between Tim and Abby, what happens next?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I think you need to get naked," Abby says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim grins at her. "Oh yeah. Very naked. I think Abby's going to slip her hand up the insides of your legs, light and soft, just the pads of her fingers skimming along your thighs. I'm going to unbutton and unzip your skirt, and you'll kick it off. What do you think, Jimmy, what's she wearing on top?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy closes his eyes, hand falling to Breena's breast, stroking lightly as he sighs. He strokes her hair with his other hand, kissing her hard. Then he pulls back and says, "White t-shirt. That small, tight one."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Bra underneath?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy smiles, kissing Breena's shoulder. "You wear a bra to a party like this?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She looks over to Tim. "I'm going to take your hair and drape it over your shoulder, that way your ear and throat are bare. Then I'm going to kiss your earlobe, and throat, and down to your shoulder. 'You can take your hands off the wall.' Feel my breath on your neck, hot breath, wet skin? Is it giving you goose bumps?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah." And Breena does shiver a little at that, as Jimmy mouths, wet and soft, against her neck and shoulder. "I take my hands off the wall."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"'Good girl, lean against me.' I pull the shirt off, and then put your hands back on the wall. Abby's watching us, and you're standing there in your panties. Which pair, Jimmy?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Little pink satin ones. Bikini cut."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Abby's fingers go from your inner thighs to your panties. She starts by tracing the edges, the straps on the hips, then she drags each index finger down the edge to the crotch, pulling the fabric tight to you, and scraping her fingernails over your pussy." Breena whimpers at that idea. "Oh, honey, this is just the beginning. Wait 'til she gets her mouth on you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You're so soft, Breena, so smooth. I'm touching the lacy edges, right along that line where your leg and pelvis come together. Not quite grazing your pussy, but dragging over the fabric enough so you can feel it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"She's teasing you; I'm stroking your nipples. Show me how, Jimmy. How does she like it?" Jimmy's hands return to Breena's breast, starting with a slow, firm circle around her nipples. "That good Breena? Want to feel me do that, too?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Want to feel it while I slip one finger under your panties?" Abby asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Are you wet? Or do I need to lick my finger so it slides over you all slick and easy?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So wet, can't you smell it? See it on the satin?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles at that, and Tim's fingers slip down between her lips. "Abby's wet, so wet. Just talking about this is getting her so hot."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What's it doing to you?" Breena asks Tim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby rolls her hips against him, moaning softly. "Standing at attention like the Marines at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena laughs at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You liking this, Jimmy?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods, smiling. "Doing just fine for me."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How about this," Abby asks, "want to see my fingers stroking over Breena's panties while I slowly kiss from her belly button down to the top edge of them?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Both he and Tim whimper at that visual. Abby's still grinning. "Think that's a yes, Breena?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I think they want to see you peel those panties off with your teeth."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy inhales sharp and shuddering.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"But first I'm going to mouth all over you, kissing you through them. I'm going to take my time at that, until you're rocking against me, and Tim's still playing with your breasts, kissing your lips. When you're moaning, and grinding on my mouth with that sort of frustrated rocking motion, the 'you're not quite where I need you' move," Both Abby and Breena know that motion intimately, "I'm going to take the little bow at the front top between my teeth and peel those panties off of you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's still prepping herself, and Tim's petting her, stroking her pussy gently, not focusing down onto her clit yet, just feathering his fingers over her lips.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You feel my dick, hot and hard against your ass? Abby's told you about that, how I love a perfect, round ass? As Abby's pulling your panties off your feet, I'm rubbing against you. And as soon as she's got them off, I reach to your front and spread that succulent pussy open for Abby, so that when she kisses you it's her wet pink lips right against yours."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena slips up onto her knees, sinking down onto Jimmy, both of them hissing at it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Don't come, Jimmy," Tim says, also wanting to hiss at Breena slipping onto him. He knows how that feels, knows Abby's a few minutes away from slipping onto him, "this story's got a few chapters, and Breena's just the first one."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods, kissing Breena, eyes closed, listening to the story, feeling her moving on him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"She's sitting in front of you, Breena, and you're wide open. Can you feel her breath, that whisper of contact before her lips touch you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah," Breena breathes. Jimmy's rubbing her clit, but stops, holding his fingers near but not on her clit, starting to mimic the story.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Then her tongue flicks out," Tim says. Jimmy follows with his index finger, and Breena shudders.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"God, you taste so good, Breena." Abby picks up, from Tim. "I kiss you long and soft, just slipping over your pussy, not to your clit yet, feasting on you, and then turn to kiss Jimmy, let him lick you off my lips, and show me how you liked to be licked. He's going to treat my lips like your pussy, and then I'm going to turn around and do it to you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And while they're kissing, we are, too. You can feel my hand on your breasts, fingers on your nipples, tugging just a little, circling slow while I suck your tongue. I'm pressed right up behind you, and you can feel me, hot and hard, rubbing against your gorgeous ass. I break the kiss, and shift my left hand to right behind your head, making you look down, watch Abby and Jimmy, and then I kiss my way down your spine, one soft, wet, open-mouthed, sucking kiss after another. I'm kneeling behind you, palming your ass, kissing that perfect little dimple on your left cheek, gently biting that soft, fleshy bit where your butt and leg come together, and then lightly licking between them, working my way back up your spine, back to your throat.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"By the time I'm up there again, Abby's licking you, sitting between Jimmy's legs, squirming as she does it, because tasting you is driving her wild, making all three of us crazy with how hot this is. I'm so hard I could pole vault with it, and Jimmy's so turned on he can't think of a snarky comment to shoot that down."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy doesn't say anything at that, he's kissing Breena, hard, hand flying between her legs while she rocks up and down on him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Are you getting close, Breena? Abby's licking you, so fast, getting you exactly right. I'm rubbing my dick between your lips, feeling how wet and swollen you are. Sometimes Abby licks me, too, her tongue slipping from the tip of my dick to your clit, or back, but mostly I'm feeling you, so wet and so slick. Is this good? Do you like me rubbing against you like this?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena moans.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What do you want, Breena? Say the words, baby."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"God, Tim, fuck me, please."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles at her, he can see she's on edge, Jimmy's just about got her over.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh, yeah. I wrap my arm around your waist, and lift your foot, so it's on the headboard, right next to Jimmy's head. He's watching Abby eat you out, eyes glued to her mouth on your pussy. He can see my dick slipping over you, again and again. Not in yet, just brushing over you. I want to feel you pulsing around me as I sink my cock into you, want to feel your gorgeous pussy wrap slick and tight around me. You want that, Breena?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good. You want that Jimmy? Want to see me fuck her? Want to watch your wife come on my cock and Abby's tongue?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes!" rips out of Jimmy, half-whimper, half-groan, and that, his voice saying yes, tips Breena into a full body, shaking orgasm.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's staring, watching her ripple and twitch, skin pink, nipples hard, body glowing with pleasure, almost forgetting everything else, then he feels Abby shift a bit. She's coating him with more lube and he knows what's coming next and smiles. He kisses her, focusing back on his wife, and says, quietly, "Good timing."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's hand is stroking over him, making sure he's oiled-glass slick, and then kneels, facing away from him, over his lap and begins a very slow slide down.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ohhh…" slides out of Tim on a breath. His forehead is resting on her shoulder, and his hand and jaw clenches at how good that feels. "Ung." He's panting lightly through the sensation of her body so tight creeping down him. Finally, after an amazingly intense forever, she's settled in his lap. Tim lifts his head from her shoulder, and turns her face to his for a kiss. "Love you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smiles, enjoying this, enjoying how much he's loving this. "I know. Love you, too, baby." She nips his bottom lip with her teeth, sucking it gently. She looks back to Jimmy and Breena, who are snuggling each other, Breena looking very content, and Jimmy looking like he's enjoying this, but very eager to get back to the fucking.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ready for round two?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena nods. She's still blissed out from her climax, but she wants to see what comes next, and she really doesn't want to make Jimmy wait too much longer to get off.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Abby's chapter is next."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy bites his lip. He knows Abby's chapter means they still aren't getting off, yet. He gently taps Breena's hip, letting her know to slip off of him. It took basically every ounce of control he had to not come when he said yes, and he's certain that this isn't about to get any less hot, so if he's going to make it through the next round without getting off, he can't be balls deep in Breena.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Once Jimmy and Breena are sitting next to each other, Jimmy wraps around Breena, very lightly stroking her nipples. Tim begins slowly rocking against Abby. Slow, shallow thrusts, as his fingers slip over her clit. He wants Abby glowing ember hot, but he wants himself under control, so he keeps his speed slow. He kisses her ear, "Feels so good, Abby, so good." He spreads his legs a little wider, spreading her open, so her pussy's on full display for both of them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"She looks good, doesn't she? All wet and smooth and open." Tim pulls his fingers away, and Abby whimpers as he licks them. Then he lets her suck his fingers, too, pulling the last of her flavor off of his skin. He makes eye contact with Jimmy as he says, "And she tastes so good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
His fingers return to her clit, gently stroking over her, soft, light little stroke of wet finger tips on wet clit.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Breena's tongue." He kisses her throat. "Feels good, doesn't it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby moans. She's relaxing on him, eyes closed, submersing herself in the fantasy he's weaving for her, letting him take over, run the story.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He flicks his finger tip lightly, and then circles it over her clit. "Her perfect pink lips kissing your pussy. That soft, wet, pink tongue of hers slipping over your clit, over and over. Her face is so smooth, and so soft, no missed whiskers, just her beautiful mouth all wet with your juices." He kisses her neck, still slowly and gently rubbing her clit. He's barely thrusting anymore, just keeping up a little slide, enough so she can't forget she's on his dick.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"She'd have to be on her hands and knees to lick you. Ass in the air. You know Jimmy can't resist that. No way he can watch her eat you out, lick after lick after lick, with her pussy, dripping wet, lips swollen and puffy, pink and spread, right in his face."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy groans, that image is not helping him get through this. "God, you kiss your baby with that mouth?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim grins at that. "Gonna kiss your wife with it, too. Reach down, gently pull her up, and lick Abby's cum off her lips. And if she's high enough to kiss me, that means her breasts are in Abby's face, so she's going to start licking her nipples, sucking them. You want to lick Breena, right?" He rubs her clit just a little slower, little harder.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A long guttural, "Yes," eases out of Abby.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good, I want to see you lick her. Didn't have much of a view last time. We're going to slide onto our sides. And she's going to come with us. Both of you, sixty-nining. I'll keep this up. Slow, gentle, just fucking you out of your mind, while she's lapping at your pussy, those long, pretty fingers of hers spreading you open.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Her pussy is right at our lips.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You get the first taste. I want to watch you eat her out." Breena groans at this. Jimmy's been touching her, just getting her interested again, and Tim can see Jimmy's so hard he has to hurt, but they aren't fucking yet, and he's fairly sure he knows why.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I think she likes it. You know Abby's done this before? Made love to a woman with her mouth, and her hands, and that strap on in our toy box, I'm not the only one it's ever been used on. She's going to spread you open, and I'm going to watch, learn, see exactly how she pleasures you. When you arch your back, or clench your fists, when your legs go tight and your body starts to shake, I'll be paying attention.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And when you're lying there, wet and limp, I'm going to kiss your juices off of her, and then start up and show you why I was always the best student in any class I've ever been in."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He kisses Abby, speeding up his fingers on her clit a little, thrusting deeper, not faster, but making sure to get his full length into the game. "You get to lie back, feel me fucking you, feel Breena licking you, you know she's good at it, always wanted to taste you, and now you're all spread out in front of her and she's feasting on you. Close your eyes and you just feel it, smooth," he rocks into her, "hard slide, and wet, circling tongue. Open your eyes and you can watch me eat Breena. Watch my tongue lapping away at her, watch me mimick your moves, and hear her moan at them."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's starting that quicker, panting moan, and Tim knows she's getting close. He starts stroking her clit faster, little harder.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How about it Jimmy? You want to watch Abby and I eat Breena out? Want to see her come on my tongue while Abby's got three fingers buried in her?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy looks pained. Very intense sexual arousal on his face, and his dick is leaking. He grunts at Tim's question.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's feeling the tension in Abby's body increase even further, hearing her voice go a little higher on her moans.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know you do. But maybe there's something better for you than just watching. Breena's eating out Abby, remember? Her pink lips on Abby's pink clit. And she's wide open, so open, and empty, and I bet she'd love the feeling of another hard, thick cock filling her up, while Breena licks her clit.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy swallows hard, and Abby's whining at that. "God, Jimmy please! All of you!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's right baby, all three of us at the same time." Tim's thrusting harder, deeper. "You want that? Him slipping in while I slip out." She's so tight right now, just on the edge. He switches his hold, slipping his fingers off her clit to thrust into her pussy, as the heel of his hand grinds against her clit. "That's it Abby, all three of us together, fucking you hard. Breena licking you, Jimmy in your pussy, me in your ass."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's writhing against him, just needs a little bit more. "You imagine being that filled? Your glorious body tight around us. Feels so tight and so amazing. I can feel him against me, too, through you, rubbing both of us just right, feels so good." He's thrusting hard now, with his cock and fingers, and twists his hand a little, so the ball of his thumb is right over her clit, and that does it, that little extra friction sends her body pulsing against him, and he bites his lip hard, pulling his mind away from his dick, not wanting to topple over with her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's panting against him, shaking slightly, twitching and purring. He gives her a moment to calm back down, and then says, "Hands and knees, baby."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She grins at him, enjoying that idea, scrambling onto all fours. It takes him a few seconds longer to get on his knees, properly balanced, "Toss me the lube?" It's on his right side, closer to Breena than his left hand, so she hands it over, and he dribbles a little more on Abby's ass, gently rubbing it all over her before slipping back in with a hiss. "Feel good?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah," she moans back. She's facing Jimmy and Breena, palms on the bed between Breena's legs, swaying back and forth gently against Tim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What would feel better, baby?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I get to pick this time?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, whatever you like. Long as this one can end with Jimmy and I getting off, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy moans as he says that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She straightens up and kisses him, slow and deep, then says, "Party ends when you get off."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Then you better get all the bang you can for this one." He pushes her down again and bends to kiss the small of her back, as his fingers find her clit again, once more touching with very light, soft touches.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Daisy chain, all of us together."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles, kissing her back again, speeding up just a little. "On your elbows." She lowers herself down a bit. "Perfect. Just right. Jimmy's on his side, facing you, dick about an inch from your nose."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim and Abby watch Jimmy shift into position as well. His dick is about an inch from Abby's nose, if she stuck her tongue out, she'd lick him. And Breena knows where she goes, moving to Jimmy's face. He pillows his head on her thigh and begins to lick, fingers deep in her, no teasing, not real finesse, they're both way too turned on to play with this.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How would you do it? Hold him in your hand and then suck him down fast and deep?" They watch Jimmy grab a hold of himself, firm grip, and then begin a slow, steady stroke, knuckles almost grazing Abby's lips.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"God, yeah," Abby moans, and Jimmy shudders, able to feel her breath on his dick. "All the way down. Then pull up, sucking, just let my teeth stroke over him, no bite, but smooth sharp slide."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim thrusts a little faster at that. "God, I wanna see you do that. You watching him on Breena? See the way he's kissing her?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby moans at that, and Breena does, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Feel good Breena? Like his fingers in you, tongue on you? Want my tongue on you, too? Want me sucking your nipples while he licks your clit?" Breena whimpers, and Jimmy licks faster, holding the base of his cock, tight, not moving his hand at all.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim knows what that hold means, knows how turned on they all are right now, and when Breena starts to twitch he almost loses it, he feels the build in his balls, and he's so close but, not yet… He's got no idea what he's waiting for or why but, not yet.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy pulls back from Breena, face shiny, wet, fingers wet, too, he holds two of them up in front of Abby's mouth. "She's sweetest right when she cums, wanna taste?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And Abby does, she licks her tongue down Jimmy's fingers and then sucks them into her mouth, moaning at the taste, and that does it. Tim's thrusting hard, gone at the sight of that, of Jimmy's fingers in her mouth, wet and slick with Breena's cum, Abby's lips red and wet and wrapped around him, sucking as she moans like it's the most delicious thing she's ever had in her mouth. Tim's coming so hard he can barely see, even though his eyes are open.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's still sparking with pleasure, sweaty and tingling, but watching, can't not watch, can't close his eyes, can't miss what comes next. Abby's rubbing herself off now, he's too gone to do much other than watch. He can see that sight alone, Abby sucking his fingers, Tim getting off on it, almost tipped Jimmy over. There's a thin line of precum oozing down his dick, and his whole body is bowstring tight. Then Breena sits up, licking his dick from base to tip, flicking her tongue off the tip, then shifting again, just a few inches, and kisses Abby, full-on tongue kiss, slipping her Jimmy's precum while pumping his cock, and Jimmy's gone, lost, shouting at how good that feels and how good it looks, and that sets Abby off, her body quaking on his as Jimmy spurts onto Breena's arm and hand, and if Tim could have multiple orgasms that would have done it for him, but he can't, so there's just this incredible, warm rush of holy shit that's the hottest thing I've ever seen.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
For a few moments, there's just lying there, wet and sticky, breathing hard, high on endorphins and sex. Then there's a very slow mosey toward the bathroom for clean-up, followed by crashing into bed.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The last thing Tim thinks before falling asleep is that it's probably a very good thing tonight's the last night here, because there's no way, if they were going to be here tomorrow night, they wouldn't all end up fucking each other.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-424-deep.html">Next</a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-74745921257513131392015-02-28T19:09:00.001-08:002015-02-28T19:09:51.270-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 422: SkinMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
422: Skin<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
After lunch, Tim heads back into the house. The girls are getting their long nap, and Abby decides to join them. Jimmy and Breena are laying around on the porch along with Ducky and Penny. Abbi and Ziva are cooking. Gibbs and Tony are lurking about the kitchen keeping them company, occasionally being put to use for prep cook work, chopping up ingredients or measuring things out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
For a moment, Tim's watching, he's not sure what the girls are doing, but he's got the feeling he's going to like it. He can smell yeasty-bready things, and there's some sort of tomato concoction bubbling away on the stove, and Ziva's mixing up some sort of meat thing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Pasta?" he asks.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/grilled-pizza02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/grilled-pizza02.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No!" Abbi says, smiling. "Grilled pizza. Tomato sauce is cooking, fresh mozzarella's in the fridge. Ziva's mixing up some kosher sausage."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles at that. "I don't tell either of you how awesome you are nearly often enough!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That gets some laughing from both girls.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Anyway, if I can pry you away for a moment," he says to Abbi, "and if you were to just happen to leave your laptop open and on, maybe I can get something useful for you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi nods, washing her hands. "That's worth it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It reminds him of some of his most content moments as part of Gibbs' team. He's on the sofa, laptop in his lap, working away (Slowly, but, and this surprised him, he is coping pretty well with two fingers not typing, having his thumb, ring finger, and pinky back is actually helpful.) digging through layers of data and metadata, listening to the rest of his team (plus Abbi) working away, joking and playing a bit.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's a lot like a really good paperwork day. Happy people chattering around him while he does something uniquely him and useful.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
By the time he feels like he's got a pretty good handle on what's going on at CGIS, even better smells are drifting out of the kitchen, and off the porch, where the girls have the grill running and apparently Gibbs has been enlisted to do something involving fire, meat, and… and honestly Tim doesn't know what all else is going on, just that he smells something sweet and smoky, and approves greatly.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You at a good breaking point?" Tim asks Abbi.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods. "Yeah. Nothing to do on the pizza until we get the crust on the coals. Jethro's keeping the pie and sausages company, making sure nothing scorches, Ziva, you've got ice cream, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You're making ice cream and pie?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They nod and smile. Ziva's looking really happy. "Fresh peaches and blackberries the size of Kelly's hands. Glossy black, bursting ripe, and taste like sweet wine."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And you didn't save any for me?" Tim says, mock appalled.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva holds up a wooden pint basket, showing Tim that there are, in fact, a few of the berries left, with his name on them. Abbi finishes washing her hands, and grabs them, heading over to where Tim's sitting in the living room.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"There was a dairy stand with local cream, butter, and the mozzarella," Ziva continues. "Tomatoes are in season. Gorgeous basil. One vendor had free-range chicken and eggs. So, yes. Grilled pizza, with homemade sauce and chicken sausage. Peach-blackberry pie, cooked on the embers from smoking the sausage."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Scoops of ice cream on top," Abbi adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It is more peach sorbet than ice cream," Ziva clarifies. "We had more peaches than we needed for the pie, so, freeze the extras, then into the blender with the cream, a few basil leaves, little vanilla extract, and we've got a no sugar-added dessert for Jimmy."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Which I appreciate," Jimmy calls out from the porch.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"S'mores on top of that…" Gibbs grins, sitting on Abbi's other side as she sits next to Tim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thought you were on the grill." Abbi says.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://gaaarp.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/beautiful-blackberry.jpg?w=477" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://gaaarp.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/beautiful-blackberry.jpg?w=477" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://gaaarp.wordpress.com/tag/blackberry/">Huge berries</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I deputized Duck to handle it." He snatches the berry that Tim hadn't eaten. "Gonna be a good night. When the girls wake up, we'll go on our driftwood hunt."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, basically, the plan of this weekend is to see exactly how fat you can get all of us?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Fat and happy!" Abbi says. "On a less happy front," she looks at her computer, and he nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Less happy is right. So, every time you do something on your computer, it doesn't just do whatever it is, it makes records of it, too. Sort of like how you can't walk on the beach without leaving tracks."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Metadata, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods and smiles. "So, for those months where you've got no files, you've also got no metadata. There's nothing. At all."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's what they said before."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. So, here's what this is telling me, whoever did this wants me to think no files were ever made."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Think?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Look, there have to be records." He's pointing at a screen that's supposed to show payments rendered from CGIS from October of 2011. "You guys got paid, right? You expensed things and money came back to you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How did that happen?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Depended on what it was and who you were. Cash for little things. Direct deposit for bigger things. Checks if that's what you preferred."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You guys have credit cards for bigger things?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi nods on that, too. "Some of us do. I used to have one. Spend four nights out of seven on the road and it's just easier to use their card than to keep receipts for everything."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's how we work, too. So, on the most basic level, it is absolutely impossible that entire quarters could go by without any records being made. I mean, you don't even have bank statements here. And I really doubt VISA or whoever does your cards went months without getting paid. Whoever cleared this out wanted it to look like your boss was just a screw up, didn't keep records, and for all I know that could be true, but it's also true that records got wiped out of here. This is way too empty for just bad bookkeeping."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Wonderful, now what?" Abbi says, dryly.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm emailing you, on your personal account, what needs to go to IA, what conclusions the 'independent investigator' you've got looking at this is drawing, and I'm going to suggest that you need to make hard copies of this, and mail it priority, sign on receipt, to whoever is in charge of your IA department, personally, so when this blows up you can show copies of what you sent, to whom, along with the receipt of them having gotten it. That should keep you covered, and yes, first thing when you get back in, get those forensic accountants on the job. Someone with access to your bank accounts will hopefully have an easier time figuring out where your money went."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Any idea who cleaned everything up?" Abbi asks Tim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shakes his head. "Best I can give you what computer did the wiping, and I did, it's in the email, but… These got wiped clean more than three years ago. That computer may not exist any longer. Or it may, but the person using it…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi nods, she understands. "So, if I'm insanely lucky that computer belongs to someone who is still working for us, and used it to do that."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"But you aren't that lucky, because whoever did this knew enough to clean the metadata, too. So, if that computer still exists, and is still in the possession of someone at CGIS—"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's not going to be the someone who wiped clean my records."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, handing Abbi's computer back to her. It's only once he's doing that that he starts to feel a little bad about this, hoping that he didn't just start up the 'crime solving' itch that's going to screw Gibbs and Abbi's vacation. But she takes the computer from him, skims the email he sent her, adds her own note to it, and then fires it off to IA.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We gonna be somewhere there's a post office on Monday?" she asks Gibbs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Quick detour Monday then to get this mailed out and the rest can wait until I get back, Wednesday morning." Both Tim and Gibbs look a bit surprised by that. "I haven't taken a real vacation in years. I'm taking one now. So, McGee, what do I owe you for your 'independent investigating?'"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs, no one's ever offered to pay him for his extracurricular computer work before. "Pizza crust recipe?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'd give you that, anyway. No, real cash. If I've hired an 'Independent investigator' to look at my problem, I need to actually hire you. Don't want IA thinking this looks off."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh… um… what do people in the real world get paid for stuff like this…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi shrugs, not like she's ever hired for someone like this before. "What's your hourly rate at NCIS?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He thinks that through and blushes a bit. "Let's call it two hundred dollars for two and a half hours."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi raises an eyebrow, that sounds a bit lower than what she assumes Tim makes as a Director, more on par with what she makes as a Division Head, but maybe they do things different at NCIS. Or maybe he's counting the hours he actually works as opposed to the hours he's supposed to work. She'll ask Gibbs about it when Tim's not around, because he's not looking comfortable getting into it in detail.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Look who's up!" Abby says as she heads down the steps, holding Molly's hand with Kelly riding her hip. "Anna's still snoozing, but probably not for long, she was making little chirpy getting ready to wake up noises when we decided it was time to come down."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Molly scrambles up into Gibbs' lap. "S'mores?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Soon. Driftwood time. We've got to go find the wood to make the fire with. Think your Daddy wants to come along and help with that?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm in!" Tony adds. "Unless you need more stuff cut up?" he asks Ziva.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We are good for dinner. Breena!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena heads in.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Do you and Abby want to feed the girls first, then S'mores and bonfire, then Shabbos dinner at sunset, or Shabbos early, followed by bonfire?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby shrugs. "Don't think it matters much for Kelly. Molly's the one really looking forward to this, Breena?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Is dinner for all of us early a problem? I'm thinking for everyone involved it's probably easier to eat all at once, and then head down to the beach. Then we can enjoy the fire as long as we want."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva nods. "I can work with that. Abbi?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'll put the crusts on the grill at 4:45, we'll be ready to eat by 5:30, plenty of playtime after for Gibbs and the girls, and then bedtime and adults by the fire."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And thus, with a plan, everyone broke off.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://40.media.tumblr.com/35fee84fb41706873d8414b44f65c5ce/tumblr_msxta895sa1qzbkabo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://40.media.tumblr.com/35fee84fb41706873d8414b44f65c5ce/tumblr_msxta895sa1qzbkabo1_500.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://kerylraist.tumblr.com/post/63426683340/dinozzotakeziva-easylion">Molly on the beach</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Gibbs has his arms full of pieces of driftwood. Molly's running all over the beach grabbing pieces for him. Tony's off a bit, stacking them up, getting them into burn position. Jimmy's got Anna in the snuggli on his chest, standing next to Gibbs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Doing it with a water pistol from ten feet away doesn't count as sniping," Jethro says quietly to Jimmy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy laughs a little. "Uh huh. Your guard was down and you didn't have a clue it was coming. I know it doesn't count for the shot, but…" Jimmy grins at him. "It was fun. And I had to get through an entire breakfast with you and all the rest of the family, with it on my back, and not let on something was up. I thought that was good practice."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs smiles at that. "You're right, it was."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Plus, I set it up so I was at the sink, behind you, water on, to cover the sound of me pulling it out, taking advantage of the fact that I like wearing my shirts open on vacation, so none of you suspected, and I still had easy access."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You set it up good, for a water gun fight. For real… too close, no escape route… Getting out clean's more important than hitting the target."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods a bit. "I know. But three years ago, I'm not sure I could have set up a good water pistol ambush, let alone done it without telegraphing I was going to do it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah." Gibbs agrees with that. He heard some stores of Jimmy and laser tag and his lack of skills. "You're learning." Then Gibbs grins. "Got all day tomorrow and Sunday morning to show you how to do it right."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's smirking at that. "Uh huh. You can try."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shoves him on the shoulder. Jimmy laughs.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's not a traditional Shabbos dinner. The bread they're breaking is actually three grilled pizzas. Sunset's still two hours off. The "wine" is the sugar-free vanilla soda that Breena makes and Jimmy loves. And, technically, the two pizzas with sausage aren't kosher.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But that doesn't matter much. It's the Sabbath, and a day of rest and celebration and thanksgiving is definitely in the cards.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The candles are lit, flickering softly in their cups, along with tiki torches, and sure, the sun's still up, but somehow fire makes things feel more intimate.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The prayers have been said, and blessings given.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Hands are washed, bread is broken. The Sabbath is in full swing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There's a little lull in the conversation. Ducky had finished telling a story about his adventures in Naples. (Birthplace of pizza, at least, Tim thinks that's how they got onto this.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva looks at Tony and smiles, and he grins back at her. "So, we have news," he says, smile threatening to split his face. Everyone else is smiling, too, they all know where this is going.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"As you have all figured out, I am pregnant!" Ziva says, glowing at them. "If all goes well, come the beginning of April, we'll be adding another place to the table."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That gets a lot of happy noise. Congratulations offered, and hugs. Abby woops at it, and Breena is giggling with happiness.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky's chuckling, and Penny's grinning, shaking her head. "Oh, Lord, five babies under the age of three and a half. This crew is going to be a handful."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Can you imagine when we've got the house done, say Christmas five years from now, all of them bounding around the house high as kites on sugar and excitement, presents all over the place?" Abbi adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs is grinning at that, not just the image of it, but that Abbi's seeing his/their family five years from now.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Might need another dog," Gibbs adds with a smile, "something that herds. Keep 'em all in one place."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby claps her hand over Gibbs' mouth. "Don't you dare say that! Mona's doing a great job of herding babies. You apologize to her!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Mona, who had been laying on the porch, right at the sliding glass door, looks up at the mention of her name, but no one's offering food, so she goes back to snoozing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"She knows I'm foolin' with her."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Are we finding out if it's a boy or girl?" Penny asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony shrugs. Ziva doesn't. "He wants to know. I do not. But we still have a while to decide. The test they did for you… That was earlier than usual, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods. "Yeah, instead of taking a peek with the ultrasound, this is a DNA test. Do you have your first OB appointment, yet?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No. We're going to make it when we get home," Tony says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I don't know if there's a deadline, but we were at eleven weeks when we went in." Abby replies, then says to Ziva, "So, it looks like you're feeling good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva smiles at that, too. "A little sleepy, and a little more sensitive, but otherwise, yes, feeling good. Of course, I am also only a month pregnant."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The girls laugh at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's looking at Ziva and starts to say, "How long… Are you planning on… Uh… What are your thoughts on maternity leave?" He stumbles a bit looking for a PC way to ask that question.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny smiles, approving of his effort.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I do not know for sure. Right now I feel fine, so working is not an issue. If that changes… I do not think it is fair, or safe, for the rest of the team if I cannot bring my A game to the field. It is one thing to be tired for a day or two, another thing to feel like you're going to fall asleep at any moment for weeks at a time, and if you have to throw up six times a day…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena and Abby are nodding along. "Yeah, your job, cat naps, and morning sickness don't go along together well," Abby says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Let alone trying to run someone down when your joints go all loose and your balance goes sideways." Breena adds. "But, that's not a problem for everyone, I mean…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva nods. "I know. So… I don't know how long I'm staying, but…" and though Tony and Gibbs know this, it's not something she's said to anyone else in this crew. "But after, I'm not going back."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That gets a few seconds of shocked quiet, followed by, "Oh… wow!" from Breena.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Then, "That's so cool!" from Abby. "Stay at home mom… For good, or…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I think for good. I've been ready for a change for a while now. It's time to dedicate life to nurturing life. Eventually she'll… and maybe a little brother or sister or both," she's beaming a smile at Tony, "will be in school, and I'll be looking for something else, but while they are still babies, I'd like to be home."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's watching Tony as Ziva's saying this, and he catches a bit of panic in the back of his eyes, but it's not nearly as bad as he would have expected it to be. Granted, he expected this to be curl into a ball, rocking back and forth whimpering in the bathroom, full on panic attack, so the fact that he's still sitting there, looking calm-ish, and mostly happy and insanely proud, is a very big step.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He watches Penny, wondering what she's thinking. She hasn't said anything and right now her face is unreadable. He gets the sense that she's going to want to talk to Ziva alone, make sure she's not feeling pressured into doing anything, but… But he doesn't know.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
In that Abbi and Ziva cooked, they do not have to do dishes. So, shortly after dinner breaks, they head to the beach for lighting the fire.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny offers to head down with them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They're about four steps out of the house when she asks, "Do you really want to be a stay at home mom? It can be… so limiting and dull and… Just, don't let anyone pressure you into it." It's clear that by anyone she's thinking Tony or Gibbs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva smiles at Penny. "No one expects me to be a stay at home mom. If it is limiting and dull and I do not like it, no one will give me any trouble about going back to work. Sure, I will not have my space on Tony's team. He will have to hire someone to replace me when I leave, but I will not find it difficult to find work. And… like with McGee and Abby, one of us should have a safe nine-to-five job if we have children at home."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Are you sure? Men can be-"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Penny, it's not about that. If anything, Tony would prefer I kept working." They've gotten to the wood, and Ziva starts messing with the matches, looking to put this into words.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm done. I've been done for a while. I still love the job, and I'm good at it, but, it's not my life anymore. And more than that, I do not want it to be my life anymore."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi's listening quietly to this, looking to learn more about Ziva, and Penny's watching her intently as she speaks, making sure she's not rationalizing and internalizing external pressure.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Death has always been part of my life. I was thirteen when Tali was killed. By fifteen, my parent's marriage was dead. At eighteen, I was in the army and had killed my first man. Twenty, I was working for my father, traveling all over the world, killing people because they needed to die. I was twenty-three when my father made me my half-brother's control officer, hoping to keep him tied to our side, and before that year was over, I had killed him. That was the first turning point, I was done being an agent of death. I started working with NCIS and became someone who preserved life. But on our best days, we save what is already there. Most days we sweep up the shards of someone else's shattered life. That is important, and vital, and honorable, and necessary. It is a good job, a good life, but as I told Gibbs, we preserve, but we don't create, and I want to create. I want to focus on life, and living, and make things, make people. I've been dedicated to death for a long time, Penny, and now… I'm done. So, perhaps not today or tomorrow, but when I leave NCIS I'm not going back." Ziva smiles at her. "I'm going to help Gibbs work on our home, the one for Tony and the baby and I, and the one for our family. I'm going to learn how to take real pictures, something I've always wanted to do, but never got to. I'm going to get fat and sassy and waddle around with this child growing inside of me and eat ice cream and work on building a nursery and a home." She's got tears in her eyes as she says that. "I'm going to be alive, and I'm going to dedicate myself to growing things, people, love." Ziva blinks at that. "I'm going back, to the little girl I was, and the woman she thought she would be. I'm getting the life that was stolen from me by a bomber in 1997."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny nods, hugging Ziva close, and quietly says to her, "L'chaim, Ziva."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Exactly, Penny."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi's standing there, not sure how or what to do, for a second, and then Ziva grabs her and pulls her into the hug, too.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
If there's anything cuter than Gibbs kneeling on the sand, his arms around Molly, as she holds a long stick with a marshmallow on the end, at first too far away, and then too close to the fire, giggling happily as it toasts and then bursts into flame, no one sitting around the fire knows what it would be.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The girls are in the house, putting babies to bed, and Gibbs grabs something out of the bag he had with him. Something that isn't chocolate or marshmallows or a tennis ball for Mona.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ohhh…" Tony says, looking at the very good bottle of scotch.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Indeed," Ducky adds as Gibbs opens it. "I don't suppose you've got some glasses in there, Jethro?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shakes his head, takes a sip, and then passes it to Tony. "Got this the day you told me you were going to ask Ziva to marry you. Been holding onto it, waiting for the day all of my boys were Dads."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony hands it to Tim, who takes a small sip. He knows what Jimmy's got planned for him, already taken the Percocet, so he can't have too much alcohol, and this is a hell of a lot stronger than the wine he's had with the pain killer before.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's good though. Scotch is his hard drink of choice, and this is smooth and dark with a bit of smoke (made more intense by sitting in front of a fire) and just rolls down his throat. "Thinking of us drinking this by a fire?" he asks Gibbs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Picturing it at my house, in front of the fire place, but this works, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim hands it over to Jimmy, who has a somewhat larger swallow, but also isn't going overboard. Tim's just got to keep from ODing, he's got to keep enough of his brain and fine motor control in place to do delicate work.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Nice!" Jimmy says, handing it to Ducky.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky almost looks like he's uncomfortable with drinking from the bottle, but then he winks at Jethro and takes a healthy swig. "To the next generation!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs takes the bottle back from Ducky and takes another swig. He lifts the bottle to each Tony, Tim, and Jimmy, and then says, "To the boys you were, the men you've become, and the children you're going to raise."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And maybe it's the drugs he's on, but that actually makes Tim's eyes tear up a bit.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony takes the bottle again, and adds, "To our wives, who make all of this possible, and who will likely be back in a few minutes and laugh themselves silly at this."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim chuckles at that, and the rest of them are laughing, too. He finds the bottle in his hand and takes another small sip. Just enough to get the flavor on his tongue. "To the men who are showing us what being a good Dad looks like."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He hands it over to Jimmy, who takes another drink, and shakes his head. "Great, leave me last… Um…" He grins. "'Blah, blah, blah, alcohol is fun.'" Then he winks at them, and Tim's got the feeling that he's supposed to know what that was in reference to, but he doesn't. Jimmy takes another sip, and says, seriously, "To the love that binds us, that made a bunch of strangers into co-workers, co-workers into friends, and friends into family." He takes one more swallow. "And to the loves we have not yet met, the children yet to come, and our loves who have passed away." He takes one last drink on that, and passes the bottle to Ducky.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky sips again, and says, "Amen." Then his eyes slip further up the beach, toward the house. "And I believe the ladies are about to rejoin us."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The girls were heading down, and they did join them, and soon they were lounging around the fire passing the bottle, toasting marshmallows, enjoying each other. Tim thinks, as he's sitting on a little folding chair, Abby between his legs, resting back against his chest (he took the time to undo the sling and rearrange his arm so she can nestle in) as flames and sparks jump to the darkening sky, his whole family laughing and joking around him, that this is what contentment is.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And then they were back in their room. Tim's sure something, like walking up to the house, happened between these things, but, Percocet and alcohol, beyond being in an excellent mood, he's fuzzy on the details. And Jimmy was working on ripping his arm out of its socket, (releasing the joint) and he's thinking that this, no matter how much he needs it, and how useful it is, is not contentment.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Apparently he said something less than complimentary about the whole situation, because Jimmy responded with, "Like I said last time, you trying to get me to just oil you up and play with you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No. Want you to oil Breena up and play with her," that popped out long before Tim's brain got a chance to provide any input.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's staring at Breena; then he grins at her, and she smiles back. "That can probably be arranged."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And once his arm was done, it was, and yes, Tim (and Abby) enjoyed watching it, and it certainly looked like Jimmy and Breena had a good time with it, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And, all in all, (even if he is fairly fuzzy on the details) Tim would highly recommend sex with your wife, watching your best friends, high as a kite on endorphins and euphorics after an excellent meal with everyone you love.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy wakes with a jerk, not sure what he's hearing, just that it's setting off his 'someone's hurt, gotta help' sensors. He's practically out of the bed before it occurs to him that he's not hearing either of the girls.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
No, the crying, and… yeah, those are words, are coming from a much deeper, but broken and quiet, voice, a whole lot closer than the closet.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He looks over and sees that Tim's crying, cursing in his sleep, and Abby's wrapped around him, rocking him gently, making soft, soothing sounds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Stop that fucking crying!" His voice is soft, murmured, but very intense.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Shhh…" She's whispering it, lips near his ear. "Come on Tim, you're dreaming, shift out of it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Only babies and fags cry!" He's shuddering and crying between words.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Shhh… You're dreaming, Tim. You're safe in bed. Come on, baby, shift out of it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's not sure what to do. Abby's holding onto him from behind, cuddled around him, murmuring softly to him. He takes Tim's clenched left hand and gently works on relaxing his fingers.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim goes quiet, but Jimmy can see from the tension in his face and shoulders that he's just not sharing what's going on with the wider world, he hasn't slipped into dreamless sleep.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Should we wake him up?" he asks Abby, also keeping his voice in a low whisper.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No. He'll remember the dreams if he wakes up. I just try to slide him out of them."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Of course it hurts. It's supposed to hurt. Stop being a little cunt and take it like a man."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I've got you, Tim, shhhh… shhhh… You're safe and in bed. Pull out of it, baby."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's holding his hand, but it doesn't feel like enough. He can see the tension on Tim's face, the tears. He can see the child Tim must have been, crying, cringing in terror. Jimmy's free hand comes up to Tim's face, and he gently wipes away the tears, lightly stroking over his cheek and forehead. "You're okay, Tim. You're home and safe, and we've got you. Time to go back to sleeping, okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
More quiet, face still tense, fear still wrought large over his body, Jimmy can even smell it. Abby's still rocking him cooing softly at him, then Tim shudders all over, sighs, snuggles in closer to her, and relaxes completely.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She lifts her head a little, half-smiling at Jimmy. "He's okay now."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How often does this happen?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Only about twice a week, now."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"PT nights?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods. "Muscles hold memories, feelings, get them open and moving again, and it shifts what's in your head, too. Every time we've done this, he's had nightmares after."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Shit." Jimmy's ready to kick himself about that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No. He needs his arm working, and I think… I don't know. I think this is processing for him, too. I think this is stuff he still can't let himself deal with when he's awake."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Great."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby shrugs. It is what it is. And the only direction they've got is through it. There's one other thing going on, too, namely pregnant bladder and right now she's really got to go. That's what woke her up in the first place. "Look, I've got to pee, you got him for a few minutes?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby carefully shifts Tim over, and Jimmy takes hold of him. Cuddling him in a full body hug.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
If anyone had ever suggested that there would be a day when he'd be naked, in bed, Breena on one side, an equally naked, sleeping Tim, on the other, wrapped in his arms, he would have laughed so long and hard he would have been in danger of rupturing both lungs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It does feel weird, and a little uncomfortable (though Tim doesn't appear to mind or have noticed that it's not Abby snuggling him) but Jimmy likes to think of himself as the kind of guy who can go the extra mile to do what his friends need when they need it, and he'd hate to think that he couldn't provide a hug when a hug is needed.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Especially if (and he hears the toilet flush) said hug is only needed for two minutes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby gets back, and snuggles in front of Tim (between him and Jimmy, which makes Jimmy feel more comfortable again) and Tim gloms onto her the same way the girls do with their favorite, most beloved stuffed animals.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's facing Jimmy, and she takes his hand in hers, squeezing gently. "Thanks. I know that was weird for you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy shrugs a bit and squeezes her hand back. "All part of the job."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles at him, closes her eyes, yawns, and very quickly drops back off to sleep.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy doesn't drift off that quickly. He's not sure what he's thinking or feeling, just… how strange is it to love someone so intensely that you will happily kill someone for him, but to feel odd about holding him… Holding him naked. He's hugged Tim, and that's never been a problem, and when they lost Jon, he slept with Tim and Abby holding him, and that was fine, but they were dressed.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Somehow that mattered. Skin… skin's taboo. They can touch as long as it's not skin to skin. They can look as long as they don't touch. He remembers Breena saying something about how much easier this, whatever this is, will be if the two of them can be physically close without flipping out…</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He didn't flip out. He's fairly sure it wasn't scary on any level. It's just a touch, skin on skin. But skin means sex… Except it doesn't. He sleeps naked with Breena most nights, and most of that sleeping is just close, skin to skin touch. He's got no problem cuddling his girls when he and they are naked. That's skin, but it's not sex.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And hugging Tim isn't sex. Really not sex. It's just comfort. Just skin on skin and warmth and another body holding you close when you hurt.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy feels… he's not sure, something, bad isn't quite it, unsettled, that's probably closer to right, about the fact that this matters to him. It's just skin. Why should it matter? His… Tim... (He still doesn't know what Tim is to him. More than a friend, that much he knows, but beyond that, he doesn't have a good word for this relationship.) is hurting, and needs comfort, and if he'd been dressed he would have held him without so much as a second thought.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But it does matter. And he's not sure what to do about that. He thinks about it, and decided it would matter to Tim, too. Reverse the situation, and Tim would hold him if he needed it, but, both of them naked and touching would make him pause, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's as curled around Abby as he can get. She's on her side, snugged up against his chest, and he's got her flush against him, leg over hers, left arm under her neck, face pressed against her shoulder, totally cuddled into her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But his hand is in reach. Jimmy shifts around a bit, feeling Breena return to her usual spot snuggled into his left side. He kisses her, and then reaches over, taking Tim's left hand in his right, just holding it, getting used to touching him, skin on skin.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Eventually, he drifts off.<br />
<br />
Next</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-65880938634010351642015-02-28T17:25:00.001-08:002015-02-28T19:10:57.439-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 421: Thinking TimeMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
421: Thinking Time<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim wakes up to the feel of the bed shifting next to him. Strange sensation. He's familiar with the feel of Abby getting in or out of the bed, but usually, if it's rocking like it is now, he's having sex, but he's not having sex. (He might be pretty sleepy, but he's awfully clear on that.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
As he comes a bit more awake, he notices that not only is he not having sex, he's also not snuggled up against anyone else.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, if he's alone, the bed should be still, because he knows he's not the one rocking.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Which is when the whole, not in the bed all alone thing hit, as well as why the bed is rocking.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's lying on his side, and one eye lazes open, seeing Jimmy and Breena making love about ten inches away.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's beautiful. He feels a little dumb thinking that, but it is. She's on top, rocking back and forth, breasts and buttocks swaying with each thrust, sunlight gleaming on her skin and hair.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's on his back, hands on her hips, guiding her, watching her, looking at her with such tenderness, love, and desire.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She leans down, kissing him, lips open, wet, moving faster.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They're both being quiet. (Baby girls are still, thank you God, sleeping.) Their moves are soft, comfortable, well-practiced, and beautiful.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That's really the only word he can think of for it. Okay, not the only one. Erotic springs to mind, too. But lots of things are erotic but not necessarily beautiful, but this is.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's hitting him that he's never actually seen someone else make love before. Yes, last night they were watching each other, at the club they were watching, but that was putting on a show. Getting off on being watched, pulling out all the tricks (quietly), trying to look good as well as feel good.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That was about all four of them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
This is Jimmy and Breena, and them loving each other. And, for a little bit, at least, he's getting to share in on that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He feels Abby slide back into the bed, snugging in front of him, so they're spooned together, and she can watch, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Where'd you go?" He practically breathes it against her ear.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Pregnant bladder," she whispers back. Just because Sean's the size of a golf ball doesn't mean that her bladder knows that. It's under the impression that she needs to pee the first second she wakes up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sorry."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She shrugs, rubbing up against him in a fairly deliberate way.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You up for this?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods, and rocks against him. "I can feel you are."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles against the back of her neck, kissing gently. With his right arm in the sling and his right shoulder still healing, he can't, yet, lay on his right side. Which means, if they're spooning, like they are now, his functional arm is on the bottom, under Abby's neck. Which means his left hand isn't doing her all that much good.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He can't get it anywhere that really needs to be touched in this position.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's mostly taking care of herself, and watching Jimmy and Breena, who are moving faster, kissing deeper, is ramping them up, too. He's kissing her back, nibbling on her neck and shoulder, rubbing the tip of his dick over her clit as much as he can. (Also a bit tricky from behind without hands.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She shifts her angle, and he slips in. She's not all the way turned on, still a little dry, so more friction than usual and he hisses, biting her shoulder gently. Slick is good, slick is very good, but so is tight friction.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He thrusts gently, short, shallow strokes, and he manages to get his left hand to her breast, rolling her nipple between his fingers.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Wet comes, slick joins it, he's moving easier, slipping in and out, shallow thrusts, getting her g-spot over and over, feeling her fingers brushing against his dick as she rubs herself off.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Morning sex, since the addition of Kelly to the mix, is fast. Not necessarily fast as in frantic thrusting, but not drawn out. No multiple orgasms, and neither of them tries to spin the other out. It's usually, when they manage to get some, done in less than ten minutes. Just a happy, gentle boost to set and hold a good mood for the day.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And today's not an exception to that rule.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
When he feels her go tight on him, he lets go, thrusting faster, deeper, trusting her to get herself there with him, and she does, body sweet and pulsing around his as his pleasure arcs through him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's blissful and quiet, enjoying her warm and wet and gently twitching on him, watching the fine hairs on her shoulder, and the way the sun lights her skin, when the fact that Jimmy and Breena just watched that hit.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Watched them have real sex, not put on a show.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It feels okay.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Feels better than okay, really. Maybe it's the post-sex oxytocin pulsing through him, but he's really pleased at the idea that they got to share that with them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Can you reach the tissues?" For a second, he wonders why Abby's asking because there's no possible way for him to reach anything. The only arm that reaches is currently wrapped around her from beneath. Then he realizes that she's asking Jimmy, who can, and does.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A few seconds later, she's off of him, and they're wiping up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A second after that, Anna begins to chirp, and morning really begins.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://41.media.tumblr.com/94d3c1ce0e7735085db2deb4b8779fbb/tumblr_mjbkpqeN871r1iv4bo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://41.media.tumblr.com/94d3c1ce0e7735085db2deb4b8779fbb/tumblr_mjbkpqeN871r1iv4bo1_500.jpg" height="229" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://kerylraist.tumblr.com/post/105576521603">Molly and Kelly waking up</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Sharing the room is intimate beyond just the scorching hot sex level. Once Anna's up, Breena heads over to fetch her, and the quiet, every-day morning routines begin.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's sitting on the bed, back against the headboard, still naked, and nursing Anna.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim unstraps his arm and starts his morning PT. These days he double times it. Getting his foot exercises and stretches in while he works with his arm. So, stupid though he thinks it looks, he's standing next to the bed, rising onto his toes and down again (both feet at once) and then moving onto standing on just the one foot, while working on raising and lowering his arm, moving it in every direction.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's eyeing his progress as he's changing Molly's diaper, nodding along. "We working on you tonight?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That's their usual Saturday and Wednesday nights right now.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hoping to be doing something more interesting Saturday night?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Got the house to ourselves for the evening, we can tuck the girls in Jethro and Abbi's room and make all the noise we want, so, yeah!" Breena adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly starts her morning chirping and Abby, wrapping up her tooth brushing, goes to grab her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, Molly, you're all set," Jimmy tells his daughter. "I want you to go get a bathing suit and a t-shirt, okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes, Daddy."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy heads to the bathroom, washes his hands, and then comes back out. He opens a drawer in one of the bedside tables and takes… Tim's not sure what it is. Jimmy can feel the way Tim's watching him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Blood sugar. I have to check it every night and every morning. And if I go overboard on the carbs, I need to check it again."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh." Tim watches as Jimmy pokes himself in the arm. "Didn't know you did that."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy shrugs. "Try to be discreet with it." He waits a few seconds. "Eighty-six."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Is that good?" Abby asks, getting Kelly changed and dressed.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena nods. "Yeah, it's supposed to be between seventy and one hundred first thing in the morning."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy adds, "Those are 'normal' levels. It was over 600 when I slipped into the coma that got me diagnosed."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Did you check it last night?" Abby asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, while we were talking." He shrugs a little. "If you've never seen it before, it can be off-putting, so…" <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Didn't think whipping it out when we were getting ready for sex was a good plan,</span> is unspoken but they all get it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh." Abby says. "It's fine, you know? Don't ever have to feel like you've got to hide this stuff, okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "Not from us, not from the rest of the crew, either. Not like anyone's going to pass out from that microliter of blood."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy smirks, and then says, a bit more seriously, "It's not that… Don't want to be treated like I'm fragile. Special diet is enough crap… Don't need you all constantly aware that I'm sick. I prefer you not thinking about it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim opens and closes his mouth. He hadn't thought much about that, not in regards to Jimmy, because he doesn't usually think about Jimmy being sick, but with people carrying things, and opening doors, and all the rest of the special treatment he's been getting lately, he's certainly aware of how good it feels to just be normal and invisible.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
For the most part, Tim would very much prefer to have two perfectly working arms, thank you very much. However, there is a certain amount of babying he's been getting that he is appreciating, and right now, Abby shampooing his hair is his favorite of the bunch. Morning sex, getting to watch Jimmy and Breena, and his hair washed, he's liking this quite a bit.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ae/9e/6b/ae9e6b889a919efbd1373d37bb599711.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ae/9e/6b/ae9e6b889a919efbd1373d37bb599711.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/206461964137967856/">Hog Wild</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Add to that the fact that when the Slaters built this place, they went hog wild on the bathroom, so the shower is not only huge but has multiple shower heads, and yes, he is one very happy Tim. (He's also thinking that when they re-do their bathroom, they are definitely getting multiple shower heads, and that this is going on the list of things that will be true about their bathroom at the house, as well. As best he can remember, the last time he and Abby were able to get a shower, together, and no one was out of the water, freezing his/her ass off, was their honeymoon.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, he's sitting on the floor of the shower (easier for Abby to reach all his hair, and hey, plenty of room, so why not), eyes closed, when he feels a draft and hears Abby saying, 'Hi.'</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
One eye peeks open, and now Breena is in the shower, too, which… Okay, he guesses that makes a certain amount of sense. Jimmy's apparently on making sure someone is awake and in the room with babies, so now would be a good time for Breena to get a shower, too, and after all, it's not like they've never seen her naked or anything.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They didn't specifically say anything about this, but he figures Jimmy has to know she's doing this. They don't just… mess around like that, she wouldn't just hop in without mentioning it to him first, but… He's not sure where the lines are.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You're thinking too hard," Breena says to him, reaching over him to grab her shampoo. (Speaking of things Tim's enjoying, Breena's breast dangling over his head when he's inches from her pussy, while he's in the shower, getting his hair washed by Abby, is rapidly leaping up his 'Things-I-adore' list.) "Not going down smelling like sex, not when we're sharing a room. Jimmy'll hop in as soon as one of us is out."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That makes sense to him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby gently nudges his shoulder and he stands up, back to the nearest shower head, letting his hair rinse out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Shave?" she asks him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He rubs his face. Doesn't feel too rough. Not smooth either. Normally, he'd wait for Sunday morning… Er… It's Friday, not Saturday. Normally he'd shave today. Normally he'd be going to work, too. "Your choice." She kisses him, thinks for a minute, and hands him his razor. "Plans for later?" he asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She grins at him, kisses his left shoulder, and heads out. "I'll go spell Jimmy."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He'd have to admit that it feels a little odd to be naked, in the shower, alone with Breena, but, really, only a little. If anything, the weird bit is how <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">normal</span> this is. Just getting a shower with his best girlfriend, no biggie. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That</span> feels weird.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There's no mirror in there, so he's shaving by feel, also tricky with one hand, but not impossible. (Shave, rinse, put down razor, feel, repeat as needed.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You need help with that?" She says as she's sudsing up her hair.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh… I… I mean I don't <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">need</span> it, but… if you're offering…" Breena nod, lets her hair rinse out, and then steps closer to him, and holds out her hand for the razor. He's pretty grateful that he got off less than half an hour ago, because he's really not sure what the lines are for when the other two aren't with them, and in any other circumstance naked Breena, in the shower, let alone naked Breena, in the shower,<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">touching him</span>, would get him hard.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Not like I don't do this for a good forty percent of my clients."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh." He hands her the razor and stands very still.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She tilts his head up and to the left a bit. "Obviously, some of the guys we get in are still shaving, but, a lot of them are old, and sick, and" she's gently slipping the razor over his skin, "and maybe the people caring for them might have done it, but, usually it's not on the list."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's lifted the blade away from his skin when he feels another draft of cold air, followed by Jimmy getting in. He looks at Tim, shakes his head, and says, "God, you're milking that arm for all that it's worth, aren't you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim opens his mouth, and looks from Breena to Jimmy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She gently shuts it, tilts his head to the right, and runs the blade over his chin. "I offered. He was doing it one-handed with no mirror, and from the look of it, he'd've been done just in time for Christmas."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim waits for the blade not to be on his skin to say, "I wasn't going <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that</span> slow."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She grins at him, stroking the blade over his upper lip. "You weren't setting any speed records, either."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Once again he waits for her to pull it away, rinsing off stubble and his shave lotion. "I don't do anything that involves a blade on my skin fast."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy snerks at that, stepping fully into the spray, getting wet all over, and enjoying the water for a moment. He's reaching for the shampoo as he asks, "You gonna do me next?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena lifts the razor away from Tim's jaw, and gently strokes her fingers over his cheek. "And you're done."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thanks." He smiles at her, and then kisses her palm before she can pull it away. Tim rubs his face, and it does feel smooth. Then he ducks under the water to finish rinsing off.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
While he's rinsing off, she turns to Jimmy. "And I already <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">did</span> you, or were you too sleepy to tell?" she says, patting Jimmy on the ass.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Not to talk down your skills with a razor, but… That looked <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">a lot</span> more fun than a shave," Tim says with a grin.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods, cocky, then kisses Breena's shoulder. "Oh yeah."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena's still holding the razor, eyeballing Jimmy up and down, thinking. "If I were to, 'do you' how much of you would we be talking about?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy thinks about it seriously, looking at his pubes, still neatly trimmed, and then says… "Just face. I know I've only got the one blade, and I'm guessing Tim didn't bring a back-up, either, and that's nothing I'm trying with a used razor."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shakes his head. "Just got the one." He's all rinsed off and his shoulder is starting to ache. He's been out of the sling for at least half an hour at this point, which is about as long as he can support the weight of his arm comfortably. "Anyway, time to head out and get dressed. Help keep an eye on little girls."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's pouring Cheerios into Kelly's bowl, when Abbi (who he thought was coming today, but must have showed up last night) heads into the kitchen. "Morn…ing."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He looks at her, curious, trying to figure out what got that sort of a pause, and rapidly comes to the conclusion that he, Abby, and Breena are all sharing a room, with one bathroom, and they all have wet hair.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Which means they all got out of the shower recently.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And, if… say you happen to be in the room that backs up against their bathroom (like Abbi and Gibbs are) you might have noticed only hearing the shower on for twenty minutes, and that it never shut off, which would not necessarily produce the look that's on Abbi's face, after all, he and Abby may have gotten a quick shower, left the water on, and then Breena just darted in after…</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, if you happen to be dating the only other person on earth who has been let in on this whole thing they're inching toward… A person who has been given express permission to tell you what is happening. You might be staring at all three of them, one eyebrow high, having come to what is likely to be an extremely accurate conclusion as to why all three of them are sporting wet hair at the same time, likely with a somewhat inaccurate conclusion as to what exactly happened before getting said shower.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So… how to respond to Abbi staring at all three of them looking, maybe three-quarters curious with a little alarmed in there for good measure?</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No shame! </span>"Morning," Tim says, smiling at her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm on eggs," Abby adds. "Want some?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh." Abbi shakes her head a bit. "Sure, yeah, that sounds good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena hands her a cup of coffee, which Tim snags en route to Abbi and takes custody of for himself. "She likes that black tar stuff Jethro does. Besides, this is decaf, for me."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You drink decaf?" Abbi can't believe anyone who's ever worked for or with Jethro could possibly drink decaf.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sighs. Not like he loves decaf. "I do when she's pregnant. No caffeine for her, I can skip it, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi thinks about that, while Tim resets the coffee pot with Black Death, making a mental note to get one of those K cup machines for when they come back. 'Course, this time next year, the house will be done, so they may not be coming back here. He's figuring out which one he's going to get for the house when Abbi says, "You drink alcohol, though."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, shrugging a little. Never occurred to him to stop drinking alcohol.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby says, "Caffeine's a daily thing. Cutting it out hurts. I'd normally, at most, have a glass or two of wine a week, so saying goodbye to alcohol isn't a big deal. I'm not staring at him, jonesing for a drink, when he's got a cider or something, but the first week I was pregnant with Kelly, there were times I wanted to drink his coffee I was craving caffeine so bad."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Abby doesn't like coffee," Breena adds in, not sure if Abbi knows that or not.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby winces. "Really don't like it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, it's your honeymoon, Abby's barely pregnant, going cold turkey, and you're still drinking coffee? When'd you stop drinking it?" Abbi asks Tim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"When we got home from our honeymoon. We didn't both need to be going through withdrawal at the same time. At any given time we get on a whole lot better if at least one of us is sane. So, she got to go through withdrawal and I stayed sane. Then we got home, and she was perky and happy, and I was the massive pain in the ass. Wasn't nearly as bad this time, since neither of us was as badly hooked—"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby laughs. "For you. What with the whole you were unconscious for most of it thing."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We both cut out the caffeine when we were trying for Sean." Abby gives Tim a <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I did not just meet you </span>look. "Okay, I'd been down to a cup…" she's still eyeballing him, "or three at work when that happened. Actual cups, in mugs, and most of them were decaf!" He gestures with his fingers to indicated small cups. "I was cutting back! Anyway, we're kind of crabby and annoying during the first few days of cold turkey. No one's fun to be around when they've got a splitting headache."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Is that why you were such a bear when you got home?" Jimmy asks, heading into the kitchen, wearing his swim trunks and traditional, 'I'm-on-vacation-showing-off-my-abs-unbuttoned-hawiian-shirt.' (Also with wet hair and obviously fresh out of the shower. Tim sees Abbi take note of that, and wonders what she's thinking.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Splitting headache that lasted for three days."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thought you were just grumpy because you had to be back at work."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Some of that, too. Mostly splitting headache."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, when did you get in?" Breena asks Abbi.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Not too late. Bit after eleven. Got our meeting wrapped, thought about going home, sleeping, and coming in the morning and just… Nope. Done with DC, done with work, the ocean's calling and I want back on it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy smiles at that. "Do you miss that about office work, less time on the water?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes! I never even saw the ocean until I was nineteen and they were flying us to Germany—"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Germany?" Breena asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Dover to Berlin to Saudi to Iraq. Got to sit near a window, saw the ocean for the first time from ten thousand feet up. Wasn't anything I grew up with or felt drawn to, but, now… Go too long on land, and I start to ache for it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Then it's a good thing you know a guy with a boat," Gibbs says, walking into the kitchen, patting Abbi on the rear, looking very relaxed. All little girls get good morning kisses, and so do the big girls, and by then the coffee's done, so Gibbs ambles over and pours a cup for Abbi and himself.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Don't suppose we've got a newspaper?" Gibbs asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy stands up. "Let me get my iPad, any paper you want is on there."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know that. My phone's in my pocket. Just seems like a morning where an actual, physical paper would be nice. Sip coffee, eat breakfast, go lay on the porch and do the crossword, in pen."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That gets some chuckling.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's got the eggs done and is ladling them out. "Got toast popping up in a sec, too. Anyone want anything else?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I think we're good," Jimmy replies. "Thanks."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No problem."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi ferries plates from the counter to the kitchen table, and after a moment, toast is up, and everyone has breakfast.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know Ziva and I have a date for the farmer's market, but, what else is up for today?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Whatever you like. Once the dishes are done, I'm taking the girls down to the beach. We've got some splashing around to do," Breena says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm helping with that," Abby adds, she pets Kelly's hair. "Looks like this one loves the water."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Waves! Jumping with Uncle Jetro!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And Molly's voted for her plans," Jimmy adds. "You make sure Uncle Jethro gets to play the games he wants to, too. He might want to spend some time with Abbi. Maybe do come cooking with her and Aunt Ziva…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs holds up his hands. "Like Tony, I've volunteered to carry groceries and be a lab rat for recipe testing purposes. Only thing I'm cooking is s'mores. Molly, do you know what a s'more is?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She shakes her head no.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"They're yummy. Tonight, if you eat dinner, and Mama says it's okay, we're gonna make some."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How do we make them?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We're gonna go on the beach and find lots of driftwood, and we're gonna build a big fire. Then we'll get some sticks and put big marshmallows on the sticks, and roast them over the fire, and then we'll make sandwiches of the marshmallow, graham crackers, and chocolate."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Molly's eyes are wide, and she is so ready to do that. "Now!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Soon. Breakfast, and then sun block, and then down on the beach we go!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Looks like you've got morning plans set," Abby says to Gibbs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Looks like."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Any idea when you and Ziva are hitting the Farmer's market?" Tim asks Abbi.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi shrugs. "They've got to get up first. Didn't hear any signs of life from their room when I was coming down."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There's a bit of smirking around the table at that. "You know, Ziva's usually up at the crack of dawn…" Tim adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"If not before. She gets up at… 05:00 to run," Abby says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Maybe she's feeling <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">sleepy,</span>" Jimmy says, staring at Gibbs, with another smirk.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shrugs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi's watching all of them, knowing she's missing something going on here.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena fills her in, "We all know she's pregnant. We all know <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">he </span>knows she's pregnant. But he still won't say."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs grins, shaking his head. "Nothing to say."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh huh," Abby says. "Sure. If I go into your basement, I'm going to see the start of some sort of baby thing down there."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods. He does have some baby stuff started. "Sean's gonna need a crib, too." He's also got a rocking chair for Little D and a crib as well, in the works. He may have said the rocking chair that Tim and Abby got had strings on it, but when he said that he hadn't realized both families would have nursing infants at the same time. Since the one chair is already home with the McGees, the DiNozzos are getting a new one. "Can't have my boy sleeping in a drawer."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That also gets a smile, and effectively changes the topic away from Little D.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breakfast is fast, and soon done. Since Abby and Breena did most of the cooking the guys are on clean up. Jimmy's at the sink, Gibbs is ferrying dishes back and forth, and Tim's keeping them company. After the first round of dishes, Gibbs heads back toward the table, back to Jimmy, so he doesn't see what comes next, but Tim does.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's feeling proud of himself for not giving it away. Gibbs is bending over the table, saying something to Abbi, who's leaning against the fridge. He sees Jimmy reach for his waistband at his back, under his shirt, and Tim knows that motion. If he saw it on the street, he'd be jumping for cover, and even knowing that there is no possible way Jimmy's about to pull a gun, his hand does scramble toward where his gun should be just on sheer reflex alone.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
No, Jimmy's not pulling a gun from under his shirt, it's a water pistol, that, apparently he had tucked into his swim trunks, under his shirt, and he quickly aims, fires, and hits Gibbs, causing him to go leaping and turning into the air, while grinning and saying, "Got ya!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
For a second, Tim's a little scared that Gibbs is about to kill Jimmy, that his <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I've been attacked </span>reflex is in charge and his brain is checked out, but it's only a second, and then Gibbs stops looking like a cat that's just been dumped into a bathtub full of water and starts to laugh, long and loud.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You're dead, Palmer."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's grinning at him. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's nine more of them in the living room. Load up and put your money where your mouth is, old man!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's already darting out, pulling Abbi and Breena along, grinning and bubbling at the idea of no-holds-barred water pistol war.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's feeling a little mope-y because he's a bit too hurt to really play with this, and he's got nowhere good to hide a water pistol. At least, not without a thigh holster, and even then, he thinks it'd probably look pretty lumpy under his kilt.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, I guess I'm babysitting while you all run around and shoot each other."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good plan!" Breena says. "Come on, let's get everyone on the beach."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
On the upside, it's really easy to entertain very small babies on the beach. He makes sandcastles, Anna smashes them. Little, tiny eight-month-old Hulk Smash. Kelly likes that game, too. Molly also appreciates the Godzilla game where he makes a bunch of little castles and she stomps through them making little, high-pitched roars. By the time the adults are done shooting each other, he's built several small cities that have been utterly destroyed by three tiny girls having a very good time.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Toddlers and destruction, that never gets old. He's thinking he can build up the whole beach and they'll just happily keep smashing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And then, after mid-morning snack time, Anna has her morning nap, (on the blanket on the sand, next to the beach chair Tim's relaxing in) and Kelly and Molly went off to play in the water with the rest of the grown-ups.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Which means, Tim's got thinking time. And, after last night and this morning, a lot of thinking to do.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Like, about sex. Doesn't matter how much porn you've seen, real sex is different.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And Tim knows that. He's had more than enough real sex to know that what he's doing and what's on the screen aren't the same thing. And he assumes that other guys, real guys, are also not having porn-style sex in their real lives. (Or, at least for the sakes of their wives/girlfriends/hookups whatever, he hopes they aren't.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, yeah he's seen sex, choreographed, scripted sex, but he's never really <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">watched</span> someone else have sex.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really</span> likes watching. Not just in a, damn this is fucking hot, sort of way (though it is. Good Lord, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">yes</span>, it is!) but…</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Porn is all about getting you off. You pick whatever you like, skim over the "boring" stuff, and get right into it. For the purpose of getting you hot, hard, off, and done, in say, six minutes, porn is great. (Not to say that Tim's doing much with porn these days because… well, he's got a finite number of orgasms in him a day, and these days Abby's got first dibs on them. But back in the day, he watched more than enough porn to feel comfortable making generalizations about it.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
However, were he to be watching porn, Tim will never voluntarily sign up to watch a heterosexual couple neck for ten minutes. (Two girls is a different story altogether. He'll watch that all night.) If there were ten minutes of necking on one of his videos (there never has been), he'd fast forward.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, he'll watch Jimmy and Breena neck, and enjoy it. Part of it is that they're enjoying it. Maybe there's porn out there where the people doing it genuinely like each other and enjoy kissing and whatnot, but if so, he hasn't seen it. Most of the porn he's seen has involved professionals doing a job. They don't really look like they're enjoying themselves. (But again, that's not why you watch porn.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But Jimmy and Breena love each other, and love sex with each other, and love the pleasure of this time where… it's not hot and heavy, but… It's close and warm and intimate.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And… look, he and Jimmy are both thirty-eight, and thirty-nine is a hell of a lot closer than thirty-seven these days. Kissing alone no longer sends dicks leaping to full attention in twenty seconds or less. Kissing and rubbing, that's good. Kissing with fantasy/story time, that'll do it, too. But, just lips on lips… takes a bit more than that these days.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But just because it's not instilling instant hard-ons doesn't mean that it's anything he'd want to skip. The pleasure of ramping up is good. A physical act of that gentle communication of bodies, of shedding the rest of the day and focusing on each other, that's important.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's guessing that's what Jimmy and Breena get out of it, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Or maybe not.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But it's clear they like it. And watching someone else experience pleasure makes you feel good, too. Feel really good.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And when things do get hot and heavy... Okay, look, he's never going to turn down getting to watch a beautiful woman climax. That's something he's always in favor of seeing. But again, in porn it's all faked. But this is real. Breena's really having a good time, skin flushed, muscles tight, nipples hard, body twitching, that's gorgeous. Crazy hot, but beautiful, and so intimate.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">real.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Watching Jimmy is a surprise. He knew he was going to like watching Breena get off. Knew that'd get him right in the balls. That was a no brainer. He didn't imagine he'd find watching Jimmy get off particularly… anything really.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Scratch that. He didn't think he'd <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">watch</span> Jimmy get off. It'd just be something that happened while he was watching Breena.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Guys in porn are either props or a point of view to piggy back into the action on. And, when he's watching, since he's usually pretty far removed from even the idea of the character of the guy in the porno, Tim treats them like props. Just something the girls are playing with. He was expecting that's what would happen when he was watching Jimmy, he'd be a prop, too, something making Breena feel good.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And he knows this sounds dumb, what with the fact that pretty much every porno with a guy in it all end the same way, but… Guys in porn aren't having a really good time. Just like the girls, they're pros doing a job.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, Jimmy's a guy, a friend, a... lover? whatever, not a prop, very much not a prop, having a very good time. Turns out Tim likes watching the guy having the very good time, well, at least if he's Jimmy. And Tim is really surprised to see his eyes didn't stay glued to Breena when they're fucking. More surprised to see that he <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">likes</span> watching Jimmy, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's not precisely sure what, if anything, beyond the fact that people he loves fucking each other turns him on, that means, but… He's also not worried about it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Part of it is just actually seeing what other real people do. Sure, they talk about sex, but… Never with that sort of detail. (Well, the girls do, he and Jimmy and Tony don't. They tend to talk about sex in nouns, one word declarative statements of what happened. "Laid" "Oral" and the like. "Leaned back at a sixty degree angle, her leaning forward playing with your balls while you rub her butt" not so much.) It's just… okay… cool really. As both a cop and a writer, Tim is interested in people. He likes to study them, see what they do, and how.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And this is a lot of new what people do and how.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, even if this is as far as they ever go, even if they never do this again, he's really liking this.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And, honestly, he's hoping they do this, or more, again.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He doesn't remember falling in love with Abby. Sounds dumb, but it's true. He remembers liking her, really liking her, and being so nervous about saying anything, but finally, they went to that poetry slam, and he got up on stage and laid that poem on her, and she kind of froze at it, then, because he didn't have the sense God gave a bug back then, he doubled down and told her he really liked her, and she flipped out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Turns out she liked the poem (even the finger snaps). She's still got a copy of it. (That makes him smile.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Not long after that they weren't dating any more. (Turns out she really liked him, too, and that was a problem, for her…)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But somehow, over the years, and ups and downs and in-betweens (because there were all of those things) 'really like you' shifted to, 'I'm not sure what I'd do if you weren't in my life.' When Mike died, that was true. He knew it absolutely. And between whatever was happening with Cade, and his own fear, he didn't do anything for a year.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, by the time he got his head out of his ass, by the time he was ready to move, he loved her and had loved her for quite a while.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
These years have deepened it, strengthened it, but that love's been their foundation, the whole way through.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He wonders if what this thing with Jimmy and Breena is qualifies as falling in love with them… Or not. He loves them. He can… maybe not pinpoint when it began, but he knows there was a time he didn't love them, and there was a time when he did. So somehow, sometime between Laser tag and losing Jon, they went from friends to loves.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He thinks more about it, wondering how much, if any, difference there is between love and in love, or if really, it's all about the sex. You're in love with people you want to have sex with, you love the people you don't.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Maybe…</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He loves Tony and he loves Gibbs and he loves Jimmy… And he's absolutely certain he does not want to have sex with any of them. At all… Probably… Okay, there'll be more thinking about that, too, because watching Jimmy fuck is vastly hotter than he thought it could be.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, as his brain goes tumbling around on this, the point he's searching for is that at least on a surface level, he doesn't want to have sex with Jimmy, and he does want to have sex with Breena (A lot, in every position imaginable, and he wants Abby to help, and he wants Jimmy there, too, and… yeah…), and if you asked him, "Are you in love with Breena?" he'd have a really easy time saying yes to that. And if you asked him 'Are you in love with Jimmy?' he'd probably say no.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But he'd be absolutely damned if he could tell you what emotional difference there is between how he feels about them, besides the fact that he doesn't want to fuck Jimmy.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Are you in love with Breena… Yes… That feels comfortable. He's good with that answer. Nothing about that is wrong or forced or anything. It feels solid and easy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Do you feel the same way about Breena that you do about Abby?</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
No. And that's absolutely true, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He thinks about that more, too, trying to place it, because he thinks it's more than just years of life with Abby.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
More thinking and he comes up with this, if something happened to Breena, it would be devastating. He'd grieve and ache, physically, mentally, on every level he'd hurt from her loss. But he'd still be himself without her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But if he lost Abby, it would change him. It would alter who he is in a way that the loss of any other relationship couldn't.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's husband… that's his core. That love, that relationship, like he said in his vows, that's his bedrock, and he doesn't know who he'd be if he lost that love. He'd survive it, because he'd have to, because at least one of them needs to be there for the kids, but… it would break him in a way he'd never fully come back from.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And that's not true about Breena.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Deep thoughts?" Gibbs asks, sitting on the blanket next to Tim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim inclines his head. "Yeah." He looks at Gibbs, knows he's checking in on all of them. "We're really okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods. "You guys look it." Abby, Jimmy, and Breena are playing in the surf with Ducky and Penny, and the girls. Tony's showing off, bodysurfing. (Abbi and Ziva have headed off in search of goodies for dinner.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. It's good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So…" Gibbs roots around in his bag for a moment, comes up with a tennis ball, and tosses it into the water. Mona sees it and goes tearing off into the surf after it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shakes his head a bit. "Love stuff. Just sorting things out. Feels okay, but, you know me, I want labels and boxes and context for it all."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, you told Abbi? Not that it's a problem or anything…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. While back."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And she's cool with it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It doesn't bug her. If she's got anything against it, it's the same thing I do, neither of us know anyone who managed to do it and keep it going."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim hadn't known that. "You know people who…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I was there for the seventies and early eighties, remember? I knew swingers… Knew of them, at least."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh." Tim thinks for a moment. He and Abby talked about that some, and at least right now he feels like he's got an answer for that. "This isn't that. That's kind of what I'm thinking about. That's mostly sex, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shrugs. "Maybe? Knew of them, never did it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim doesn't say anything for a bit. Still thinking. "The world's full of hot people."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods; that's not a controversial statement. Mona's back, so he tosses the tennis ball again.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And… Between some of the clubs Abby and I like and the internet, it's not like it'd be difficult to find people to fuck if that was it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Also not anything Gibbs is going to quibble about. He certainly never had any problem finding warm bodies to keep him company back when he was Tim's age.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, I'm not saying sex isn't… part of it, a big part of it, but… You ever do that thing... with sex... in high school, probably... You can go this far, but no further?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods again and smiles dryly. "Didn't lose my virginity until my wedding night. Know all about lines and rules."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim feels a little foolish; he'd forgotten that. "Good point. Well, we've got that line. But… it's still good. Even if that line never goes away, it's still good. It's still close and intimate and love and… It's good." He thinks some more, watching the other three playing in the surf, and for the first time he's thinking that, yeah, they probably can go further and he's not going to flip out and this is going to be okay. But he's thinking it, not feeling it, yet. "Probably be better without the line, but… this is good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, you weren't kidding, you're not…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shakes his head. "Not yet. Taking it slow. Playing. Feeling our way around, making sure everyone is comfortable and good. I don't know anyone who's made this work, either. Abby says she does. Friends of friends who've been in a stable foursome for twenty years now. According to her there's a whole community for this, support groups, social groups, all sorts of stuff. Not sure I want or need all of that, but, it's out there."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay." Gibbs isn't sure exactly what playing means, but… "That line might not matter. If your heads are right, the bodies'll follow."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods at that; it matches his own thoughts on the subject. "I think you're right. But… slow's probably real good. Make sure heads are rock solid on this before tossing bodies into play."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good plan."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Another quiet moment. "If it weren't Jimmy and Breena, then sex would have never come into it." Tim says, about half-taking to Gibbs, half-feeling it out for himself. "Back in the beginning, when we were starting out again, we'd talked about other people, and the idea was fine, but practice… We'd both be way too jealous for it, and honestly, there's no other guy on Earth I could even think about doing this with. Just… doesn't matter how hot he is, or how much Abby's drooling over him, not gonna happen, don't want or need another guy in my bed. That was a deal breaker.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"But we love them already. That comes first. Our… friendship… or whatever this is, and that opened up more options. Or… Hell, I don't know. Liked Breena from the first time I saw a picture of her. Long before she was a person to me, she was something desirable. But… I'm pretty sure that the friendship allows the sex, or not sex, or whatever this is and ends up being to happen. That without that, it'd never be more than hot stories we tell each other to get revved up." Tim shakes his head. "I'm rambling."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It's okay. Do as much thinking and rambling as you need on this one." Gibbs stands up, Mona's back with the tennis ball, and he feels like he's all checked in with Tim here.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "Jethro?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It matters… to me, that you're cool with this. You know, in a way that it doesn't for the rest of them. And… I get this probably isn't your idea of normal, but… thanks for not flipping out."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods, reaches down, ruffles Tim's hair, and says, "All part of being a dad."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles up at him. Gibbs smiles back and heads to the water. Quietly, more thinking it than speaking it, Tim says, "Thanks, Dad."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Sex to love to family to love and back to sex. He's thirty-eight. He's married. He's got people who love him. Whatever the hell sexuality he may happen to have, it's not a problem.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, as a guy who has very comfortably referred to himself as straight for, basically, as long as he's known it was an option, the fact that he is enjoying watching <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jimmy,</span> too is, not disturbing, but certainly feels like something that requires more thinking about. And with Anna still napping away, Tim's fairly sure this is his prime thinking time.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
You can't grow up with, or live in Penny's world, without being aware of the idea that gay is one end of a spectrum and straight's on the other end and Asexual makes up an entirely different line. And she'd certainly tell you that people are born somewhere in the middle and usually end up pushed to one side or the other by societal expectations, but naturally, all people are gender and preference fluid.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's skeptical of that, on all levels, not just sexual. He tends to think you're wired to like certain things, and you may wiggle around a bit on those things, but pretty much, you like what you like and that's that, and no amount of cajoling will make you like something you don't. After all, if you could be pushed into liking something you don't, he'd be a fucking sailor by now, right? And happy about it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, he also knows that he is not the vast font of all knowledge and given there are billions of people on the planet, it's likely that for at least some of them, both he and Penny are right.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There was certainly a time where he was worried he might have been gay or bi. His dad called him a fag all the time, and made it exceptionally clear that was a <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">bad</span> thing. He knew being a fag was a bad thing before he knew what it meant to be gay. Tony told the girls at work he was gay. Having figured out that anal play was something he liked made him wonder some. He knows for a fact he's significantly more femme than Joe Average, but… As best he can tell the defining characteristic of being a gay or bi male is wanting to have sex with other males, and, well, he doesn't.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Best he can remember, he never has.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He has and had gay acquaintances, he had gay friends in college, and at no point did he ever feel himself thinking, "Hey, let's try that out." Yeah, back in college he wasn't exactly rocking anyone's world, but he had horny gay friends; he's fairly sure that at least for a one off to blow off some steam or something one of them would have agreed. But asking or trying or even thinking of asking never hit him, even though he was often climbing the walls horny himself.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
'Cause, they were guys.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And he's not attracted to guys. He doesn't dream about them. He doesn't fantasize about them. The only dick he's interested in touching is his own. (And about five out of six times when he does that, he's pretending someone else is touching his dick, a female someone else.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He thinks about that. It feels right. Still. He really liked watching Jimmy. Head back, hands clenched, gasping quietly, legs tight and quivering, cock slowly sinking into Breena's pussy. Yeah, he liked watching that a whole lot. At first, he was just watching the sex. Cock and pussy, pink and wet, spread wide and slippery and… maybe he could be thinking a bit less about that because his dick's enjoying that image a bit more than is strictly necessary for sitting on the beach, baby wrangling.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shifts a bit, and wishes he had an honest-to-goodness book. His cell phone is not particularly well designed for hiding an erection should any of the rest of the crew come wandering over.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He brings that image back to mind, trying to keep the focus on Jimmy, and on what exactly he was enjoying about seeing that. Basic aesthetics? Jimmy is attractive. In a kind of goofy, sort of dopy… No. That's not it. Jimmy was in the shower with them, just as naked, same damn body he had ten minutes earlier when he was getting off, and that did precisely nothing for Tim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena in the shower was good. He liked that. Enjoyed seeing her get washed off on several levels beyond mere aesthetic appreciation. But Jimmy… eh… he was mostly just there. He's seen Jimmy naked dozens of times, and with the exception of when Breena and sex have been added into the mix, naked Jimmy's never gotten so much as a second glance from Tim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, it was definitely the sex. That was hot. That was amazing, scorching hot. He thinks about it more, potential erection be damned. He can pretend to be napping if need be. Guys get hard when they sleep. He puts the phone down, scoots a bit lower on the beach chair, and lets himself look and feel sleepy. (Maybe he will get a nap. Nap sounds pretty damn good right now. Probably good things on tap for tonight, might be nice to be well-rested for them…)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy on his back, Breena straddling his face. He's licking her. Tim was watching, liking that a whole lot. Liking the… sense memory of having done the same thing (with Abby, obviously). Jimmy was stroking himself with one hand, fingering Breena with the other, and that… Yeah, Tim liked that, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's got his own memories of that. Abby's pussy on his face, the smell and wet and taste and feel. His hand slick with her cum, stroking himself. How, short of 69ing, that's as close as you can get to full sensory sex.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He was sitting up, Abby in his lap, facing away from him, slipping up and down on him. He liked that a whole lot, too. He remembers fantasizing of Abby shifting a bit, leaning forward, sucking Jimmy down. He remembers wanting to see how Jimmy would have responded to that. (Still does. Would like to be the guy at the bottom of that pile, too.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby on her hands and knees. Him behind her, fucking slow and smooth. Jimmy's cock in her mouth, and her long, nimble fingers rolling his balls. God, yeah, that's really good. He shifts a bit more, so he's reclined on his side, and really hopes he looks asleep.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He keeps thinking of that, and images like that, but… Yeah, no desire at all, no fantasy, of him actually touching Jimmy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He makes himself imagine it. Breena's riding Jimmy's face. He reaches over and gives Jimmy a hand. And it's not disgusting or anything, but… it doesn't hit him right. There's nothing sexy about it. Mostly the idea of doing it makes him want to giggle. (Possibly because he can't imagine it without Jimmy jerking up, looking at him really confused, saying 'The fuck, Tim?!' while swatting his hand away.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The image of blowing him. Tim sets that up. Say, he's on his hands and knees, and Abby behind him, fucking him good and hard, getting his prostate over and over again, she's got him feeling crazy hot, to the point where he'll do anything to keep feeling so good, and Breena's riding Jimmy's face, flushed and moaning, but Jimmy's dick's just there, all alone, red and hard, a strand of precum between the tip and his belly, just a few inches from Tim's mouth and he leans forward opens his mouth and... Nope. That image just doesn't work. It's nothing he wants to do. He wants to watch Breena flip around and suck Jimmy. He wants to see Abby do it. Hell, Jimmy touching himself, even. He wants to see Jimmy get off, hard, flushed and shaking and moaning, cumming all over the place.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Do it himself… Uh... No.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's not disgusting. He's not feeling any sort of visceral aversion to it. Not like being sat down in front of a big pile of cottage cheese and maggots and offered a spoon while the cook says, 'Eat up.' Just the idea of that gets his gag reflex going, and the idea of going down on Jimmy doesn't do that to him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And there's certainly no sense of fear. Fear he knows inside and out, and whatever's got his brain going NO in no uncertain terms isn't fear.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's fairly sure he's not finding the idea embarrassing. Maybe… Might be some of that in there. (The desire to giggle might be a less than subtle hint that there's some embarrassment in there.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's thinking that it's like running a marathon. He can do it. (Probably. Okay, not right now, but before the test he could have.) It's not bad or evil or anything like that. But he doesn't want to. It doesn't sound like fun, and there are way, way, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">way</span> better things he'd rather spend his time on. (Like the naked girls who are also part of that fantasy. Much, much more fun!)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He hasn't had any particularly in-depth conversations with Abby about how being bi works, but he's fairly certain that it involves some sort of desire to actually engage in sex with people of the same sex. That it's not just a watching thing. And that it's really not just a,<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">well, this isn't disgusting</span>, sort of thing. He's thinking there should be some level of enthusiasm for something along the lines of touching or being touched by the other person…</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He can see Jimmy and Breena and Abby in the surf, playing, and he likes watching that. They're having fun, together, with their babies. He really likes watching the girls. Abby's in a little two piece, tummy just starting to swell with Sean, warm, soft, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">big</span>, pregnant breast bobbing around each time she moves, her butt also round and swaying with each step. God, yes, he loves that. White skin and black ink and black bathing suit. So good! And Breena, she's in this little coral one piece, but it's got the middle cut out, so he can see tummy and back and every time she steps she sways and jiggles and, yeah, that's utterly fantastic. Long, wet hair trailing over her shoulders, kissing the tips of her breasts. He will happily watch that any time, any day, for as long as it's available.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy in board shorts? Tim's aware of the fact that Jimmy's got a good body. Probably better than good. But, nope, it's just not doing anything for him. Beyond liking watching him have a good time with the girls, nothing's happening.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's not sure what that means, or if it matters, or anything else along those lines, but, he's feeling pretty comfortable with it, and right now, baby snoozing next to him, and likely very good things coming tonight, that nap is calling.</div>
<br />
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-422-skin.html">Next</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-59025739984315302882015-02-25T16:36:00.001-08:002015-02-28T17:26:30.080-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 420: OBX<br />
McGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Chapter 420: OBX<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I was just thinking," Tim says as he shuts the trunk. (After all, he can't load any of their luggage or get Kelly strapped in, so the least he can do is shut the damn trunk and not feel like a totally useless barnacle.) "Do you remember how we packed everything we needed for a ten day road trip, plus enough gear for a portable MTAC in the trunk of my Porsche?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles at him, Kelly on her hip, as they head toward the front seats. "Yeah."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim opens Kelly's door, and looks inside their car, their <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">packed</span> SUV, which is four times the size of the Porsche, yet is filled to bursting with stuff for a three day trip.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby gets Kelly into her seat, and strapped in. Tim gives her a kiss. "You have a good nap, baby." He shuts the door, opens Abby's, shuts hers once she's in, and heads over to the far side of the car for his seat. "So, why is it, that by adding one 22 pound person, who is smaller than the average Thanksgiving turkey, we've quadrupled the amount of stuff we need?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby looks at him, grins, puts the car in gear, and then says, "Both of us know how to pee in a toilet. Take the diapers, wipes, ointment, and related baby poop gear out of the car, and that's at least half of the stuff we're dragging around with us."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim looks back at the piles of stuff behind them and thinks that Abby may not be entirely right, but she can't be far off, either.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's foot hits the gas, then she says, "Just think, this time next year, there will be literally no room at all for our own stuff. We'll still have two small bags, that will ride down in Gibbs' truck, and we'll just be lugging baby gear."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim laughs at that, half afraid she may be right.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Road trips just the two of them are fun. They've been all over the US together, and had a blast doing it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Road trips with Kelly, while she's asleep, are fun. They got through Virginia, listening to music, talking, enjoying each other, having a good time, until they were just over the border of North Carolina…</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Road trips with a baby who's awake (Afternoon naptime only lasts three hours, and though they left right before naptime, and Kelly conked out shortly after they got out of their neighborhood, the trip to the Slaters' place is gonna run four and a half hours... er… five… and a half… make that six hours) is not all that much fun.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
What had been driving along, steadily zooming through the miles, rapidly turned into stopping every forty minutes to get out, let Kelly toddle around a little bit, apply snacks, change diapers, and then pack everything back up again.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's rapidly coming to the conclusion that there may be something to those cars that come equipped with video players, because, as they're stopping, yet again, he's deciding he would happily listen to six hours of Barney if it could get him back up to averaging 75 miles an hour.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They aren't surprised not to be the first ones there. Ducky's Morgan is already pulled up in front of the house. They know that means that Gibbs, Ducky, and Penny are here. (Abbi's getting in tomorrow sometime, and she and Gibbs are continuing their adventures in her car.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy and Breena's van is also there.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
No Tony and Ziva, but he knows they were going to do a half day today before heading off. Depending on when they got out of DC they could be hours or minutes behind them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They pull up alongside, and Tim remembers something he'd forgotten about Ed and Jeannie's vacation home. It's on stilts. The porch (which he remembered vividly) wraps around the entire house, but that porch (and the rest of the house) is still twelve feet in the air. He can do steps now, but they aren't his favorite thing. Apparently when he's on the beach (or in the house), he's going to be staying there for a while.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim watches waves cresting against white sand, then looks up at the house. There are worse fates.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hello!" Abby calls out as they get into the house.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena sticks her head out of the master bedroom calling down the stair. "Hey! We're up here. Gibbs is on the sand with the girls. Not sure where Ducky and Penny got off to."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"The back porch," Ducky replies, heading in. Tim stops in his tracks. He's seen Ducky in his relaxing gear, even pool gear before, but apparently Duck has an idea of 'beach gear' as well. Soft, rumply, drawstring linen trousers, bare feet, and a Hawaiian shirt, but without the loud pattern (Tim's sure there's a name for that, but he doesn't know what it is) along with sunglasses and a wide straw hat.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You look ready for the sand."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky nods. "But first, let me help you carry in your gear. I assume, like Jimmy and Breena, you have a lot of it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "My ancestors got here from Ireland with less than this."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky chuckles. Abby hands Kelly over to Tim. Since he can move his right arm around some now, he can get a decent (one handed) grip on her. He walks over to the back porch, where Penny is getting the lay of the land, sitting on one of the lounges looking around. He sits next to her, and once he's down, he sets Kelly on the porch and holds her hand, letting her work on her walking.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No limp?" Penny asks. He did manage to walk from the car to the lounge without a limp, probably close to two hundred feet (and fourteen steps). Though, having done it, his foot is aching.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"One step at a time. PT says the more I can walk, and the more normally I can do it, the better it'll be, so…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So your crutch is in the car, waiting for when you're really hurting?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Exactly." Tim looks out over the beach, images of the crutch immediately sinking into the sand. "Probably won't be very useful out there, anyway."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny shakes her head. "Probably not. I take it Ed and Jeannie are serious about beach nights."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. Everything is where he remembers it. Grill, table, chairs, several lounges, an awning and two large umbrellas to keep the sun off, and a fire pit in the middle. The lounge he's sitting next to Penny on is right against the edge of the porch.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Fire pit's good for marshmallows. We did that last time."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly's been taking two steps in pretty much every direction, checking out everything, but she's feeling very tethered. So, without announcing her intent, she plops onto her tush, Tim lets go of her, because once she's on her bum, she's not going anywhere. She looks around a bit, noticing this is somewhere completely new, with furniture she hasn't explored, and a floor she's never seen, and she's off, crawling, fast.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Woah!" Tim's lunging for her, losing his own balance and hitting the porch in the process, as he grabs her. Kelly squawks, really startled by Tim lunging for her. For a second he sits there, holding her tight, and feels his heart slowly calm back down again. Finally he sighs and says, "Okay, I'm glad to see you're crawling now, but how about we try doing that more than two feet from the edge of the twelve foot drop?" He's suddenly very nervous about the fact that the porch rails are at eighteen inches and three and a half feet high. He stands up and puts Kelly down, "Here, hold my hand, we'll walk."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No! Up!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim looks down at her. "You want to be carried?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"UP!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny scoops her up, firm, two-handed grip. "Better view from up here, right?" Kelly looks pretty satisfied. "Can I take her to the water?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Fine by me. Might want to run it by Abby, make sure she didn't want to be there for her first dip in the ocean."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny nods as she carries Kelly out, saying to her, "Let's go play in the sand."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby and Ducky are lugging stuff in, so Tim starts the long slog up to the master bedroom. He knows where it is, but last time they were here, he never went in it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
No last time, he went up the stairs, all the way down the hall to the last (only) room on the left.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The master's immediately at the top of the stairs on the right.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena wasn't kidding. It's really big, and L shaped, a sitting/dressing/closet area right in front of the door, along the short side of the house, and the sleeping/bath area stretching along the length of the house.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You made it!" she says as he's looking around.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, all in one piece. Only had to stop four times. You guys?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena inclines her head and smiles wryly. "Naptime was good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods, yeah. "So…" He's standing in the sitting/dressing area of the bedroom. The walk in closet, which from what he can see is about the size of his dorm room at John's Hopkins, is to his left on the far wall. (And has a window. Who has windows in their closet? Apparently Ed and Jeannie Slater.) Jimmy's inside it, laying out an inflatable twin mattress. Once it's all blown up, add a sheet, and they've got sleeping real estate for little girls. Just like what they do at Gibbs' place.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The part Tim's in is open and airy, cool white and beige décor, French doors leading to a small porch, several overstuffed chairs flanking a sofa and coffee table, all facing him. Behind him, on the wall next to the door, is a flat screen TV. He can see Abby and Ducky have most of the stuff up. "If you help me push the chairs out of the way, I'll get our mattress set."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena smiles, amused, sparkles in her eyes, and nods, and they get to pushing furniture out of the way.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby and Ducky put the last of the stuff in the room, and Tim says, "Thanks, Ducky." Then to Abby, "Penny's got Kelly on the beach, if you want to go play, I've got unpacking."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby stares at him. "You sure."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, go play. Let me do something vaguely useful."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay!" She snatches her bag, and heads into the other half of the room, getting ready to change into her bathing suit.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena's got the furniture pushed back as he's unrolling their inflatable mattress. Ducky's no longer up there, so she says to him, "Really think you're going to need that?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim grins at her. "Hope not. Still going to set it up anyway. Never know who's going to pop in, when. Might as well look like we're sharing the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">room</span>."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good point."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena heads to the other side to go visit with Abby.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy comes out of the closet. Behind him, Tim can see the set mattress, pillows around it, Molly and Anna's prize stuffed animals already set. "All we need is Kelly's stuff."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "Got Mr. Boo here somewhere," tiny stuffed skull Abby got her when she was still pregnant. He finds Mr. Boo and a collection of pacifiers and lays them on the mattress. "Need to get something like this for Sean. He doesn't already have his own zoo's worth of stuffed animals."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Second baby fun. Not quite as insane on the buy everything that isn't nailed down front," Jimmy says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Also, we've been a bit busier this time around."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim looks over at the closet. "Those cross bars are handy." Normally you'd hang clothing on them, but right now the closet is empty, which means they've got yards of space for hanging the mobiles the girls like to look at as they drift off.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Unpacking isn't too hard. Slow, because he's pretty much doing it one-handed. He's got more motion in his right arm, but it still can't hold any weight and he still can't use his right hand for much of anything. (He can cut his food again, now. Tuck his fork between his thumb and the cast index finger. It's amazing how intensely good it felt to be able to do that for himself again.) Getting Kelly's stuff tucked into the closet/makeshift nursery isn't tricky. Hanging up her mobile works just fine. He and Abby just have the two bags, so when he gets to them, he heads over to the sleeping part of the bedroom.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://a2.muscache.com/ic/pictures/27689596/215ca83f_original.jpg?interpolation=lanczos-none&size=x_large&output-format=progressive-jpeg&output-quality=70" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://a2.muscache.com/ic/pictures/27689596/215ca83f_original.jpg?interpolation=lanczos-none&size=x_large&output-format=progressive-jpeg&output-quality=70" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/743624">Sharing a bed.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena's laying on the bed, relaxing, Jimmy's half-sitting, half-reclining on it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Nice." Tim says, eyeing it. Large bed, really big. There're what looks like smooth, crisp, light blue cotton sheets, a nubby, warm white and blue quilt, and a herd of pillows ranging from those little round ones he doesn't understand to four of those big ones Abby likes to sleep wrapped around when she's pregnant. "That's bigger than a king, isn't it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena nods. "Longer, at least. California King. Dad," Breena smiles, indicating this is kind of silly, "has this thing about sleeping diagonally. He wants to be able to sleep straight up and down on his bed, not at an angle, so these are longer beds, no diagonal sleeping."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shakes his head at that, but right now Ed's weirdness is working out well for him, so... Why not?</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He puts his bag on the dresser, next to Abby's. "Top two drawers are for you and Abby," Breena says, and he starts pulling out clothing, feeling the somewhat surreal sensation of unpacking his clothing in Breena's parents' bedroom, while chatting with them, lounging in bed, that, tonight, he'd be joining them in.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Eventually, as he's tucking his boxers, lube, the one vibrator, and cock ring they brought into the dresser, he starts to giggle.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tim?" Jimmy's asking.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm okay. Just… kind of goofy moment, you know?" He's looking at them in the mirror in front of him. He rolls his eyes a little, then holds up the lube. "Was trying to think of a way to tuck it in without flashing it all over the place, but…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena smiles back. "Almost started laughing when I saw you lay out that air mattress. And once Abby found her swim suit, she started to head to the bathroom, stopped, stared at me for a second, then giggled a bit, and quickly got changed."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I missed that?" Jimmy says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You were getting the girls stuff all set."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shakes his head. "Miss all the good stuff."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, then closes the drawer, all of their clothing is put away. He grabs the bag and heads to the bathroom. "Damn!" slips out of his mouth as soon as he gets in there.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He hears Jimmy laughing in the other room. A second later, Jimmy's standing next to him, looking at the huge soaking tub, granite and glass shower with multiple shower heads, dual sinks... every bell and whistle he could possibly imagine is included bathroom. "They did this part up right."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's still staring around. "I'll say. You can swim laps in that tub."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods. Tim turns around and notices… "Is that a bidet?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's still nodding.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim investigates. "You know, I've never seen one of these in person before."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy laughs at that. "Thought you said you've been out of the country."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim rolls his eyes a bit and looks at Jimmy. "Shockingly enough almost all of my out of the country has landed me on Marine or Naval bases, not a lot of posh bathroom equipment for the Jarheads. They consider stalls between the heads to be the height of luxury."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim puts their toothbrushes on the sink and tucks the rest of their toiletries into the shower. Since Jimmy's right next to him, he can see that he's not got an empty bag, yet. Jimmy's eyeing it. Tim's feeling a little… uncomfortable is likely the right answer, but… part of this is having them watch, so…</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He tucks the rest of their gear into the medicine cabinet. Jimmy's not really paying attention to Tim's pain meds or Abby's prenatal vitamins and anti-nausea meds, but the enemas get a raised eyebrow.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs. "Anal's fun. Not sure what we're doing this weekend, but we're equipped for it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That gets wide eyes and a nod. "Oh."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's eyebrows furrow. Jimmy's looking really surprised by this. "It's not gross, I mean, for you, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"God! No." He's pretty adamant about that, so Tim's fairly sure that's true. "Just… wasn't expecting to see something like that."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs. "You guys brought some goodies, too, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh, yeah… Not… like that, though."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Like what?" Uncomfortable is rapidly fleeing in the wake of sexy and curious.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy smirks. "You'll see."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Sand between her toes, warm and soft, and ow… prickly. East coast beaches always have bits of sharp shells sticking out of them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Oh well, still feels good for the most part.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's enjoying being on the water again. Sun's getting low behind them. They should get some dinner soon, and little girls have had a big day, bedtime for them soon.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Bedtime for grown-ups, soon, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She gets past the dunes and sees Anna laying on a blanket, under an umbrella, chilling out, chewing on her toy rings, Mona keeping guard right next to her. Gibbs, Ducky, and Penny are about twenty feet away, standing in the low surf. The waves are rushing about mid-calf high on them. Gibbs is holding both of Molly's hands, pulling her up so she can 'jump' each wave as it rushes in.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's shrieking with laughter and joy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly's in Penny's arms, watching the water, from the looks of it, entranced. Abby scoops up Anna as she gets closer, and quickly realizes why Anna's chilling on the beach, as soon as her feet hit the water, Anna starts to cry.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Shhh…" Penny and Gibbs both shake their heads as she tries to sooth Anna.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Don't think she likes the noise," Penny says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs looks at the blanket. "That's about as close as you can get her and have her stay calm. She seemed to be doing fine with Mona though."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay." Abby's patting Anna's back, and starts to take her back to the blanket. And once she's back on the ground, no longer in danger of being taken into the water, Anna calms right back down again.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You okay here?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Anna coos.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, I'm gonna go play in the surf a bit. You holler if you need something."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Mona shuffles a bit closer, making sure her baby is safe and comfy. Abby pats her on the head as she stands up to get closer to the water.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So… that one's not a water baby," she says when she's within talking range.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"But, I think we've got a water baby, here!" Penny says, bouncing Kelly, who's watching the ocean, entranced.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Water BABY!" Molly shrieks between leaps.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs lifts her into his arms. "Know we got one here!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Think?" Abby asks Penny.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Decided we'd wait for you to let her see what she thought about it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles at that. "Thanks." She wades out and hugs Gibbs, who's soaked, and from the looks of it, having a very good time. Apparently covered in salt water and sand, little girl basking in his attention and the ocean, light breeze whipping his hair around, makes for a very happy Gibbs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's glowing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny smiles at Abby, takes her hug happily, and goes back to enjoying this. She's also looking very at home here, large straw hat shading her skin, loose sarong wrapped around her, also whipping in the breeze.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky's got his pants rolled up, holding onto his hat, which seems to want to fly away, looking pensive. "You okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods, still quiet. "Last time I went for a walk on the beach the consequence were not quite so pleasant."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You wanna be here, Duck?" Jethro asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Certainly. Still, it is hard to feel the water on my legs and not remember. So I am here, hoping to build new memories." He smiles at them and takes Molly's hands. "Shall we jump the waves, my Molly?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"JUMPING!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby takes Kelly from Penny, and says to her, "So, we gonna get wet?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly's looking down at the water swirling around the grown-ups legs. She's looking pretty ready to just leap on in.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7hujyAhDRKc/T9CmHiLnN2I/AAAAAAAAAL4/_B0OIdjL_HA/s1600/baby-girl-walking-on-sand-beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7hujyAhDRKc/T9CmHiLnN2I/AAAAAAAAAL4/_B0OIdjL_HA/s1600/baby-girl-walking-on-sand-beach.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://pixshark.com/baby-girl-walking.htm">Water baby?</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Come on, let's go where it's shallow." Abby takes her to the edge of the water, where the sand is dry and hot, and then carefully puts her feet on the sand. Kelly looks very startled by this, not sure she's loving this, but she takes two steps forward, holding her Mama's hands, and finds the cooler, damp sand, and appears to appreciate that. She flops down, so she can get her hands into the sand as well, and she's digging in it, squishing it between her fingers and toes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny's chuckling at this, and Gibbs is grinning as Kelly keeps messing with the sand.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Third time in a row watching this," Penny says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby looks up; she's kneeling next to Kelly, who just put a handful of sand in her mouth and is spitting it out, looking horrified. "Doesn't taste good, does it?" Then she says to Penny, "John and Tim, too?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"All of my boys, and yes, Tim, too. Guess he was about Anna's age first time we got him to the beach." That makes sense, just like Anna, Tim has a December birthday, and assuming they had him out his first summer, he'd have to be about the same age. "He liked this part just fine. Had a blast on the sand. Loved the feel of crushing sand castles under his hands, or mounding the sand up." Penny laughs a bit. "He was a kind of fussy napper, but on a blanket, in the shade, warm soft sand under him, and he was out like a light.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"But he didn't want to get into the water. He wasn't crawling yet, but every time we looked like we were going to put him in, he'd start fussing. Took all day to get him down to it, and…" Penny looks down at her feet, and takes three steps so she's in the surf, feeling it wash over her. "There's a lot of force in these little breakers. We forget that, because we're big. We had him on the sand, working on the idea that the tide was coming in, so the water was getting closer and closer, and he looked like he was enjoying it, seeing how close it would come, then the first bit got him, and it splashed up, got in his nose and face, and the next one pulled back hard enough he must have felt like it was going to pull him out to sea, because he started screaming. Tori and I got him out of there, and washed off, and he didn't go near the water for the rest of that summer. The next summer he was fine with it. Would have been a year and a half or so at that point, and like what Molly's doing, he was good with being 'jumped' over the waves."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby says to Kelly, "You want to go in the water, or just stay here?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly looks up from the sand, notices that there is more going on here than just sand (which is awesome and kind of overwhelming for a year-old mind to process) and then starts to crawl toward the water.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's eyebrows rise. "When did you start doing that?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ten minutes ago. Tim put her down on the porch thinking she'd stay put, and she just about gave him heart failure when she made a bee-line for the edge."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby feels her heart skip a beat at that, too. "God."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He grabbed her. Tripped over himself and the lounge to do it, but she didn't get within eighteen inches of the edge."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Kelly." She looks at her mom. "Here, up! You don't want to crawl face first into the ocean."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby doesn't know if that means anything to Kelly, but she does allow herself to be lifted into walking position and starts toddling to the water.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Her foot hits the wet sand and she stops, one foot in the sand, one lifted, wobbling. Abby's not sure if she likes it or not, but she isn't crying. The second foot drops, and she just feels it. "Here comes the water!" Abby says, as the tail end of the wave skitters up the beach to wash around Kelly's ankles and Abby's toes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly lets out a surprised half-shriek, half-laugh, and then drops down to her bum to try and touch the waves with her hands, laughing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny nods. "This one's a water baby."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby laughs at that. "Yeah."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
As the water pulls away, Kelly starts to cry. "No, baby. No crying, not for waves." Abby says, sitting next to her, "They're coming back!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And a few seconds later, when the wave comes back foamy water rushing over Kelly's hands and feet, she laughs again.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Last ones here pick up dinner. </span>Ziva reads on her phone. It's a text from Breena.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We are about half an hour out. Are the girls already in bed?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Almost. Getting them washed off is a bit more interesting than we were expecting.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ah.</span></div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Beach going with six grown-ups is one thing. Play in the water, get sand all over, head to the house, use the outside shower to quickly rinse all the sand off, and then wash up inside.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Yeah… Babies… Let alone a dog… Nope, not that easy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
First off, there is, at any given time, three hundred times more sand than there could ever possibly be on any baby who's even been near the beach. And even though Kelly, Molly, and Anna have all been stripped of their clothing, all of it, and rinsed off twice, Breena and Abby are <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">still</span> finding more sand on them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Second of all, the dog is not going to just meekly head over to the shower and get rinsed off. Oh no! Mona is firmly convinced that showers are something that happen to other people. The pink hairless ones. And that people of her kind (four-legged, fuzzy ones) should not ever have to be involved with the indignity of having someone spray water all over them, let alone in an attempt to remove sand from her tummy. According to Mona, if God had wanted her belly sand-free, He'd have removed it himself, and Gibbs, in his attempts to get her clean enough to let her back into the house, is engaging in high blasphemy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, to say the pre-shower routine of attempting to de-sand the various smaller members of the party is taking <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">quite</span> a bit longer than anyone had anticipated, is something of an understatement.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, eventually, after three rinses Abby and Breena declare the girls are finally sand free. At which point Jimmy carries them, one at a time, upstairs into the house in an effort to get them to dinner and bedtime, while remaining, sand free. And eventually, Mona (who is moping, as only a big, black dog can) is deemed to be sufficiently cleaned up enough to go back into the house.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And eventually, Tony and Ziva show up (with both food, and their <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">one, tiny, </span>carefree, we-don't-have-babies bag of luggage).</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Which means the long weekend has really started.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"They down?" Breena asks as Jimmy heads down from their room. She's in the kitchen, unpacking the food that Tony and Ziva brought.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He crosses his fingers. "They're tired. But new bed, new room, really revved up. Tim's still up there, just lying on the floor being quiet with them. Hopefully they'll drift off soon. Something smells good." He doesn't see Tony or Ziva, but he can see everyone else milling around outside, drinks in hand.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Seafood joint a few streets up. They got three of the 'ultimate sampler meals,' clams, flounder, and a bunch of other stuff. Once Tim's down, it's food time."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good, I'm starving." Breena gives him a look, and he inclines his head. "Not really. You know I know better than that."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Kind of crazy day."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I got a snack an hour ago."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She kisses him. "Good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, what else has to go out?" Penny asks, coming in from the back porch.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I think these can go out," Breena gestures to the two trays in front of her. "I'm gonna keep these," she points at the bags next to her, "in the fridge until we need them."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What's in those bags?" Jimmy asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oysters and raw clams. Thought we'd keep them cold until we got through the ones that are already out there."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"There's more!" Jimmy's eyes light up. He loves oysters.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena nods, and Penny says, "Local shrimp and crabs out there, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They hear more footsteps coming down the stairs. "Some scallops, too. Just lay off the flounder, that's for Ziva," Tony says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva raises an eyebrow at him. It's supposed to be for him, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony smiles, "God and I have a deal, I'm allowed to have shellfish when it's local and fresh and I'm celebrating."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva laughs at that. "And is that deal why you bought out the shellfish section?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods solemnly. "Yes."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy grins at them. "And what are we celebrating?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony grins back. "Fresh, local shellfish!"</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://jcreidtx.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/9/soft-shell-crabs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://jcreidtx.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/9/soft-shell-crabs.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.foodsogoodmall.com/2011/10/fried-soft-shell-crabs.html">Soft shelled crabs.</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim flops down next to Abby on one of the lounges fifteen minutes later. "And they are all asleep."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yay!" Abby says. "Baby monitor in and on?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, pulls his part of the monitor out of his pocket, and puts it on the table in front of them. "Oh…" His eyes light up as he sees what's in front of them. "Are those soft-shell crabs?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods. "And now that we're finally all here, we can dig in!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim snatches two of them, fast, and says, "Tony, I love you!"</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, do we have actual plans for this weekend, or are we just laying about and enjoying?" Ducky asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm in favor of laying about and enjoying," Tony replies.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Beyond making sure I get a hold of Abbi's computer, I've got nothing," Tim says, eyeballing another crab. He's comfortably full, but they're soooo yummy. Abby strokes the back of his hand, and no matter how yummy they are, not feeling like he ate a bowling ball later tonight wins out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Cooking!" Ziva says, happy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh, God," Penny stares at the mounds of seafood detritus in front of them. (She did not practice enough restraint to avoid eating more of the oysters than she should have. She is also not regretting that in the least.) "How can you possibly be thinking of food again?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Abbi and I both like to cook. Tomorrow, once she gets here, we've got the farmer's market, and then <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">cooking!</span> You were going to help, too, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony shrugs. "I think I volunteered to taste anything you came up with and carry the groceries." He grabs the last clam, sucking it down gleefully. "I want to get in the water. Been too long since I've done some body surfing."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs is quietly munching one of the last crabs, then he says, sounding almost tentative, "Up in Duck," the town just north of them, "they've got dancing on the beach Saturday night. Thought I'd take Abbi to that. Anyone else who wants to come is welcome. Bonfires are legal here, on the beach, thought maybe tomorrow night, might do something like that." Gibbs looks at the fire pit near them crackling away, which is nice, but it's not roaring flames and air kissed with driftwood smoke on the beach. "If it doesn't mess with the dinner you're making, maybe, roast up some marshmallows. See if the girls like s'mores."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I think we can make room for s'mores," Ziva says. "What sort of dancing?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shrugs. "Don't know. Live band, bonfires, two drink minimum, no shirt, no shoes, no problem. Sounded fun."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That does sound fun," Ducky adds. "Penny?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She grins at him. "Of course we're going."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim looks to Abby, Jimmy, and Breena. "You three want to go, and I'll baby wrangle. Not like I've got much in the way of dancing skills right now."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy gently shoves him on his good shoulder. "Not leaving you here all by your lonesome to watch girls. Besides, we got Age of Ultron and Civil War. Next time, we'll all go. This week, Marvel Movies the rest of them would rather poke their eyes out than watch."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You sure, we can watch the movies at home next week?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy snorts. "You didn't check out the entertainment system that Ed's got up there. Complete surround sound that blows anything either of us have at home out of the water."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim looks from Jimmy to the girls. "Okay, we've got his vote, you okay with this?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby pets Tim's hair. "I can't drink, my favorite guy can't dance, and these days 10:30 is a late night for me. I'm good with watching movies."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And if you three are staying home, I will, too." Breena wraps with. "So, what do you say Ziva, gorgeous men in spandex saving the day or real life ones on the beach dancing?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I think I am going to have to go for dancing. Unless you want gorgeous men in spandex?" she asks Tony.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hmmm… You know, not that I lean that way, but Chris Helmsworth…" Tony winks at Ziva as she swats his shoulder.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena shakes her head at that. "Chris Helmsworth? Really? When Robert Downy Junior is in the movie?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh God, this is our James Bond homoerotic wank-fest all over again, isn't it?" Jimmy says, causing Penny, Ducky, and Gibbs to all stare at him in amazement. "We're here last time, and," he points to Tony, "brought the movies, including something like three Bonds, but they were all the Daniel Craig ones."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky makes a distressed sound while shaking his head. "Anthony!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And just like last time, Craig is <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ziva's</span> favorite Bond. If it was just us guys, it would have been Connery all the way. But it wasn't just us, so I got ones that the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">girls</span> liked watching, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm still not getting the homoerotic wank-fest aspect of this," Penny says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's what Palmer called the Craig Bond movies," Tony says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"They are! And look, I get the Connery and other ones are all straight wank-fests."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Reinforcement of patriarchal power fantasy norms?" Penny adds dryly.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sure," Jimmy says. "Wank-fest gets to the heart of it more quickly, but if you like the PC version, have at it. Anyway… the reason I'm remembering it was Tony said the thing about Ziva liking Craig, which then got the girls going on about which Bond they liked better, followed by <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">why</span> they liked those Bond's better, and if Breena gets started on Robert Downy Jr. we're never getting out of here, because then Abby will start talking about Tom Hiddleston and Ziva'll get into Anthony Mackie, and next thing you know we're" he gestures to him, Tim, and Tony, "all sitting around pretending to be deaf because none of needs to know in anything like that level of detail what,<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">exactly</span>, it is about those three guys that they like."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena, grinning, hops up and sits in Jimmy's lap, petting him a bit, then gives him a quick kiss, and says, "He's a little peevish because, unlike Robert Downey Jr., he can't grow a decent goatee."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's eyes go wide and his mouth drops open. "Oh, you didn't!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena laughs and sticks her tongue out at him, and that gets the tickling started.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's not horribly late when they break up for bedtime. Good dinner, fun conversation, little girls that'll want to be up and playing early. Hitting the sack before morning seems like a good idea.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Once dishes are cleared, washed, and put away, and they're moseying on up, Gibbs gives all four of them a long look. "I can sack out on the sofa."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We're good Gibbs," Breena says with a smile and a lot of certainty in her voice.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He looks at Jimmy and Tim. "Sure?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They nod.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Besides," Breena adds, "you may be willing to sack out tonight, but tomorrow, Abbi's getting here, and I'm pretty damn sure she doesn't want to sack out on the sofa. So," she kisses Gibbs' cheek. "Rest well, see you in the morning."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They don't run up the stairs and start tossing off clothing the second they get into the bedroom. Which isn't to say there hasn't been a current of happy anticipation, but there's also a sense of, 'how do we get into this?'</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, actually, they're up, in the bedroom, all sort of standing around the bed, and just looking at each other. Finally Abby says, "So, we're not touching. Just watching."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sure."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim thinks about it. Abby and Breena are next to each other. Abby in a skirt and t-shirt. Breena's got one of those sun dresses she seems to live in during summer non-work hours. And as he's thinking, Tim's noticing that Abby's really watching Breena.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Which is when something hits him, that probably should have hit him a long time ago, but didn't. Abby's bi. He knows this, but… he didn't really <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">know </span>it. And now, seeing her watch Breena, it's really hitting him. Abby likes girls, for real, not just in a fun way to rev him up sort of thing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, it does rev him up, and they're both here, and God, he really doesn't mind, at all, if the girls want to play with each other. But there's no way he's going to just whip that out in front of all four of them without talking to Abby about it first. Tomorrow night, that'll do.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But apparently he paused too long and all three of them are watching him really closely.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Second thoughts?" Jimmy asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Um... No, not really. Not, don't want to do this..."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"But..." Abby says, she can see there's something going on.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sighs, or they can try to have it out, now. "Just, kind of stupid, something that should have hit me a long time ago but didn't, and..."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And..." She's leading him on, wanting to figure out what's up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He knows signing in front of people who can't is rude. He also knows that pulling her out of the room to talk about this is rude. And he knows that they're all sort of nervous and working very hard to make sure that everyone is comfortable and anyone not being comfortable will kill this, so if it looks like he's getting cold feet, they'll sleep on the floor, and Jimmy and Breena in the bed, and sex this weekend'll be catch as catch can.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So he signs (as well as he can, one hand in a cast with your arm in a sling makes for some awkward sign language). <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You're b-i. </span>(He has to spell it. Doesn't have a clue for what the sign for that is.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So? You know that.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Well, yeah, but... I'm just getting that you really like Breena the same way I like her.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Duh. What did you think...</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">That you liked her in a 'fun way to turn Tim on' sort of way. And, yes, I do know </span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">exactly</span> <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">how self-centered that is.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's outright laughing at that, and Jimmy and Breena are watching this with very obvious curiosity.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Okay, so you got to the party a bit late. Glad to see you're getting it. Is this a problem?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No! Just. It doesn't bug me if you want to fool around with her. At all. And it's hitting me that she's here, and you're here, and I know it doesn't bug Jimmy, and gosh, look at that nice, big, soft bed that we'll all be in soon... So... if you wanted to amend the no touching thing so you two can fool around... Wanted to talk to you about that first, before saying it to them.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smiles at that and then turns to Jimmy and Breena. "I guess you'd like an explanation on what that was?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They're both nodding.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby looks pointedly at Tim. It's his job to set it up. He sits down on the bed, a very clear signal that yes, this is shared space for them, and whatever it is that's going on, it's not about him being afraid of this.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, in my defense, I'm really, really straight. And kind of stupid. And yes, I know Abby's bi. But, in that I'm not bi, it took a while to get the idea that she likes you" he says to Breena, "the same way I like you. And that you two messing around, at least for her, isn't <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">just</span>about turning me on."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's a big part of the kick, too," Abby adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"But not all, or…" he looks at her, thinking, "most?" Abby nods. "Of it. And, now that I'm thinking about it," he turns to Breena, "I don't know what you get out of it, either. Are you straight?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena smiles, and also sits on the bed, pulling Jimmy along with her. And as she speaks, Abby scrambles on, next to Tim. "At this point, I don't think it matters. Making out with Abby is fun." She strokes Abby's hand, and Abby smiles at her. "I'm not particularly attracted to you. I don't fantasize about you when I masturbate. But I love you, and this is fun, and you're beautiful, and it feels really good, so I like it. You're all soft and smooth and pretty, and that's a really nice change of pace. And the way you two react" she looks from Jimmy, who's just quietly listening to this, to Tim, "makes me feel like a sex goddess, which is amazing, so, it's all this wonderful package of love and good. But it's not like I check out girls at the gym or anything."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay," says Tim, "So, what I was thinking, and realizing I should have said to Abby earlier, and would have if it had occurred to me, but it didn't, is that I can be a great husband and a great lover and a great dad and all the rest of it, but I can't be a woman. That's literally the only thing I cannot ever be for you," he stokes Abby's cheek, "And, so... I mean," he's looking from Abby to Breena, "you're right here, and it doesn't bug me at all if you and Abby want to fool around. I mean, look, I'm not comfortable with you," now he's looking at Jimmy, "touching Abby, not tonight, at least. But, however it is I'm wired, Breena doesn't set off that, 'My Woman, Back the Hell Off,' reaction."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Like you said, 'you can't be a woman' so we're not competing. I can fill a need you can't and vice versa."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Probably. So, if it's okay with the three of you, I'm fine if the girls want to touch. I will more than happily watch and take turns. Or both of us touch Abby but not each other, and vice versa for you and Jimmy, or just each of us with our own spouses and watching is good, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He and Abby have no trouble recognizing the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">want to talk </span>look that flashes between Jimmy and Breena, so both of them give them some privacy by simultaneously deciding it's tooth-brushing time. When they get out, after a very long, very thorough tooth-brushing, face washing, getting ready for bed in the bathroom with the water running so as not to hear what was going on in the bedroom, Jimmy pats the bed next to him, and Abby heads over to sit next to him, Tim following.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He leans towards her and gently, mouth closed, brushes his lips across hers. Friendly kiss, less than a second long, the kind that says hello, but there's heat in his eyes, a lot of it. Then he pulls back and says, "If I'm less than a foot away from you in bed, naked, watching you make out with my wife, let alone helping you do it, my brain is going to skitter off," he makes a little hand gesture of his fingers running off, "and my balls will be in charge, and I will join in, and I will touch both of you. I will rub up all over both of you, and I'll kiss both of you, and I'll fuck both of you, and," he looks over at Tim, holding his gaze, "if you think you'd be doing anything different you are <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">lying</span> to yourself. That little voice saying, 'Let's watch the girls make out; it'll be fun' is your dick trying to get your brain to fuck off so it can be fucking the girls. If Abby's back is to you, and she's petting with Breena, you will be on her, and your hands will wrap around them, pull both of them up close to you, and you'll be kissing and petting and fucking both of them, and if you're doing that, I'm joining in, too, because that's just who we are.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And I'm not ready to cross that line. Not tonight. I'm sure we'd really like it while we were doing it, but... No. We're sticking to the rules we laid out. So, tonight, tomorrow, Saturday. Me and Breena. You and Tim. We set this up so we'd have extra thinking time before touching each other, so that's what we're going to do. We'll watch and play, and share the bed, and if we're still good with each other, then we'll talk again about going further, but right now, that's the line.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay." And it is, and no one's going to push it, because that's how they play. Because that's what love and respect look like.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's a little awkward at first, because they aren't at a club, and they're not going at it hot on their own, then showing off. No, they're starting cold.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Okay, lukewarm, they all like the idea of this. They're all anticipating this and have been all week.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But the logistics are a bit off. Once Jimmy and Breena are out of the bathroom, done with their nighttime routine, they have another minute of <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">now what?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim and Abby both brought pajamas, but didn't exactly intend to wear them, and Tim's not sure if this is just strip right off and go about your normal bedtime play, just with an audience, or if they're all putting on a (quiet) show.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Add in the fact that there's just no erotic way for him to get out of a shirt right now. (His sling keeps his arm secure to his chest with four Velcro straps, so, he's got to get out of that first, then out of the shirt, carefully, all button downs all the time these days, and then<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">back</span> into it, because he's not supposed to have that arm free for more than a few minutes at a time.) Plus, okay, he wants to take his shirt off, because he thinks he looks god awful dumb with a hard on poking out from between the front pieces of his shirt, but, he wants it on, too, because the sling is scratchy, and he doesn't like the way it feels on bare skin.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, for right now, they're all on the bed, all dressed, and all, kind of… well, stuck.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sees Abby and Breena looking at each other, having one of those silent conversations, and then Abby's in his lap, pulling off her t-shirt, and Breena's tugging off Jimmy's shirt, and they aren't stuck anymore.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
For a few seconds, once all the clothing (except Tim's shirt) goes flying, there's just looking. They've all seen each other in bathing suits, and caught some little glimpses of the usually covered bits at the club, but this is the first time they've been able to just <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">look</span> as much as they like.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And Breena's worth looking at.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Really worth looking at. And yes, like Abby, her breasts aren't rock hard or sky high anymore, and she's got a bit of a tummy, her hips and butt are probably bigger than she'd like and decorated with pink stretch marks. But she's also all warm gold skin and warm gold hair and big blue eyes and joy beaming off of her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"God, you're beautiful," goes spilling out of his mouth before he gets it together enough to wonder what Abby may think about that. (She's smiling, so he gets the sense that she agrees.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena smiles at that, little self-deprecatingly. "Should have seen me five years ago."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shakes his head. "I'm sure you were smoking hot then, too, but, no. You're beautiful now. I want you, like this, now, in my head."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy kisses the back of her neck, gathering her hair so it's draping down her shoulder. "He's right." His eyes slip over Abby (which they'd been doing more or less non-stop since she tossed her shirt to the side). "And Abby, just… fuck! Been waiting fourteen years to see you naked and you're more than worth the wait."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby grins, enjoying the compliment, and the look on Jimmy's face. Her eyes go trailing down his body, then to Tim's, and back to Jimmy. "We are lucky, lucky, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">lucky</span> women."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena giggles, staring at Tim, eyeing him up and down, licking her lips in a way that makes him think of at least half a dozen things he wants her to do to him with her mouth. Her eyes settle on his dick, peeking up from his un-buttoned button down. She doesn't seem to think the shirt and hard-on combo looks stupid. "Oh yeah."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Positioning is kind of odd. Find something that feels good, looks good, and where you can see what the other two are doing. At home, this would be easy. He's got mirrors all over the place. Any angle you want to see on his bed, you can see.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Apparently Breena's parents are not quite so into sex. (Or, and Tim finds this is a somewhat distracting thought, they prefer it in the bathroom. They certainly spared no expense in there. Okay, enough of that.) They've only got one mirror in the room, and unless you're directly in front of it, it's not set to give a particularly good view of anything that's happening on the bed.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's further complicated for Tim by being one arm down. He can't lie on his right side, yet, so spooning (assuming he wants to do anything besides fuck) is out. Missionary is out. Standing, out. (sort of. He can't lift her.) With his arm strapped to his torso, anything where Abby's on top, lying against his chest, is out. Cowgirl, doggie, or any sitting position is pretty much all they've got going right now.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Fortunately, they like all of those options, and while the Slaters might not have given much thought to the location and number of mirrors in this house, they did invest in a four post bed which means there's an excellent place to lean his back if he's sitting up, and as long as he's sitting kind of diagonally across the bed, Abby can either sit facing the Palmers, and look as much as she likes, or facing him, and she can catch sight of some of what's going on behind her in the mirror.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
In some ways, it's like sixty-nining. There's the split focus, feeling, enjoying, and paying attention to what's going on with you, and then there's watching and enjoying what's going on with them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There's the feel of Abby's lips on his, soft whispered words, theirs and Jimmy and Breena's, the jostling sensation of the bed moving beneath them, and sometimes he's focused narrowly, Abby's tongue against his, her breasts against his chest, the feel of her hair on his face and throat. Sometimes his focus goes wide, Jimmy and Breena kissing, petting, nibbling and exploring.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's sitting back against one of the posts, facing in toward Jimmy and Breena. They're laying on their sides, also on something of a diagonal. He thinks they're good positions, everyone can see what's going on. (Jimmy has to turn his head to see, but he's not doing that much. Tim wonders if Jimmy's getting off more on being watched than watching, because he certainly looks like he's having a VERY good time, but he's not looking back at them much.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He thinks he could easily just sit here and watch. He could probably just play with Abby, tune them out and focus entirely on her. (Though he doesn't want to do that. He wants to watch.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena rolls Jimmy onto his back, straddling him, resting on his chest and hips, full body stretched out along his, as they continue to kiss and rub against each other. She leans up a bit, breasts and belly and pussy rubbing over Jimmy, but she's watching Tim and Abby make love, her eyes skimming all over their bodies, and that feels amazing to Tim. Makes him feel hot and sexy and desirable and… and all the good emotional feelings that go along with sex kicked up about twenty notches, because it's not just Abby petting him, desiring him, it's Breena, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He catches Breena's eyes, makes sure she sees him watching her, making love to her with his gaze, and she smiles at him, then kisses Jimmy, wet and deep, and Tim sighs, liking seeing that a whole lot, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And then it's better, Abby's kissing him, running her fingernails through his hair, rubbing her body all along his.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So much better.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She turns around, so her back is to him, nudging his legs a bit, so they're a little closer together, and then she's straddling him, sinking onto his dick, and his head rolls back, resting against the post as the intense pleasure of her body on his and hearing and seeing Jimmy and Breena all rush through him.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's laying down, on his back, Breena straddling his face as he eats her out. Tim practically wants to pass out that's so hot. Abby riding him, watching the Palmers, so much sex, all over, sounds (quiet sounds) and smells and slick bodies moving against each other.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena flips around, onto her hands and knees and takes Jimmy's dick into her mouth, and Tim's got to close his eyes at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He feels Abby stop riding him, and giggle. He opens his eyes, and sees her half-turned in his lap, smiling. She kisses the tip of his nose. He pulls her lips down a bit, and kisses her, deep and wet, tongue slipping between her lips.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Want that?" she asks, when he breaks the kiss.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"God, yes."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She begins to shift off of him, but he holds her hips. "Want to do it, want to watch them do it, can't see how to do both at once."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh." She slows down, barely moving on him, just rocking gently. "Watch then do?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay." His fingers find her clit for a light, slow stroke to keep her simmering along.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So they watch, enjoying it. He's not sure which he's liking more, the sight of Breena sucking down Jimmy's cock, her wet pink lips slipping up and down over his dick, tongue caressing the tip, or Jimmy licking her pussy, tongue and fingers stroking her. They're both mind-meltingly good.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's getting close. Tim knows how to read balls more than well enough to know what it means when they pull up tight like that. He knows how it feels too, getting closer and closer to the edge. He's not quite there, yet, but he will be, soon. And when Breena pulls off, and Jimmy half-moans and curses under his breath, Tim completely understands that sound and how that feels, too. That 'So close, God, come on, almost there! Wait? What? No! Do not go wandering off, get back there and fuck me woman!' crying frustration of when she decides 'we're going a bit longer' and all you want to do is come.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena switches around, kissing Jimmy sloppy and deep as she sinks onto his cock, and both Jimmy and Tim moan at that, because nothing feels like that, being an inch from the end, gritting your teeth at not going over, and then having a hot, wet pussy envelop you. That's almost worth getting yanked back from the edge for.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He can see it happening to Jimmy. He can feel his own memories of it. And Abby's in his lap, wet and soft and gliding over him, so he can feel it right here, right now, too, all of it taking him so high.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena flips him over, so he's on top, and Tim can't really see all that much. Mostly just Jimmy's back and legs, but hears Breena say, "Fast," sees her hands cupping his ass, pulling him deep and hard against her, and Jimmy's off, fucking hard, body tight and quivering, muscles flexing, each thrust punctuated by a soft, quiet grunt.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Her legs wrap around his back, then higher, one over his shoulder, as she's thrusting up to meet him, both of them keeping the other one muffled with deep kisses.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's rocking along with them, and Abby is, too, sure they may be watching then doing, but this is too hot to not 'do.' There's no way to just watch this.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
His fingers speed up as she begins a fast, hard grind on his lap, and right now that's exactly what he wants.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
No. It's not. It's good, so good, but…</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He taps her thigh. "Up, off me,"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She gets up, surprised by that. "On your back. Hips on the edge of the bed."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smiles, knowing where this is going; he smiles back at her. She scoots to the edge of the bed, wrapping her legs around his hips, her head a few inches from Breena's hip. So, however she's looking, she's got a great view.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He starts that slow, deliberate pace she loves. All the way in, all the way out, making sure to keep his thumb rubbing over her clit again and again in long, slow circles.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's moving faster, Breena clinging to him, starting that fine, muffled panting that sounds to Tim like about to get off but not wanting to provide the whole house with a concert.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's speeding up, too, wanting to go slow and drag this out, needing to go fast, get off with them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's legs pull tight, urging him faster and deeper, and he doesn't need to be told twice, he speeds up, rocking into her deep and fast, every inch of him buried in her, as she arches against him, encouraging him with her body.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He misses her voice, misses those the moans and the words, wants to hear her screaming out his name as he pulls a long, shuddering climax out of her, but they aren't alone, and the girls are in the room, too, so they can't be loud, and her body, sweet and tight on his is good all on its own.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena's eyes close and she pulls Jimmy against her hard, biting his shoulder, as she twitches, and Jimmy goes tense, grinding hard into Breena, once, twice, third time, and one more, before collapsing against her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's thrusting harder, deeper, rubbing against Abby, going fast and focused, feeling her legs start to tremble, and as soon as he feels that rolling twitch, first of many soft rippling pulses, he lets go, pleasure jolting through him in hot, wet spurts.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The bed's a California king. Tons of space for two people, and snug quarters for four, but they don't have to all spoon or sleep on top of each other.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Clean up is quick, mostly just wiping up with the tissues, and they all crash, with enough room to sleep in their usual (ish) positions.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's on his back, taking up the most room of the four of them. Tim guesses that if it's just him and Breena, his arms and legs take up most of the bed, but he doesn't have quite that much room, so he's keeping himself fairly small.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena's on her side, to Jimmy's left. She's facing him, neck over his arm, her arm across his chest, leg over his.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim supposes that normally he'd be next to Jimmy, back to him, spooned up against Abby, but in that he still can't sleep on his right side, Abby's in the middle, also facing Jimmy, but not touching him, Tim spooned up against her back, both of them on their left sides.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's in bed, naked, glowing from an insanely good orgasm, his wife warm and snug beside him, his two other best friends? Loves? Lovers? in bed with him. It feels surreal. Good, very good, but part of him can't believe this is real.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's laying on his left side, Abby's neck is resting over his arm, and he's sure that if he flexes his fingers a little, he'll end up brushing Jimmy's shoulder.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It takes him longer to drift off than normal, two more bodies in the bed, lots of little baby noises coming from the closet, and apparently Breena has a soft, quiet snore, but eventually his brain settles down, decides this is all right, and he falls asleep.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-421-thinking.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-12148400432070845292015-02-25T16:09:00.000-08:002015-02-25T16:36:59.894-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 419: NestMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Chapter 419: Nest<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Full house for Shabbos this week, and for the first time in a long time, Tim's moving around well enough to make getting up and down the stairs leading into Tony and Ziva's building something less than a monumental chore.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So they're gathering at Ziva's place, and she's having a grand time of it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva loves to cook. She always has. And cooking for other people is even better than just cooking to make food.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
This week, puttering around her kitchen, mixing up bread dough, chopping fruit for sweet nibbles, laying out olives and nuts for salty nibbles while the chickens roast, she's having a blast. She is in a full on celebratory groove, bopping around her kitchen, music on loud, scrubbing the veggies for the salad, and mixing up pitchers of cucumber-lime (virgin) mojitos. (Officially, they're standing in for the wine so that Abby can partake along with everyone else.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's leaning against the door to their kitchen, just watching. After a few beats, where she does not appear to notice he's there, he steps in and catches her mid-dance step. "Dance with me?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She grins up at him, and lets him lead a few steps.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, anything I can do to help in here?" he asks after dipping her low at the end of the song.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I think I've got in here covered. But setting the table and putting food on it would be good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Then I will set the table." He heads out of the kitchen, and then pokes his head back in. "Everyone, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Full house."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's putting plates on the table, and given that it's summertime, which means the sun sets after baby girls are all tucked into bed and snoozing, they're feeding fewer people than usual tonight. "We better hurry up on getting the house done. Add one more high chair and there's no way we're keeping this herd of people in our place."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva grins at the idea of one more highchair, and then a thought is triggered by 'house.' "Did Senior get you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I saw he called, but we ended up playing phone tag, what's up?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He's got a house he wants to move on for us. He would like us to see it before starting the bidding."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's eyes go wide open. "Oh. Uh. Okay… He tell you where?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Georgetown."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony thinks about that for a moment. "Oh God. If it's in bad enough shape for us to afford it in Georgetown, it's about to be condemned."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva shrugs. "He says it is a great neighborhood and a very good school district."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Scratch that, it <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">is</span> condemned."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tomorrow morning, we'll go, we'll see. He invited Gibbs, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony can see it; the more this place looks like the ruins of urban warfare, the more Gibbs'll love it. "That'll be fun. You want to tell Dad then?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A huge smile breaks over Ziva's face. "Oh yes. Do you think Gibbs told Abbi?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's mouth opens and then closes. "I don't know. Is it stupid that I keep forgetting he's got this extra person now, who he's actually<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">trying</span> to tell things to?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes." Ziva winks at him and goes back into the kitchen, coming out a moment later with the salad. "Abbs keeps watching me, looking like she's expecting to be told something."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, Palmer and McGee keep giving me stupid grins, too. So, tonight? Or make them wait for next week."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva smirks at him. "I think we should make them wait."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony laughs.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Stories!" Molly Palmer knows exactly what she wants, and she's homing in on it. Namely, she wants her (new) very favorite story (Madeline) with her very favorite Uncle (Uncle Jethro) and she wants it now.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The thing about summertime Shabbos is dinner starts at sunset. In Washington DC, in the last week of July, sunset is at about 8:30, which is also known as an hour and a half after baby girls go to bed. They've tried a few dinners with the girls up, and basically found that no one was having a good time. Sure the girls liked it, and Molly especially was being extremely vocal about not being tired <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">at all</span>, but between having to deal with exceptionally grumpy tiny people during dinner (not fun) and then having to deal with tiny little bears with sore paws the entire next day (really not fun) the adult members of Clan Gibbs have decided that babies get to sleep through supper when it happens after bedtime.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, these days, the first order of business is get everyone greeted, followed by story time with Uncle Jethro (and Dad, though whether Dad means Jimmy or Tim depends on how little girls are doing.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jethro scoops up Molly, who already has her book in hand, and says, "Hello Molly."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/files/2012/05/Madeline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/files/2012/05/Madeline.jpg" height="320" width="230" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uncle Jetro!" He gets a big wet kiss on the lips. "Madeline!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I see." She's holding it right up in his face. Gibbs leans back a bit and grabs it from her. "'Twelve little girls in two straight lines, the youngest one was Madeline,' right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Molly's astonished by that. "How do you know?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I used to read this book a whole lot."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh." Molly's impressed by that. "Is it your favorite?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shakes his head. "Nah. But I like it a lot. Is this what we're going to read tonight?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Molly nods her head. Tim and Abby head in at that, and as Tim's giving Molly her hello kiss, Molly turns in Gibbs' arms, trying to get into Tim's, which isn't going to happen, but she's really excited about something. "Uncle Tim! Madeline has a hurt arm, just like you!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's looking around, not sure who Madeline is, but Abby's grinning. "Yes, she does, doesn't she, Molly?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Molly nods in agreement, looking intently at Tim. "It gets better."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "My arm's going to get better, too. See." He shows off how much less of his arm is in the cast now. He's not sure how aware of what's under the sling the girls are, but Molly seems impressed.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How much better is it?" Abbi asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim kisses her cheek. "Well, Jimmy comes over and tortures me twice a week, but each time he does it I get another two inches of range of motion, so…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, it's worth it, and you bitching and moaning is just sympathy seeking," Jimmy says with a smile. "Jethro, Abbi," both of them get hugs. "Showing off your new book?" he takes Molly from Jethro and kisses Abby's cheek. "Hey."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Anyway, as I was saying, if NCIS doesn't work out, Jimmy's starting Master Palmer's House of Pain."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh come on!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim winks at Jimmy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Master Palmer?" Jimmy rolls his eyes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim just grins.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Dr. Palmer's House of Pain sounds kinkier," Tony adds as he heads over.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Molly's listening and watching and can tell there's a joke of some sort, because the adults are all goofing around but she doesn't know what's going on. "Daddy?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy kisses her forehead. "It's okay. Uncle Tim and Uncle Tony are teasing me."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She glares at Tim and Tony. Everyone at daycare is very specific about how it's bad to tease people. "No teasing!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, seriously. "No teasing. I'm sorry, Jimmy."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That satisfies Molly. Now she staring at Uncle Tony, who's staring back, trying to figure out what to do with this. After all, there's no way he's going to say he won't tease Jimmy, he'll get ragged on that until the end of time. "C'mere."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Now everyone is looking at Tony, wondering (okay, internally smirking, they all <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">know</span> what's going on) as he takes Molly. She's looking a little startled, too. Uncle Tony's good for rough housing, not so good for cuddles. He's never done story time before. "How about Uncle Jethro and I read you and your sister some stories?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Molly thinks about that, looks over at her Daddy, who nods, it's fine with him if the usual Friday night routine varies a bit, then she looks at Jethro, who also nods. "Uncle Tony's new to this story thing, so we're going to have to show him how to do it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That makes Molly happy, because if there's anything a two-year-old loves, it's getting to boss people around.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Especially adult people!</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
As Gibbs quietly closes the door to Tony and Ziva's bedroom behind him, he looks at Tony and grins. "Not so bad?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony grins back, then shrugs. He's still not awash in overwhelming and unending adoration for the little rug rats, but that wasn't bad. "Still like big people better."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's fine. You're allowed to."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Wasn't scary. Felt like I wasn't completely out of my depth."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs wraps an arm around his shoulders and gives him a squeeze.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Looking forward to doing that with Little D."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That turns the squeeze into a hug.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Really don't like changing diapers. There're all those little folds the poop hides in. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ylghrk.</span>" Tony shudders.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs bursts out laughing at that. "Better get used to it. Ziva's not going to let you be a 1950's dad."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony shakes his head wryly. "Yeah. I know."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, McComputerMaster, I've got a question for you." Tony asks once the blessing is done and they're all eating.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Shoot, Tony. Looking to upgrade at home?" Tim asks, lifting a bite of chicken to his mouth.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh, no… Why, do I need to?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No, just…" Just he knows Tony's laptop is four years old. "Never mind, what's up?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony puts his glass down. "So, once we off-loaded our Bin Laden and started playing with our new data, Bishop had a really devious thought." Everyone is nodding, following along. "Basically, she pointed out how, yeah, it's great that we have all this access now, but with how they gave it to us, they can take it away with just a few keystrokes."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's how every well-designed secure system works, Tony."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Great." Tony rolls his eyes a bit, indicating <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that</span> isn't exactly a revelation to him. The revelation is what that means. "We're using it, making more headway, putting things together faster and easier than ever before. It's wonderful, but… Anytime CIA or NSA says jump, we're gonna be going 'how high' because we can't afford to lose access, now."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Double edged sword," Ducky adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. So… Can we make a copy? I mean, I give you my access stick, can you make me my own NSA database?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sniggers. "Can you get me the fifty million dollars of storage I need to hold it and the fifteen or so people I'll need to run it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim just looks at Tony. "But if you get me authorization from Vance, I'll build you a backdoor so you've always got a way in."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's smiling for a second, because how hard can that be, then he sees the look on Tim's face. "Vance won't give me authorization, will he?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shakes his head. "He's looking at prison time if we get caught. I am, too. However, Draga can, and this is legal, set up a program on your team's computers so that every time a new screen pops up it takes a screenshot and saves it. He'll have to build your own database for it, but you won't be able to lose anything you've accessed."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony likes the sound of that. Especially since he's building a web of hopefully related cases, so what gets used in Case A will hopefully come in handy for Case B. "That's a start."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Step two, and Draga shouldn't have any trouble with this, write a program so that whenever you aren't actively using your computers, they're swimming through the databases, constantly pulling stuff up and getting shots. He can talk to me if he needs help turning those shots into searchable data. When you get enough of it, we'll have a chat with Vance about your storage needs."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods. "Ah. And this would be… legal?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs. He thinks so, but he hasn't seen the fine print on whatever agreement Tony got up with either group. He's fairly certain Tony hasn't seen the fine print, either. "A hell of a lot more legal than me attempting to copy restricted databases or hack a back door into them. So long as we're just messing with our own stuff, it should be fine."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ah." Tony's looking at everyone else at the table. "So, I guess we're all pretty much up to date on what I've been doing this week, then?" Nods. "So, how about it, Abbi, haven't seen you for a while, what CGIS doing to you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi sighs. "New fiscal year starts September 1st, and this year we've gotten notice that the GAO is coming to audit us on September 2nd, so, as you can guess, this year is mayhem. They want not just Fiscal 2015, but the five years previous, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Fun!" Tim says, nodding.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh, yeah, excellent. Add in the fact that I wasn't in charge for '11, '12, or part of '13, and that Swissin, the guy who had the job before I did, needed to take his shoes off to count to eleven, and conveniently died last year." She's glaring at the mental image of Swissin, wishing he was still alive so she could blow off some steam by reaming him out properly. Gibbs gently rubs the back of her neck. "So, I can't even hunt his ass down and grill him, and I've got the least fun accounting nightmare you've ever seen." She stabs a bite of her salad, picks it up on her fork, and then puts it back down. "I've got full quarters where there's nothing, not even files. My computer guys keep telling me there should be information around here somewhere, that we keep copies of everything off site as well as locally, but they can't find them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"My boss is fussing about bringing in forensic accountants to go figure out what's going on because he thinks it looks bad. He wants to just stonewall the GAO and hope they're unwilling to call a Congressional investigation, which is making me wonder if he's involved in those quarters being gone.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"IA reports to him, so I can't exactly call them in on this without him finding out about it, and since I mentioned the forensic accountant, expecting him to go along with it, he's got the heads up that I'm onto something here and is likely scrubbing things clean as we speak." Abbi chomps her bite of salad.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The rest of the table is sitting there silent, very aware of how big of a deal this is, and that they cannot talk to anyone outside of the room about it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You've got a work laptop with access to everything on it, right?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Bring it with you to NC. At some point, you're going to turn it on, log in, and go for a walk, at the very least I'll probably be able to tell you if your computer guy knows what he's doing or if he's BSing you, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thanks, McGee."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, if this is more than just… incompetence, where do you go with this?" Penny asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Borin shrugs. "Officially, as head of the Chesapeake Region, I'd report it to the head of our IA department, and then he handles it. As the person who's going to have to answer to the GAO, I'm thinking those forensic accountants are showing up whether Tom likes them there or not. I want to have something to show beyond a bunch of blank spaces." Abbi takes a drink. "The real question is, do I think IA is going to do something? This feels wrong."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hinky?" Abby asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Those files are supposed to be off site and if they're missing, too… Lots of hinky." Abbi shakes her head. "Swisson just up and gave notice. Just retired out of the blue one day. Next thing I know, I'm in charge of the Chesapeake Division. Cases always ran smooth. He had a good handle on all of the crime stuff, but Swisson was an awful administrator. And I don't know, maybe he got promoted too high. Maybe he was on the take. But this smells bad, and it's biting me in the ass."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs has been holding her hand. This is the first time she's said that much about this all at once. He's been getting bits and pieces, but he's guessing something really shifted today, probably the information not being in the backup storage area. She smiles a little at Gibbs, and then turns to Breena and Jimmy saying, "Right now, I cannot wait for five days at the beach. Thank you so much for the invite!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs winces a little at that, but Abbi's not looking at him, so she misses it. Jimmy and Breena are looking a little curious about <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">five </span>days, but not saying anything. So's the rest of the group. They're all letting <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">five </span>days lie. One of the good thing about a family full of cops is that when one member lets slip with something all the rest of them know is <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">wrong</span> they all come, very quickly, to the conclusion that there is something planned that they are not yet party to, so leave it the hell alone.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, enough of the fun of CGIS," Abbi gives Ziva a long look, smile tugging at her lips. "Have an exciting week, Ziva?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva smiles. "Quite dull really. Computers, more computers. I have been in the office every day this week. Onto more exciting things, for example, are we drawing straws for who's camping out next week?" she asks Breena.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
This produces curious looks from Ducky, Penny, Abbi, and Gibbs, and something that could be called, maybe, if you were looking carefully, restrained glee from the Palmer/McGee contingent.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No worries on that. We're" Breena gestures to her and Tim and Abby, "sharing the master bedroom…" Gibbs had been listening, cutting his chicken, but he looks up fast at that, and stares long and hard at Tim and Jimmy. Breena's going on about how the master is huge, has a little sitting area, and a walk in closet that's currently empty, and how it's just easier to use that as a nursery for all three girls, and keep all the grown-ups who respond to them in easy earshot.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky, Penny, Tony, and Ziva all seem to think that makes perfect sense, and in that it means they all get their own bedroom and don't have to share or camp on the sand, they're just nodding along.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi's noticed something is going on with Gibbs, and since he's already mentioned the possibility of the Palmers and McGees becoming more than just friends, she's got a pretty good sense of what's up with him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy and Tim can feel Gibbs still staring at them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's close enough to Gibbs that he catches his eye, looks down at his left hand. and sees Gibbs follow his gaze, and then he quickly signs (by spelling the words out) w-e-r-e-f-i-n-e-t-a-l-k-s-o-o-n.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs looks back up at him, and there is very much a promise of talking soon in his eyes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How about you, Tim?" He jerks slightly, not noticing that Breena, having finished explaining both how the set up for the house works and who is sleeping where, had tossed the spotlight onto him.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/NavyDSM.png/130px-NavyDSM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/NavyDSM.png/130px-NavyDSM.png" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Um…" For a second he can't think of what he did this week. Then it comes back. He looks down at his right arm. "So, the Third Carrier Group Cyber Attack Readiness Evaluation as well as the Paradigms For Effective Surprise Cyber Attack Tests are officially finished. My reports are done, and as of 16:45 in Jarvis' inbox." Everyone goes quiet at that, not sure if this is the sort of thing where congratulations are in order. Tim sympathizes; he also felt awash in a lot of things, not sure what, really, as he hit the send button. "Got a note back from Jarvis, just as I was heading out, he hadn't had time to read them yet, but he was surprised and pleased to see I've written them." Tim swallows and sighs. "He says that I'm getting a Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award, for going way above and beyond the call," another sigh. Everyone stares at him, he hadn't even told Abby about it, yet.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You're not looking thrilled," Jimmy says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's petting his thigh as he shrugs. "Am I getting it for going above and beyond, coming up with a test no one else could, and doing the job better than anyone else, or for shutting up about what happened to me and not making a fuss during an election year?" Tim shakes his head. "Well, that's a grim reaction to good news. Penny, what have you been up to?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I had a very good week…" And Penny begins to tell them about a breakthrough one of her study groups had this week.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ultimately, in perfect world, Gibbs would be shanghai-ing the boys before heading over to the house tomorrow. Fine sunny day tomorrow, they're all heading over to the house to try and get some hours in. (Especially since no work will be happening next weekend.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Except, tomorrow morning, when he would normally engage in said shanghai-ing, he's meeting Tony, Ziva, and Senior at a brownstone in Georgetown to give it a once over and see if it deserves a bid.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, no pre-house-work talk.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He could talk to them tonight, but he doesn't want anyone else wandering into this conversation, so here at Ziva's is out. And with Tim only having one functional hand, it's not like he can stuff the three of them into the kitchen for some dish washing and alone time, either.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He might be interested in drawing them off before heading home, but he wants to talk for more than five minutes, and with Abbi working like crazy lately, and her just managing to claw tonight free, (she'll be back tomorrow morning) so he's sure as hell not cutting his time with her short.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, as much as his Dad-sense is in overdrive, he's also got a week before those two twits do whatever brilliant plan they've got in mind, so this hasn't hit emergency levels, yet. Still, the four of them, at the house, with <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">everyone</span> else there. Oh, Lord, what the hell are they thinking?</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They're heading home, and Abbi's watching him drive, seeing the worried Dad vibes pouring off of him, looking mostly amused by it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, I take it you didn't know there were only four bedrooms at the Slater's place?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He licks his lips. "Yeah. Never been there before, and Breena left that out when she sent the invite."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shrugs. "Afraid." He shakes his head. "Hopin' those two twits have some clue as to what the fuck they're doing."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Two? Last time I counted there was four of them."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm not worried about the girls. I know they'll be okay with each other. I'm worried about those two getting their rocks off and then getting stupid about it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi raises an eyebrow. "They look happy. Neither of them have much of a poker face, and they certainly looked like they were planning on having a very good weekend."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know. Now. While it's still a fantasy. Most guys can't take seeing their woman with someone else."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Most guys don't like thinking about it, either."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That's a good point, but… "Are they thinking about that, or thinking about getting to try out a new woman?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Worried they're so caught up in one half of the fantasy they're missing the other half."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She touches his hand. "So you'll be the dad and point it out to them."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shakes his head.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, I know, conversation you never wanted to have."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Another sigh.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And you don't want to get nearly that deep into their sex lives."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Could go the whole rest of my life without getting' into that."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi nods in agreement, then she shifts the topic a little, to something he is in control of. "So, everyone else seemed a little surprised by the idea of a five day beach weekend." Abbi smiles at him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs looks a little sheepish. "You caught that, huh?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Kind of hard to miss."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thought you could use the break."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smiles. "You know I can. So, are we staying at the Slaters'—"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shakes his head. "Got a surprise in the works."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi looks pleased by that. "Then I'll look forward to being surprised."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"There is no way this is it," Tony says as he and Ziva pull up in front of a street of appealing brownstones in Georgetown.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Your father is standing over there. Gibbs is next to him. And they are both staring at the same building."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/28213878.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/28213878.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's looking at it. From everything he can see it's a normal, attractive, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">expensive</span> townhouse on a fashionable street in a good neighborhood. "It's haunted, there was a murder in it, the inside is burned out, something has to be really wrong with this place."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's looking at it. It's brick, flush to the sidewalk, no front yard of any sort. Parking is on the street, and like all the homes in this neighborhood it shares sidewalls with the homes next to it. It appears to be three floors high (though there also appears to be an entrance on the front to a basement, so maybe four floors) and the main door is at the top of a narrow staircase on the second floor. It's true she can't see into it from here, but the windows are clear, there are flowers in boxes on the windows, it looks fine.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I do not see anything wrong."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"There's got to be something! This is… these houses go for six million dollars. Unless it's condos on the inside, tiny, tiny condos," Tony's holding his fingers close to each other, "glorified studio apartments, that we're going to have to fix up, we can't afford this."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva shrugs. "He knows what our budget is. Let's see what he is thinking."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony rolls his eyes. "Oh God."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They head out of Tony's car and into the July sunshine.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ziva!" Senior opens his arms wide, embraces her, then steps back for a second, looks her over, a massive grin breaking out across his face, then he elbows Tony and says, "I told you. I told you she'd be so beautiful you'd risk your eyesight by staring directly at her when she was pregnant! How far along are you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva glances at Tony, and he shrugs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Two weeks? So much for telling you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ohhh…" He hugs Tony and then Gibbs, too, who looks really startled by that, and then hugs Ziva again. "Spring baby!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How'd you know, Dad?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Senior waves it off. "Please, you can always tell. No makeup, perfume, ten thousand dollar dress, nothing, makes a woman more beautiful than a baby on board. Lights a girl up from the inside, anyone with an eye for women can see it." Senior winks at Ziva. "Looks like this isn't a moment too soon. I want to show you this" he points to the house in front of them, "first. This is John Ellreth, a good friend of mine's, house. We see this, and you'll get an idea of what you can do with this sort of place. Then we'll go see the house we're looking at for you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony sighs with relief. No way they could afford this neighborhood. "So where's the actual house?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Not far. Two blocks down, one over."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So much for that relief.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
As they're heading in Tony says, "Uh… Dad, that budget I gave you, really, we can't take a mortgage for more than three hundred thousand."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know." He's smiling as he opens the door. "This is a traditional DC row house. The rooms are all in a row, usually, with one long hall and the stairs on the side."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs is nodding along. They're looking at a much larger version, in a much more expensive neighborhood, of what Abbi has.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"These are four floors and you can generally keep the floor plan as open or closed as you want. Some of the interior walls are weight bearing, but because these houses are so narrow it's usually only one wall per floor." Senior knocks on the wall of the hallway. "I've seen people keep narrow doors to each room, or take this wall out all together to that everything flows together."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Abbi's place is like this," Gibbs adds. "Kept the downstairs in small rooms, upstairs is one big room."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
In other circumstances Tony might have teased Gibbs about that, but right now he's quietly freaking out about how, yes, this particular house they are looking at is awfully lovely, and yes, it's classic and elegant and beautiful, and he'd love to live there, because if you were to go out of your way to design a home for Tony DiNozzo a classic, elegant brownstone in Georgetown would pretty much be <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">it, </span>but short of cleaning out all of the drug money they have in evidence, he doesn't see any possible way he can pay for something like this.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva's looking around, asking good questions, getting ideas in place.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Finally, after about twenty minutes, Senior says, "So, you feel like you've got an idea for what to do with a place like this?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes." Ziva says, looking pleased. Tony nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Great, let's take a walk." Senior's got a massive grin on his face as he says that.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I told you!" Tony says as they get close to the place they're looking at. He can see it from the end of the block the one Senior has to have in mind, so can Ziva.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It's a little rough."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It's a burned out hulk, Dad!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Can we go inside?" Gibbs asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Senior nods. "Just, watch where you step. The Fire Department cleared it last week, but it's not rock solid stable."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh God." Tony's not sure if this is a panic attack, or the feeling that goes with knowing this house is pretty much his relationship with his Dad, look's okay from far enough away, but the inside is hollow, charred, and filled with disappointment.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Senior takes the caution tape off what's left of the splintered and charred door frame. "This was being renovated as a historical restoration, and… Apparently they didn't quite know what they were doing. Anyway, once the fire got put out, they'd burned" Senior looks pleased with that pun, "through most of their renovating budget, so, it's on the market again." He takes Ziva's hand and leads her in.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs looks approvingly at the town house. Okay, yeah there is some (Tony's whimpering) fire damage, and the carpets all need to be ripped out (water damage from putting the fire out) along with the drywall (technically it's plaster and lathe), and the wiring (the reason for the fire) is original from 1910, there's no HVAC, but there is a furnace (coal burning) from the 1880s in the basement, that from the looks of it likely still works, like all houses built in the 1880s, it's got one (tiny) bathroom, the windows are broken, but they'd rip them out if they weren't because they're tiny panes of glass in wood, but the side walls are brick, the foundation (stone) is solid, the roof (slate) is in great shape, the spiral staircase (wrought iron) is in one piece, and the beams are aged oak and hard as iron.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs is grinning from ear to ear on this. If Tony and Ziva don't take this, he's tempted to, just because it'll be fun to rebuild.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's staring at this albatross like he can't believe anyone would go for it, let alone seriously suggesting he hang it on his own neck. Ziva's poking around, smiling. After a few minutes she says, "What are they asking?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Three-ten, but we're going to get it for one-seventy-five," Senior says, cool as can be about it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How…" Tony asks, gingerly poking at one of the walls, feeling his finger sink into the crumbly, water soaked and smoke stained plaster.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It's complicated, just trust me on it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Dad. I can't 'just trust you on it,' not if I'm going to end up on the hook for paying for it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I promise you, let me work this deal. You'll get a mortgage for the full three hundred thousand because you're going to need the money for fixing things up. You're not going to pay more than one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars down for the house. The rest of it's going to be tax credits to the seller, points in a few other operations, redevelopment credits to the sellers, and a few other issues, but all you're paying for is one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's eyes narrow. "Is this legal?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes. At least five lawyers will swear to that by the time we're done."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Five?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Of course I'm going to run it by my contract department before finalizing it. Not going to leave you high and dry on this."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony hadn't realized Senior was on enough of an upswing to have a contract department again.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Are we going to have to do anything besides fix it up and move in?" Ziva asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"There's a neighborhood association you'll have to conform to. And you're not allowed to change the outside, the Georgetown Historical Department has rules about that. Beyond that, no."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's staring at his Dad, sure this is too good to be true.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Senior sees that look, reads it right. "If I can't get it for you, clear, on less than 175, we'll walk away."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh God. Dad…" Tony knows all about too good to be true, and right now, this is WAY too damn good.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Exactly. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dad.</span> I know I've screwed up in more ways than either of us can count as your dad, but… Let me be your Dad for once. This is the one thing I'm really good at, let me do it for you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You've been broke more times than I can count, too!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How do you think I kept getting unbroke?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony realizes he has no idea how his Dad does that. Just sometimes he's flush, sometimes he's not. "I love <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">the deal</span>, and real estate isn't about <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">the deal,</span> not this level at least. This is just find an opportunity and muck about with tax law. I can do this in my sleep. It's boring. This is how your grandfather and I got rich in the first place."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Then why did you <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">stop</span>?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Senior touches the brick wall behind him, patting it gently. "Because all this gets you is money, and money is boring." He glances around, noticing that Gibbs and Ziva have the good sense to give him some time alone with Tony. "A good deal is gambling and sex and… and… a good deal hits all your feel good buttons at once. It's like a drug. It uses everything, brains, charm, guile, knowledge, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">everything</span> to get a ton of people all together to make something better than they could do on their own. This… this is…" Senior shrugs. "This is easy. Since Delphine and I have gotten together, I do at least one of these a month, make sure we've got steady income."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Senior's staring at Tony. "Junior, I know you won't take money from me. I know you don't want it. But… This is your nest egg. Once it's fixed up, you can live here or not. You can take piles of equity out of it to keep you flush. You can sell it for market value for at fifteen times what you put into it. It's up to you to take it, all I'm doing is laying it out for you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony looks around at the charred wreck. He can hear Gibbs and Ziva joking about something. They sound happy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Gibbs!" They rematerialize. "One seventy-five a good price for this place?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods, then looks at Senior, "If he doesn't take it, I will."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Senior smiles.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How long to get it livable?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs keeps looking around, thinking, working out what sort of man power he's got for this. "You're helping, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Senior nods, smiling.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Start working after you close… Baby's due in April; we'll get you home by Valentine's."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ziva?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She heads over to Senior, eyes warm and happy. "Make the deal!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Senior's grinning! "Wonderful. Lunch is at my place. Delphine's making crepes and we're all invited!"</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
After Tony and Ziva are in their car, out of earshot, Gibbs says to Senior, "You realize, when you die, and he's going through your things, he's going to find out that one of your companies bought this thing full price, sold it to another one, held it, and then put it on the market again, holding out for him."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Senior smiles. "Technically, one of Delphine's grandson's companies bought it full price as a tax write off, then sold it at a loss to a shell corporation out of the Bahamas that I have <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">nothing</span> to do with. Unfortunately when that corporation was looking to fix it up, they got some bad news, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">black mold. </span>Black mold meant this dump was so expensive to fix up that they decided to give it to a charitable trust a friend of mine runs, for another tax write off, and that trust held it until they could get the credits for rehabbing the place. Last week they got the certification showing that they had taken care of the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">black mold</span> problem and received the tax credits for both the historical rehabbing and EPA compliant toxic fungus clean up, and then," Senior snaps his fingers and makes a frowny face, "the place caught fire, right after they'd paid out enough of their rehabbing budget that it's now too expensive to finish the rehab, and now <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">they </span>are selling it to him and only him as the terms of being given it in the first place."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Senior smiles at Gibbs. "I've only had since Christmas, so this is as fast as I possibly could pull it off. And no, he won't find out, because not only is that end of the deal in the keeping of the trust, but he's also not the executor of my will."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs is mildly surprised to see Senior's got that many levels going on.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Senior smiles. "Like I said to him, I'm actually good at this."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs smiles. "So, when's closing?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"They're usually six weeks out, so we'll do it that way. I'll have some sort of minor hiccough pop up about a month from now, so it doesn't look too slick. But, come September, we'll be ready to start up."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs looks amused by that.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
From lunch, they head back to the other house he's working on. Everyone besides him and Tony and Ziva are there, working on getting more of the siding up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It does look like maybe, if they really push, they'll get the siding done today. Which means that they finally have something, that from the outside, looks like a functional house.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It also means, likely on Monday, they start the job that makes him really nervous, which is roofing with Ducky and Penny. He knows a fall off the roof isn't going to do him any good, but he's also sure that these days neither of them will bounce.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shakes his head and buckles on his tool belt. One way or another, that roof has to get on. And he's thinking that it's extremely unlikely that Ducky or Penny is going to be easily told, 'It's too dangerous for you up on the roof, so how about you sit this out?'</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
News of a house for the DiNozzo family sets off much in the way of happy congratulations. Tony gets a chance to wax nervous about this 'deal' his dad has set up, and Gibbs is pleased to see both Tim and Jimmy backing him on being nervous about it, and suggesting that he makes sure his own lawyers read through everything before he actually signs his name to it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Bu,t for the most part, there's a general sense of pleasure and anticipation at the idea of the last of the nests being purchased and set to go.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"All grown up!" as Breena said.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim grins at Tony, "You know what happens when you get a house…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony rolls his eyes, remembering saying something very similar to Tim along these lines, when he and Abby got their first place. "Yeah, yeah, babies to put in the house."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Everyone stares at him and Ziva, and Tony just smiles. "So, how are we going to balance working on both places?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Should be done on all the outside stuff here before you get to closing on your place. After that?" Gibbs shrugs. "Try to get ready to get working as soon as you take possession. Get the heavy work out of the way fast… Gotta figure out what all we're doing, first. Meantime, try to get the heavy work done here before moving onto your place."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"When's the lease on your current place up?" Penny asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"April." Ziva answers with a smile. "Have to have the new place ready by the end of March."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Was hoping to have this one functional, maybe not done, but all the main parts in play, by Christmas," Gibbs adds. "Kind of like to have the party here, this year. Got a lot to celebrate."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, if we're ready to roll here by the beginning of December… How rough is this place you're getting?" Tim asks Tony.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It's a death trap."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tony!" Ziva says. Then she hands her phone over so everyone else can look at the shots.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's looking through the pictures and… "Tony, much as I hate to say it, but… you're right. How are we going to get this livable?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs just smiles. "Trust me. You two figure out what you want the finished project to look like, and we'll get it there."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They're breaking up for the night, everyone getting ready to go to their own homes. (Gibbs notices that the McGees and Palmers already have plans for dinner together, apparently Jimmy's "torturing" Tim again tonight.) So, as they're packing up, he heads over to Breena and Abby, "I'll bring 'em home."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby looks up at Gibbs. She and Breena know exactly what's going on here. "We're gonna be okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He kisses her cheek. "You" he's looking at Breena, too, "aren't the ones I'm worried about. I'll bring them and some food home. Get little girls settled, and we'll have dinner, okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay." Abby looks at Breena. "What are we in the mood for?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ohhh… Barbeque!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods; he won't have any problems getting that for them.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sharing the master bedroom?" Gibbs asks as soon as he's got Jimmy and Tim alone. All three of them are sitting in the shade on the back porch. They've both been expecting this, so it's not like it's a shock this is the first thing he says to them, but though they've been expecting it, they don't exactly have a plan of what to do with it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Five </span>days?" Jimmy counters with.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You first." Gibbs shoots back. "The only thing I'm risking is a sore back on mine. What are <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">you</span> doing?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Though both Tim and Jimmy look like they've got a pile of snark they want to bring out, neither of them does. Instead Tim comes up with, "I thought you said, if we were okay, you would be, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know. I'm trying to make sure you're going to be okay!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We are. We've got rules in place and…" Jimmy glances from Tim to Jethro and back to Tim. "It's gonna be okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Now Jethro's staring at Tim, who says, "It is. We're good, we're, all four of us, comfortable with what comes next, looking forward to it. And… anyone can back out at any time, and we're all good, and we don't go any further than what we've got planned without at least a week of thinking time, so, we're good. We're taking it slow, and not shooting ourselves or anyone else in the ass."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs eyes narrow as he looks from one to the other. "Really?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, really." Jimmy says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs relaxes a bit, still staring at them. "With each other? Not the girls, but you two."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim and Jimmy look at each other, and then back to Gibbs. "Yeah, we're good Jethro."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs isn't sure if they understand what he means by, 'with each other.' "You're gonna watch him sleep with your wife, and you're okay with that?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sees that sends a flare of nervous through Tim and Jimmy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh…" Tim says, staring at Jimmy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy inclines his head a bit, seeming to be saying, sure, they can talk to Gibbs about this in detail. Tim nods. Then Jimmy says, "Honestly, we don't know. And we really don't want to guess wrong on that. But that 'rules' thing we were talking about draws the line well short of that, so… At least this weekend, we're not finding out."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Now Gibbs looks confused. "So… what are you doing? Like, just, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">sleeping</span> together?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs. "You really want the details?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs isn't sure. Then he shakes his head, no, he doesn't need the gory details. "You made rules, hard rules?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah," Tim replies, "Really hard rules, and built our play time to enforce them. Tonight, we're going to my place, and we'll have dinner, and we'll talk and flirt, and all three of them'll work on me because that makes the stuff Jimmy does to me bearable, then they'll probably stay over," Jimmy's nodding, they're planning on staying over, "in the guest room, and it'll be fine. We won't play at home because it'll be too easy to cross the line."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy takes over. "Next week, all of you guys down the hall, that'll do a good job of keeping everyone on the right side of comfortable. So, we go, we play, we see if we like the game, and if we don't, we don't do it again, and if we do then we'll stay there. If we think more may be fun, then we'll talk about that. But, nothing happens without at least a week of thinking time between suggesting going further and going further."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods slowly, that sounds like a very rational way to do this. "Okay." He's not sure if anyone can be that rational about sex, but… he's not seeing any tension or friction between the guys, so… "Okay. Don't be stupid. Don't let your balls do the thinking."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We're going to be okay," Tim says. "We're all well aware of where the balls want to go and what they want to do, and set this up so brains are in charge."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"All right," Gibbs nods slowly.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">five</span> days?" Jimmy asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"This accounting thing's been going pretty much non-stop since we got back from California. Wanted her to get a break. Didn't think she'd say yes to the long weekend, but she did, so I stretched it out some."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim and Jimmy are just looking at him, pleased, waiting for more details.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"There's a… B&B in Virginia, was there years ago. Nice place, on a lake, fishing, swimming, horses, thought it might be a good way to add a few days off. After three days of babies, some grownup time sounded good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy and Tim are both sitting there with huge grins on their faces.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Finally Tim says, "What had you at a B&B?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs smirks. "The same thing that'd get you to go to one."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">who</span> had you at a B&B?" Jimmy asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shakes his head.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You made sure it's still open, right?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs rolls his eyes. "I'm not so bad at this that I don't know to make the reservations before driving 200 miles out of my way."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What's happening with Mona? You need us to take her?" Jimmy offers.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Coming with us. They let you bring pets."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods, relieved that he doesn't have to figure out how to get Mona into his van along with both girls and the twenty-seven-million pounds of baby crap any trip involving babies requires.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
For a moment they're all sitting there, pressing matters taken care of, then Tim says, "So, Tony and Ziva pregnant?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs smiles, laughs, and says, "Not telling!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy sees that look, grins, and says, "Oh, they are. Okay, he was at your house at two in the morning with cigars or throwing up, which was it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shakes his head again, still grinning.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-420-obx.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-80524571080915485572015-02-25T15:33:00.001-08:002015-02-25T16:10:18.978-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 418: Strut<br />
McGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Chapter 418: Strut<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good weekend, Dr. Allan?" Jimmy asks as his assistant heads in.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Allan nods as he hangs up his jacket and rolls up his sleeves. "Very. Starting to feel like I'm getting the lay of the land."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I take it you didn't get lost this time?" Allan has been working on getting around DC, so each weekend he's been setting a list of places to go and see, and as of yet, he has not had a weekend where he didn't end up somewhere he didn't intend to be.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Allan smiles. "I successfully used the Metro to get to the Zoo, the Smithsonian, then down to Alexandria, and back to my place."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good job. Next thing you know you'll be debating getting rid of your car and finally qualify as a real Washingtonian."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Wouldn't mind not paying for parking. Though, I was thinking I might like a bike."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods at that. "Good exercise, easy to take with you…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Motorcycle."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh." He thinks about that for a second. "Those are cool, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So," Allan looks at Jimmy, already in his coveralls, "I take it we have customers today?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Indeed, Dr. Allan, indeed." After it falls out of his mouth, and Allan's heading off to grab his coveralls and gas the van, Jimmy wonders briefly if he said that last bit with a Scottish accent. He shrugs, if he did, he did. Allan already thinks he's kind of weird.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's okay; six months into working for Ducky, he thought Ducky was kind of weird, too.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There is a certain walk a man who just got his woman pregnant for the first time has.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's the physical manifestation of the understanding of, finally, having fulfilled this whole, 'man' concept. Talk all you want about duty, honor, blah, blah, blah, on a biological level, the body knows what it is to be a man, and that's to make other, little men.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
On an evolutionary level, manhood means finding a woman, getting her pregnant, keeping her pregnant until the baby comes out, healthy, and then making sure her and your young survive.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, having achieved this, the male body wants to show it off. Its very favorite part, doing its very favorite thing, just did the most important thing it can. This makes it very happy, and very proud.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Thus the walk. Or, more precisely, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">strut, </span>of the newly pregnant daddy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Had anyone been watching closely, they would have seen it on Jimmy the day after he found out Molly was on the way, (The day of he more or less floated around in a stunned somewhat silent headspace. It took a few hours for the whole, holy shit, I made a kid, AWESOME! part to kick in for Jimmy.) but, in that there was a dead body the day he found out, he sort of blended into the background without attracting too much notice.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Had Tim been able to see himself from the outside the day before his wedding, he would have recognized that was not his usual gait, and he certainly would have known why he was strutting around, but, in that it was the day before his wedding, everyone else who saw it assumed this was Groom-related strutting, and besides some needling from Jimmy and Tony about being full of himself at his bachelor party, no one looked twice. After all, if there is a second runner up in the strutting department, getting the woman you're going to have the babies with is it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs, well, remember, part of the point of Marine posture and training is to look as big and male and impressive as possible, so add that to the 'baby on the way' strut, and Gibbs was marching around with his (metaphorical) dick so far out he was practically tripping people with it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And, of course, Tony DiNozzo, newest member of the Daddy club, is in no way immune from this phenomena. If Tony was a bird, he'd be in full Peacock mode, plumage displayed, showing off to anyone who knows how to look, that he is a MAN!</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They were planning on telling everyone at Shabbos, but once they got the beach weekend text, that looked like an even better idea, so, for the time being, Tony and Ziva are (besides having told Gibbs) keeping quiet about 'Little D' as Tony's been calling her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Which means, in a life filled with cops, somehow, not spilling the beans, for two weeks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva's (privately) thinking that Tony'll get to… noon… before someone who knows what that strut means sees him and figures it out, but, and this makes her smile, she doesn't mind the news getting out early.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva and Draga head down to Holding to grab Alvin Harris, their current suspect, though at this point Tony's thinking suspect is a bad term for this. Information sink is probably better. They aren't holding Harris for any specific crime; they don't think he masterminded the bombing that got them into Kazakhstan in the first place; they do think he's a 'person of interest' in relation to an 'ongoing terror investigation.'</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
As he and Bishop head to the observation bay, she looks up at him. "Did you hurt your back this weekend?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Knee?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm fine, Bishop."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Huh." She watches him take two more steps. "You're walking weird."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He glares at her a bit and opens the door for them.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
While Tony is strutting his way into NCIS, with Ziva rolling her eyes a bit, and handling new baby in a much more female sort of way (namely she's quietly glowing all over the place and smiling a whole lot), Tim and Abby are pulling in and ready for another day, as well.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sure you don't want me to come?" Abby says to him as they get out of her car.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's nodding. "No need to take even more time away. We're just talking about work."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's been talking to Wolf at home, four times now, and last time, since he was getting back into working, Wolf suggested that they actually meet at work and talk about work, at their next appointment.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Which is six hours from now.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's still not enjoying talking to Wolf. To him it feels like the emotional equivalent of PT, and unlike Jimmy, Wolf doesn't hand out any happy pills to make it easier. This is why, for the most part, he doesn't want to do it at work. If he's going to be wrecked for an afternoon, he'd rather not have the Minions see it. And Wolf gets that, so he's been willing to continue making house calls, but today's topic is actually work, how he's getting settled back in, what he's planning on doing, any challenges that are arising, stuff like that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Since, technically, Tim was in a 'car accident' he didn't have to be psychologically 'cleared' to go back to work. There will never be any paperwork filed on this. He assumes Wolf and Leon have some sort of deal where if Wolf gets worried, he'll talk to Leon, and then Leon'll pull him out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But it hasn't happened, yet.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Thinking about work, and about settling in, from the point of view of talking to Wolf about it reminds Tim of something he hasn't thought about for a while. He'd written up his, 'not quite, almost, looks okay, let it sleep for a while, give it one more re-write draft' of his report on the CyberTest of Carrier Group Three, and then let it sleep, and promptly forgot all about it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's feeling pretty stupid about that. After all, that report is the entire reason he's in the shape he's in. He got beat the hell up in an effort to produce a test, run the test, and then <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ascertain and distribute information from the test.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, as soon as he sees that there are no major fires in need of his immediate attention, he pulls the report back up and takes another whack at it.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy and Allan pull up to the crime scene, or not, it's where they found the body, he may or may not have been murdered here, and like always the various Agents part for them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Pleasant suburban house. Even has the white picket fence around the back. Jimmy's looking for Agent Carter, who placed the call this morning letting him know there was a body. Allan's getting out the gurney.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Get lost?" Carter says, sarcastic, coming up from behind Jimmy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Carter usually works car thefts and drug cases, so he and Jimmy rarely cross paths. In fact, Jimmy thinks the two of them have only worked four cases together in the last six years, and all of them are from before Jimmy took over as lead ME. But, apparently, every now and again, a drug case turns up a body, which brings his part of NCIS into the case.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Accident on 495," Jimmy says, turning around to look at Carter. "Took twenty minutes to get to an exit and re-route. Where's the body?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"'Round back." Carter gestures, and Jimmy follows, Allan trailing behind. "We had a warrant for the place. It belongs to Lance Corporal Henry Fling. He's been missing for the last two weeks." Jimmy walks back with Carter. "Agent Dawson saw the deep freezer on the back porch, saw it was locked…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Put two and two together and decided to check," Jimmy says with a nod.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Exactly."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They round the corner, and Jimmy feels his heart stop. His fist clenches, and then releases, and he stops walking, staring at the deep freezer. "And, is it Lance Corporal Fling?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No." Carter looks impatient, not getting why Jimmy isn't walking any more. "Don't know who this is."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh huh." Another slow, steadying breath eases out of Jimmy. Allan can tell something is wrong with Jimmy, but Carter doesn't know him well enough to know he's pissed, and Allan can't see what's wrong. "And… when Agent Dawson opened the freezer, did…" Jimmy looks around for Agent Dawson.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Carter nods to Dawson, who springs into attention and practically runs over to them. By the looks of it he's been doing this job for maybe eight minutes. "Did you think to close the freezer back up again?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Allan gets it, winces, looking over and seeing the chest freezer sitting there, lid open. It July. It's at least 90 degrees out. The freezer's in full sun. They've been in the car for an hour and a half, and the call came in before that. And their body, which had been perfectly preserved in its own tidy little chamber of frozen evidence was now sitting in a melted puddle.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Dawson looks horrified. "Was I supposed to do that? Agent Carter told me to get pictures."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy smiles at him, not wanting to chew out the Probie acting on orders of someone who should have known better. "Yes, Agent Dawson, it is standard procedure to maintain the location of the body, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">precisely</span> the way you found it, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">until</span> the Medical Examiner comes."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh, God. I'm so sorry. Is this… I mean… Shit!" Dawson looks like he's going to pass out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Is this your first case?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes." He's cringing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy stares at Carter but talks to Dawson, "No one expects <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">you</span> to know how to run a crime scene right off the bat."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Carter's eyes narrow, he gets the message the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">he </span>was supposed to know, loud and clear.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy ignores him, heading over to the deep freeze, getting ready to see how bad it is.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony cheats a bit on Ziva's timeline. Mainly because he's in the observation bay, watching her and Draga interrogate away, until 13:57.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
In fact, a few times, entire minutes go by where Tony's not thinking about the baby.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He gets a text from Tim around 11:00. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We still on for debriefing?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Later. Still interrogating. Let you know when I'm done.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cool. If Bishop gets a free minute, send her down, want to give her all of the intel we've got.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Email it?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I've got a better place for her to spread it all out and look at it than you do. </span>Tony thinks about Tim's collection of touch screen plasmas, white boards, and conference table, and decides that he's likely right about that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"McGee says he's got more intel. Feel free to head down and play with it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods absently. "I'd like to keep watching this. You see how his eyelid twitches every time Ziva touches her star?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods. (He considers it the height of professionalism that he did not leap up and strangle Harris the first time it happened. No one<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">twitches</span> at the mother of his child!)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Alvin Harris is supposed to be a mercenary, only thing he believes in is mayhem. He's not a true believer. This is the wrong guy or something about him has <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really</span> changed over the last few years."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony doesn't like that, but… Alvin Harris is supposed to be an ex-Royal Marine, dishonorably discharged after going AWOL in Afghanistan back in '07, but every now and again he says something that sounds just <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">slightly</span> off to Tony. The r sounds are not quite what he expects. He's biting his lip, staring at Harris. "You were there; we've got a fingerprint match."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's looking up at him, exasperated. "We've got what the CIA told us was a fingerprint match. We didn't run it ourselves, and we don't know where the comparison prints are from. You mind if I have Abby run facial recognition? I'm wondering if we've got someone who just looks like the guy."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Holy Shit! </span>Tim thinks as he reads through his draft. Jimmy really wasn't kidding. Being on narcotics is like being drunk. You think you're fine, or only mildly impaired, and you go do whatever the hell it is, and then see video of it later and want to die. Yeah, that's how Tim's feeling about this draft of his Cyber Test report. (He's got a sinking suspicion he's going to be just as horrified when he opens up the M'Gy Dragons and actually re-reads what he came up with.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
At no point while he was attempting to work did Tim think he was <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that </span>impaired.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's also thanking any and all higher powers that he did not send this version on. This is scary bad.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, while Cybercrime hums around him, Tim gets writing.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's got that first re-draft done, looks up, notices it's past eleven, remembers that he and Tony were going to talk, and fires off a text.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We still on for debriefing?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Later. Still interrogating. Let you know when I'm done.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Good God, who is this guy? Ziva's been on him since Saturday and they're still going? Wow! Tim replies to Tony. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Cool. If Bishop gets a free minute, send her down, want to give her all of the intel we've got.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Email it?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Okay, yes, he technically can do that, and pretty much crash their servers. It's a <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">lot</span> of data. Plus, he's seen Bishop work, the entire third floor'll be covered in files if he sends this up to her. I've<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> got a better place for her to spread it all out and look at it than you do.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony doesn't respond to that. Tim reaches for his coffee, sees it's empty, and decides to get a refill, without taking his crutch. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Way to walk on the wild side, right McGee? </span>Tim shakes his head wryly and gets to it.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He hears the knock bare seconds before he hears, "You look comfortable."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles at Wolf. "As much as I ever am these days. But, this is day three of just over-the-counter pain meds, so that's something, right? Come on in."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Wolf does, shutting the door, looking around his office. He pulls up one of the chairs, and nods at the skull picture. "I remember that one from before."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "Abby gave it to me, a long time ago. We'd gotten this new software that'll scan a skull and make a picture of the face. I made it work in reverse, and then she sent me a picture of my own skull."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Wolf nods at that. "Romantic?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim laughs. "Only if you've got a really weird definition of romance. We were just friends back then."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Wolf's still looking at it. "So, why did you make it work in reverse? It's not… I mean, what would you use it for?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You mean, you've already got a face, so wouldn't you just scan that in and search?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Proof of concept. Just wanted to see if I could do it. The program works by having this huge database of information. Put the skull in, and it takes the measurements, uses its data, and builds a face. I wanted to see if I could make it scrape a face away. It did."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Wolf appears amused by that. "Is that the sort of thing you do for fun on the weekends?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Depends on the weekend," Tim says dryly. "Didn't have so many interesting things at home when I did that."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ah." Wolf keeps looking around, eyes scanning over the wedding pictures, the target, his shelf of books, the computer gear, how tidy everything is. Tim's not feeling too laid open by this, Wolf's been in his home and seen him in his laying around gear, seen him sobbing in Abby's arms, and that's a vastly more intimate experience than this. This is him, getting a sense for who Tim is at work now. Getting acquainted with "Boss."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, do I look like I belong here?" Tim asks after several moments of Wolf just looking around.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes. You do. You like it here?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Do you miss the field?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim spreads his hands wide and opens his mouth slightly, and then closes it. He thinks for a few seconds. "I miss being with my team. But, no I don't miss knee deep in body parts, taking orders from Gibbs or Tony, I don't miss the fear, I don't miss wondering if I was going to kill someone any given day. I don't miss paperwork, but I do miss paperwork days, where we'd all be sitting around, filling them out, just quiet, BSing with each other while we did it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How about here, what do you like about this?" Wolf asks as he looks out at the Minions (all three of them) working away.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That takes another few seconds for Tim to process into a good answer. "I can do so much here, in a way I couldn't before. Take paperwork days, as a Director, I was able to get my guys to build a program that would take the information out of our computers when we put it in, and use that to fill out the paperwork for us while we go along. Now all they do is hit print and sign the damn things. That's not as dramatic as 'got in a shoot-out and saved the day,' but… I basically added an additional half as many agents by doing that. We used to spend almost a third of our time on paperwork, and now they're using those hours to actually be out there and deal with crime. When Leon actually notices how much further I just stretched his budget, he's going to be ecstatic.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Or… The guy before me didn't run this department well. He wasn't a bad guy or anything, just not a great ideas guy. So, I redid how we do the job. Rescheduled us. Changed how we picked up jobs. Changed who works what, and how, and… Okay, we're not directly saving lives. If I'm lucky I'll never have to shoot a gun at a living person again, but the guys out there who are doing that are getting intel from us so much faster now. They're waiting days instead of weeks or hours instead of days for information that lets them make the next move.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, I love that. I've got six guys rebuilding our Cybersecurity right now. Anyone hacks us again, and we're going to spoon feed them crap while tracking them down. I can do so much more with this, so yeah, it's good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Anything you don't like about this?" Wolf asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim wiggles his hand a bit. "Not sure yet. It's likely there'll be a point where I'll need to be more of an administrator and less of a tech, and that shift may be difficult. Right now I've got pretty much two seconds in command. One of them was supposed to have this job, and he's an administrator. I'm trying to turn him back into a tech guy, but as he pointed out when I got hurt, he was running the ship because I was off slaying dragons. These days, it's my job to point out the dragons and send someone else to go slay them, and that may be difficult."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"But you're not sure." Wolf is splitting his attention between watching Tim answer and checking out the little bits of his life that Tim has littered around his office.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I've got six other guys building the new security system. I came up with the idea, sketched it out, sent it off to them, they'll muck around and build an alpha version. I'll get that back and mess with it until it's a beta. Then we'll set it live and let the whole department take a whack at it until it's ready for a production model. So, for things like that, I'm administrating away. Give me a case where actually getting into the field again is part of it, and I don't know what I'll do." Tim looks at his arm. "Got burned bad enough I may have learned some caution about going out again. But I'm still a field agent, so I still feel like I should be able to handle anything that gets tossed my way." Tim smiles a bit. "I'll set fire to that bridge when I come to it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Wolf nods. He stands up, looks around again. "You know, for everything that's been tossed at you, you really are doing quite well with it. I know it doesn't always feel that way." Tim's giving him the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">no shit</span> look. "But you are. I'm standing by my original 'mentally stable.' You've been through a ten on the Richter scale earthquake, and a lot of things are fallen down and in need of clearing out, but you've got a good foundation. So, we're good with work. You want to talk again next week, at home, personal stuff? I've got Monday morning free."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Does he want to? No. But, he will, because he can't rebuild on that good foundation until all the rubble's been cleaned off. "Let me check." Tim pulls his own calendar up. "Yeah. I think that'll work. Got a PT appointment at 10:00, so we've got to be done by 9:30, that work for you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No problem."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's 15:42 and Jimmy is ready for today to be done. This jacked up little turd of an investigator is demanding a time of death from him and he is trying to be polite.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm sorry, Agent Carter, but when you find a body in a deep freeze, there's no way for me to give you a time of death. I've got cause. I can tell you approximately how long passed between death and freezing. But once he froze, time basically stopped. Fortu-"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Carter's glaring at Jimmy, cutting him off before he gets to the part of this that is 'good news.' "Ducky would have."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy stops being nice. He'd been trying to keep from laying into Carter, because he knows Carter rarely handles murders, and this was a tricky scene, but with that… Nope. He's done being nice. Carter's about to take all the abuse Jimmy wanted to toss on him from the moment he saw that freezer was open. "Ducky would have chewed you out, in front of your men, for opening the deep freeze, seeing there was a body in it, and then leaving it open to get pictures. The only possible way anyone could have told how long this body was in there would have been based on the ice crystals around the body, but, between the open door and bright lights, I don't have any ice crystals to work with." Jimmy pulls up the pictures from the crime scenes. "You didn't even get good pictures of them."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Carter's puffing up, annoyed. "I didn't realize that I needed to be taking pictures of the crystals."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy steps closer to him, and Carter may be taller, but Jimmy's way more pissed off and on the side of the angels on this one. "You didn't need to be taking pictures of the crystals. You needed to do your damn job and secure the body, keeping it and <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">the environment it was found in</span> pristine, until I could get there and release it to you! I've handled hundreds of crime scenes and every single other one was run by someone who understood that it was imperative to preserve the environment the body was found in. But somehow, maybe you were sick that day at FLETC or just didn't have the brains to pass basic police work 101, you didn't get that message. So, instead of me having exact measurements of how deep the frost around the body was, and instead of using the deep freeze and a dead pig to figure out exactly how long it takes for that frost to form around a fresh corpse, thus giving you exactly how long he'd been in the deep freeze, this poor bastard is going to sit in my morgue, until you manage to stumble, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">by blind luck alone</span>, because I seriously doubt you've got the chops to actually locate evidence, into something else incriminating, and can run the case based on that." Jimmy glares back at Carter. "Other investigators, they get to poke around, look at the scene, start taking pictures while they wait for me to get there. You no longer have that privilege."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I've been a Lead Agent—"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Stuff it. As of now, the only thing you get to do before I show up is wrap tape around the perimeter and keep people out of what's inside. As of today, if you or yours finds a body, you turn into a traffic cop, and all you do is direct the flow of people around the scene. We've run the prints, they've come up negative. Abby's on DNA, and I've got Dr. Allan working his dental records. If those don't pan out, we've got a John Doe with no time of death, making this man impossible to identify and his case impossible to solve, all because <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">you</span>didn't properly secure the body!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Carter storms out, and Allan, who vanished about two seconds into Jimmy reaming Carter, rematerializes. "You going to tell him Abby's already matched the DNA?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy shakes his head. "I was, originally, but now, not for an hour or so. I want him to stew on that. If Mr. Alm here had been a John Doe, what he did would have destroyed our chances of figuring this out."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Lucky for Mr. Alm that we know he went missing fourteen weeks ago."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah." Jimmy smiles.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I will take clean murder over this terror crap any day and twice on Sunday!" Tony says as he struts (annoyed, frustrated strut, but strutting nonetheless) into Tim's office.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim, who's working on the clean up draft of Carrier Group Three CyberSecurity Test, looks up at Tony, who's pulling a chair over while closing the door to Tim's office.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Interesting development?" Tim asks as Tony sits down.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's got that gleam in his eye, the one that shows up when he's annoyed, disbelieving, and needs to blow off some work related steam. "Don't you know it! Our suspect? Not a terrorist. Nooo. That'd be too damn easy. No, this guy, he's a deep cover plant trained by MI6 to infiltrate other terror organizations, recruit people he thinks are 'talented' and then they go 'work for him' which is code for one way trip to wherever the hell the Brits keep people like that. Meanwhile, they've got a crew of mostly MI6 guys and a few actual terrorists who blow shit up and mess around with things so Harris has things he can 'take credit for.'"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim thinks that's actually a fairly clever way to go about getting bad guys out of circulation. "So, how'd you get him?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We didn't. We're <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">supposed</span> to have him. Part of what's going on right now is that he's supposed to be captured by us and getting his butt into our prison system so he can keep 'recruiting' guys who are about to get out. Once they do, they go hunt down his company and then get swept up by the Brits."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That would have been good to know."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah." Tony's rolling his eyes. "Apparently, it's some sort of deal with the Brits. We let guys out of Gitmo, which looks good and gets us good PR or something, and they use guys like Harris to pick them up again, so we don't have to worry about 'recidivism.' Someone could have given us a heads up on that. Apparently CIA knew, that's why they gave him to us because we're the 'nicest' route to Gitmo, except, joke's on all of us, we don't have the right guy."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's eyebrows scoot together. "Who do you have?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony shrugs. "Not Alvin Harris. Which is news to MI6 and the CIA." Tony takes a sip of his coffee. "Abby's got her guys working on figuring out who <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">this</span> is, but face to face comparison didn't match. Anyway, that's the update on my side. What do you have?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shakes his head and sighs. "A new and unending love of my side of the problem."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, I figured. Anything else?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Data. Lots and lots and lots of data. Those five chips…" Tim's about to rattle off specs, but realizes that Tony's already nebulous on what a gig is when it comes down to real world information and getting into terrabites is just going to confuse him more. "Imagine my whole office filled with paperwork, info on both sides, in tiny, tiny letters."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's nodding.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We've got that twice over and then some on each chip. Whoever your diplomatic assistant was, he had the goods on everyone and thing. It's all decrypted; all we need now is for someone to do something with it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony shakes his head. "I've never wanted someone to get killed so badly in my life. We go out, we go through evidence, we get leads, it all of it fits in one, maybe two boxes. How is anyone supposed to keep all of this straight?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim laughs. "I think that's why you've got computers. No one can keep this in one head." Then he remembers what Bishop does. "Or… I mean, is Bishop running this in her head?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony lifts a hand, showing he has no idea how she does it. "She might be. She's got her ten million files all spread out and scattered around, then she does her thing with them and her laptop and tells me something and I nod and say, 'Okay,' and do it, because it sounds okay, but she might as well be getting those suggestions from voodoo for all I can tell."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim laughs at that, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Actually… That's something I want to talk to you about. We can't keep this all in our heads and the paper folders are useless. Draga's been asking about trying to build our own terror database. According to Bishop they had this huge searchable file of the Gods back at NSA. Anything and everything you ever wanted had already been scanned, loaded, and you could just get it out by typing words in.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That would be good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. We don't have that."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You don't have that for murders, either. And, unless Draga's secretly two hundred database wonks, he's not building it for you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know. But I need it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I think I can get you murders, because that's our in-house data." Tim's already writing his next project down. Though, technically, this should be a job for record keeping and IT, and he's probably going to have to run it through them, but... He can't imagine he'll have a hard time getting Leon behind it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
When Tim gets done writing, Tony says, "So these chips and your full city block of data… You think I've got enough goodies in there to barter that into access to the NSA's database?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs. "I don't think I could do it. But… You got someone at NSA who's persuadable?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Maybe. Gotta figure out how to play this so I get what I want and don't end up with us getting it all confiscated."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim waves that off. "I've got back-ups of back-ups that no one knows about. We're not losing this. Whether we've got the resources to do anything with it is a different story, but it's not going anywhere."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods, he slumps a little, grits his teeth, then stands up, flashes his million watt smile, and says, "Okay, let's go see if I can do anything with this encyclopedia."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles and waves him on, as he's at the door, Tim adds, "Hey, beach weekend soon. Sun, sand, water, no computers."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Amen!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And with that, Tony heads off, Tim reburies himself into his computer.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What'd'ya got, Abbs?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"A sense of Deja vu. When'd you start channeling Gibbs, Tony?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Probably when I got far enough into this case that I began longing for a murder."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Jimmy's got one. Well, technically Agent Carter has one."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's surprised by that. "Isn't Carter on drugs and autos?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods. "And he's way out of his league apparently. Looks like Jimmy wouldn't mind if you had a murder, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Great. Unfortunately, doesn't work that way."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, I know." Abby smiles at Tony. "But, I've got some fortunately for you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Please!" He looks relieved. "Give me good news."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Follow me," she heads into the auxiliary computer bank, and then waits for him to follow, standing next to her computer. He's a few steps behind, and sees her watching carefully as he walks in.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles, eyebrows flicking up, and then shakes her head. "You'll tell us when you're ready. Anyway, we don't have a complete DNA match, so I can't tell you who the guy in Holding is."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I thought there was supposed to be some fortunately in this."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"There is! I can tell you he's a bin Laden. Son, brother, cousin, no idea, yet. But, y chromosomes don't lie. This guy is part of the clan."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's eyes go wide as he absorbs that. "Wasn't Osama bin Laden one of fifty kids?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Something like that, and he had a pile of his own, as well, and I'm sure his dad wasn't an only child, either. I googled, didn't find the exact number, but they think there may be 600 of them. Here's the other bit that may help narrow this down some, he's got a few markers on his x chromosome that are associated with Northern European populations."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So… Mom's from Europe?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Or Grandma. Or great, great, great grandma."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay… Better than nothing." Tony thinks about that some more. "Actually…" He hurries two steps forward, kisses Abby on the cheek. "Thanks, Abbs. As soon as Sean's out, I owe you all the Caf-Pow you can drink!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smiles at him, watching him strut off, and says, "That's a lot of Caf-Pow."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It's worth it." She hears from the main lab.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva hears a knock on the interrogation door. That surprises her. She and Draga have been at this all day, save for a quick lunch break. She feels like she's just starting to put a dent into Mr. Harris, and that if the way he's squirming about in his seat is any indication, he's just about hit the edge of his rope.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony pokes his head in, looks at Harris, smiles at him, wide and happy, and then waves Ziva and Draga out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva heads out, not happy about that, but follows Tony to observation. "What?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Damn it!" Draga's watching through the window. As soon as they were out of there, Harris grabbed the water pitcher and relieved himself. Now he's glaring at Tony. "It took us hours to get him that uncomfortable."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony shakes his head. "It took hours to get him playing that uncomfortable. Trust me, you weren't touching who this guy really is."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We were starting to get intel on attacks in Bahrain and Gibraltar," Draga says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's one of the cover levels. Top cover, Alvin Harris, British mercenary/terror for hire. Next level, Alvin Harris, not actually dishonorably discharged, didn't actually go AWOL in Afghanistan, deep cover MI6 Operative."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva's shaking her head, looking mad, she doesn't like that at all.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Fuck," Draga says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Next level, this guy isn't actually Alvin Harris. MI6 is reporting now that the last contact they had with Harris where they absolutely knew it was Harris was over a year ago."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Well, who the hell is that?" Draga asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"One of the multitudes of Bin Ladens."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What?" Ziva can't believe this.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How?" Draga asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We don't know, and guess what, we don't have to find out, either! What we have here, in addition to all that spiffy new intel McGee got for us, is the engraved invitation to the NSA and CIA databases. In exchange for free access to their intel, I am allowing them to fight over who gets this asshole, and letting them deal with him."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony hands over two thumb drives. "There's one for me, and one for Bishop, too. These are our new, spiffy, and fully functional passes to the NSA and CIA computers." He kisses Ziva. "Now, Mr. Whoever the Hell That is Bin Laden, can sit in there, and we're all going out for a celebratory dr… milkshake, and then, tomorrow, we're rounding up our best leads on our best cases and seeing what NSA and CIA have on them for us."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And by the time that news got out, no one was wondering why Tony was strutting anymore. They were wrong about why, but not wondering.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim hits save on his report. It's a lot better this time. Still, a lot better doesn't necessarily mean done. He'll give it a day or two to rest, then one last read through and re-write, and off to Jarvis it goes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He looks over the draft of the email for the reworking of their internal criminal database. Technically, this is IT's backyard, which means it's actually Leon's problem. He's already simplified the language twice. He knows Leon isn't Gibbs and that he actually knows (sort of) what a computer can do, but he doesn't want it to be too tech-y, because he wants Leon to understand what this needs to do to be better than their current system.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's hoping he threaded that needle.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim glances at the clock. Almost going home time. He opens up the work documents for the new version of the cyber security his guys are coding away on, and give it a glance through. Nothing's jumping out as a problem.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hey." Abby's leaning against his door.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He looks up at her. "Hi. Almost done. Just gotta log out."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He scans over a bit more, decides it's good, and logs out. "You know, I think I'm going to be okay at this Administration thing."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She blinks at that. "Okay. Of course you are. What's bringing that on?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shakes his head, standing up, grabbing his crutch, but not really using it. "So, good day?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh yeah. Got some news, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good new?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh yeah. Come on, let's grab Jimmy."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"There you go, Mr. Alm. All set for the night," Jimmy says as he tucks Mr. Alm into his drawer. "Your family will be here to see you, tomorrow."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm not looking forward to that," Dr. Allan says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know. Not my favorite part of the job, either." Jimmy sighs. "It's a comfort though, to be able to touch and see and say goodbye. So we offer it, and we stuff how uncomfortable it is down and away because no matter how uneasy it makes us, it's much worse for them."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Dr. Allan nods at that. "Yeah. Is that how you can do this, day after day?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy shrugs. "I don't know. I just do it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Were you always this good at it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy laughs at that. "No. Have a good night, Dr. Allan."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good night, Dr. Palmer."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A minute later, as Jimmy's turning off his computer equipment and lights, he hears the doors swoosh open, and "Jimmy!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hi, Abby." He's facing away from the door. "Got, Tim, too?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. I'm here."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy flicks off the last of the lights and heads over to them. "Hi. Did you have as long of a day as I did?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Mine went pretty fast," Abby's bubbling away, "And I think I've got some news."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"She wouldn't tell me until we got you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Well, you've got me, what is it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ziva's <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">so</span> pregnant!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You sure?" Jimmy asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Not one hundred percent, I didn't see her today, but Tony was strutting all over the place, and I've seen that walk before."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I saw him, too…" Tim's thinking back, but he doesn't remember. "No idea if he was walking different. So, really, you can tell when a guy has a baby on the way by how he walks?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh my God, yes! You can't?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim and Jimmy are both shaking their heads, as she takes Jimmy's hand and wraps an arm around Tim, leading them out of Autopsy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh, Lord, you should have seen you two strutting all over the place…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They both look mock-appalled at the idea that they may have been involved in such activities.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-419-nest.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-20627196700320669582015-02-25T15:23:00.000-08:002015-02-25T15:34:47.194-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 417: OrMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
Chapter 417: Or<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim didn't get a lot of thinking done after Jimmy and Breena and the girls left.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He'd meant to. He and Abby went upstairs, he got his sling back on, and for all of the looking forward to having some sex after Jimmy and Breena went home, he was awfully tired, sore, physically drained, and drugged.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He fell asleep waiting for Abby to finish brushing her teeth.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Morning, though. Morning's turning out very nice. He wakes up with Abby warm and snug against him. Even better, he's not feeling her usual go stiff, lay very still, reach out for Zofran and wait for nausea to pass behavior, either.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hi," he says gently, wondering if she's awake.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Morning."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You feeling okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She wriggles a little bit. He knows that usually it's the first few moves of the morning that lets her body wake up and decide if it's nausea time. "Actually, yeah."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He kisses the back of her neck and then eyeballs the clock. They've got maybe fifteen minutes until Kelly wakes up. "Quickie now, or naptime?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby rolls over and quickly kisses the tip of his nose. "Naptime. I've really got to pee."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's sitting up, starting his morning stretches and foot PT, when Abby gets back out again. "How's your shoulder?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tender." Really tender. Right now he feels like he worked it way too hard last night. The part of his arm that's visible under the sling is bright pink. He's mildly surprised to see no bruising. With as bad as that hurt, he expected bruises.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He finishes with the exercises on his foot, takes his brace off (shower soon), and then takes the sling off his arm. "That feels better. That's way too scratchy to wear without a shirt on underneath." Last night he hadn't noticed, but this morning, all of the Velcro straps feel really rough and scratch against his skin.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's looking at his arm, like it's some sort of strange creature that somehow ended up attached to him. "Let's see how this goes. Want to see how far I can move without hurting myself. Pretty much had no range of motion yesterday." He grits his teeth and begins by trying to lift his arm. That was the move that caused his arm to say, "Oh, fuck NO!" to him at Dr. Kent's office. This morning, it shifts about an inch.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
His eyebrows dart up at that, and Abby asks, "Is that good?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods. "Couldn't move at all in that direction." He tries adduction and rotation, and he's got at least 90% more range of motion in every direction. Tim stands up, and tries to extend his arm at the elbow. "I was best at this before." And he still is. It's almost half way between the 90 degree angle it was cast in and straight. He can even, with a little work, some mild cursing, and gritted teeth, get his arm twisted enough so that he can try extending it behind him. Attempting that gets a definitive "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" message from his shoulder, but in that it was a question his arm couldn't even ask yesterday, he's feeling awfully satisfied.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Jimmy's a miracle worker." Then he leans over and kisses Abby. "And so are you."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's out of the shower, and trying to roam around the house crutch-free. He still can't tackle stairs just by walking, so he does sit and scoot down, but the rest of both upstairs and downstairs are coming along well as he hobbles/limps from place to place.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
His foot isn't loving him putting his whole weight on it, but given how mobile his shoulder is today, he's done babying his foot. He's getting it working again, pronto, and that's that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
(That there might be issues with this plan, in that, unlike Jimmy he's not a physical therapist or doctor, so he does not, in fact, know what he's doing is not occurring to Tim. He's doing much more of a 'if it hurts it must be working' sort of thing.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Meanwhile, he's got ice packs all over his shoulder and chest, is taking the maximum amount of Aleve for his weight, and is hoping that as the swelling in his arm backs down, he'll be able to move even more.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You mind if I head into the office for a bit?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's got her music on and is bopping away with Kelly. She looks a little disappointed by that idea but, says, "Sure, if you want. Just, let me wrap…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I can drive myself."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Her eyes narrow. She's looking him over as he stands in their living room, weight on both feet (mostly), he's got on his kilt and boots, and a button down to keep the sling off his skin. He certainly looks ready to go out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Her eyes narrow a bit more. "What pain meds are you on?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I checked. Tylenol 3 isn't anti-inflammatory. Jimmy doesn't want me taking Aleve with Tylenol 3, so I took the Aleve instead, since it'll do more for my arm. Percocet's been out of my system for hours. I can drive. Want to head in, lay eyes on what's out of Okinawa, then head home, pick up another bottle of that Riesling, and maybe get us some lunch."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You sure you're feeling up to it?" Abby's looking at him, full well knowing there's nothing he wants to do at work that he can't do from his computer here, pretty sure that what he really wants to do is go drive some.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shrugs. "If I'm not, I'll come home."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay." She nods, sounding tentative. "Have fun."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods back, looking very eager. "I intend to."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim supposes this is what driving, alone, for the first time was supposed to feel like. He doesn't remember how he actually felt because he got less than 500 feet before being t-boned by a bus.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
This, however, is very nice. This is power and freedom and <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">control</span> of himself and anything else he wants to do. This is not needing to wait for someone, this is not being dependent, hell, this is not needing to be polite about being schlepped around all over the place like a bag of groceries. He LOVES this.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
This, he thinks, is how car guys are born. That first few seconds of pure, unadulterated freedom spiraling out from the steering wheel to the road. Right now he really wants his Porsche back. He wants to open her up and do something insanely fast and stupid.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Especially given he's only driving with one hand.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sighs. That's a good sign of being middle aged. The part of his brain that's mature and responsible reins him in. He's just, barely, functional again, now is not the time to go tearing around and get into a car accident.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, he was going a little faster than he usually does, with the windows down, which he usually doesn't, music loud, which is something he only does when he's on his own, sucking up speed, and wind, and sunshine, as he heads toward the Navy Yard.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No crutch?" Burt asks as Tim heads through the metal detector. As per federal guidelines, it's got to get x-rayed every time he goes in or out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Not right now. I'll get sore enough later, but right now, it's in the car."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I hear that. Broke my foot skiing six years ago, couldn't wait to get walking again."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods in agreement, heading down to his office.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He waves at Connon and Trevet as he heads in. They nod in his direction, not really paying attention, working away at whichever jobs they're on.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He takes a minute to read through his emails, nodding along, pleased to see that as of 06:17 the entire cache of data from the chips had been decrypted, and all of the documents they could use the versioning tool for were done, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Meanwhile, Quantico is telling him that hell will freeze over shortly before they let him use a bunch of students to scan things like the New York City Phonebook, and that maybe he should go poke Homeland about getting some bodies to do the busywork.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's not surprised to see that, but he's also not worried about it. Figuring out how to solve the problem is in his backyard, using the solution belongs to someone else. He forwards the email to Tony, figuring that making people do things they don't want to is something he's better at anyway.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Then, given that he's got the architecture planned out, and has six coders working on it already, he sends Leon an email detailing the current NCIS Cyber-defenses overhaul.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's using his crutch by the second stop. At the wine shop, his body is telling him in no uncertain terms that it needs help.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Moving around on his own, running errands, just being out and about alone, that still feels good, but, he's getting tired; he's hurting all over.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He knows lunch is a bridge too far.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Back in the car he texts Abby. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Got to work, got wine, am done. Coming home soon.</span></div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tim!" he hears from Abby as soon as he gets in.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hey."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Get in here, right now!" So, he scoots as fast as he can into the living room just in time to see Kelly take one step before landing on her tush.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Walking!" he says to Kelly, huge smile across his face.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's nodding with a very wide smile.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Up." Kelly says. Abby takes her hands and Kelly pulls herself into standing position. Kelly looks up at Abby and says, "Walk," very seriously.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby lets go. "Okay, you walk, baby."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's getting on the floor as fast as he can (not very fast) wanting to be able to catch her, or have her walk to him, or just, something, he doesn't know what. He's just really happy and excited. He reaches his good arm out and she takes three toddling steps to him, and then grabs his hand, and he's grinning all over. "You're walking!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly nods, looking very sure of herself, very pleased.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's giggling. "That's the same look you get when you've done the job right."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles up at her, pulling Kelly in for a hug. "Well, she has!" He kisses the top of her head. "That was perfect, baby."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He might not be good for much in the way of grown-up walking around, but sitting still and just holding Kelly's hand is something he's okay at.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, while Abby gets lunch ready, he's on "Up" duty.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly's taking this very seriously. She's completely focused on making her feet go where she wants them. He knows he does this when he's learning something new, and he thinks Abby does, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
What's new, or different, or just Kelly being Kelly, is that when she falls, or the foot doesn't end up where she wants it, she doesn't seem to feel any sense of… of anything bad. She just stands back up, or picks the foot back up, and tries again.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He knows, as far back as he can remember, getting anything wrong was a cardinal sin. It was inside him, the feeling of shame and discouragement and horror that any little failure inspired.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's not sure how much of that is him being him, or things trained into him from long before he can remember. He wonders if, when he took his first steps and fell down, he cried because that's who he is, or if he fell and got chewed out for it, and that taught him to cry whenever he fell.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He doesn't know, doesn't remember, and right now, he's having way too damn good of a day to ask Penny about it.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim puts down his phone as Abby comes into their bedroom. She's just got Kelly down for naptime.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Just got a text from Jimmy. Anna's cutting a new tooth, and they're thinking she'll do better sleeping in her own crib tonight, so dinner's at their place."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods along with that. "Sounds good. We bringing anything?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We're on salad and drinks."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Easy enough." She lays down next to him on their bed. "So, we okay with last night?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He exhales. "Um… yeah. I'm really okay with all three of you taking care of me like that. That was… I don't know." He touches his arm. "It hurt, you know, but… It was really safe, too. It was… intimate, and… loving. You remember telling me, when we got these," he touches her cuff tattoo, "that it hurt, but it didn't matter because you were safe and nothing bad was happening?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods. She doesn't specifically remember saying that, but that's how she feels about tattoos, so it likely did come out of her mouth.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It felt like that. Very safe, very… cherished. Sexy, but not by the end, at least, not the way it was in the beginning, but… It kind of felt like sex was supposed to be the next step, like I could see myself kissing Breena and you snuggling in, and… and I didn't know what the hell Jimmy was supposed to be doing, but I didn't want him to go away, either." Okay, that's not enough to get what he was feeling across. "I actively wanted him there, but… I was actually wondering what he would do, and not in a 'I can't predict his behavior' sort of way, but in a 'Both of the girls are with me, so you, what, watch? Join in?' I just… didn't know."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods at that. "I think all of us having some breathing time was a good thing. That was really intense."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You okay with it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh yeah. I could see the way you were looking at Breena when we stopped, the way she was looking back at you, trust me that kiss would have been welcome, and I was rooting for you to kiss her. But, I also think this is too important, to all four of us, to just go with the flow or get caught in the moment. Any steps we take, we need to talk and think about ahead of time, because we can't mess this up."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods at that. "So, what's the next step?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby shrugs. "That's what we're talking about tonight. Not a decision we get to make on our own."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods at that. "But, you're still in favor of all of it. The four of us together, like, um… a quadruple?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"But you and me… we'd still be you and me, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah." She strokes his face. "Always. Anything that might mess that up… No. Don't want to even get near that."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So…" Tim's trying to think of a word to cover this. "Swinging?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby thinks about that. "No… Not really. We're not just swapping out partners for fun. It'd be all four of us, together. And, I don't see this being temporary or just the occasional treat. But, it wouldn't be an every night, thing, either."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Going steady?" Tim says dryly.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"My second best guy and your second best girl?" She laughs at that. "Something like that. Is that… okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shrugs and sighs, looking up at the ceiling. "I don't know. I'm really good with me and you and Breena. All sorts of good with that, but…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shakes his head. "Not this one. Kind of feel like I shouldn't be okay with Breena if I'm not okay with Jimmy."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That does catch Abby's interest, and isn't something she expects.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's having a hard time putting it together, too, because it's a new sensation/idea for him. "I mean, when I started fantasizing about her… Neither of them were real people, you know? She was just a pretty body, and he was that kind of weird guy down in autopsy, comic relief for some of the intense scenes in my books. But, they're really people now, really, really people. And, they're in our lives, and we love them, and… And I don't know."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"They're a package deal?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Something like that. Or… it doesn't feel fair to have Breena if I'm not cool with him having you? And… he matters enough to me that fair matters?" Tim thinks that's getting closer to it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Love is when someone else's happiness is vital to your own."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles gently at her, nodding a bit. "Yeah."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby inclines her head. "You do want her."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And I know you want me."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods at that, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You know he wants me, too, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Didn't go blind or stupid recently."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Is it a problem?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No. But wanting isn't having, and… watching him touch you will either turn me on so hard I won't know what to do with myself, or I'll hit him so hard we both feel it for a week. And I'm kind of afraid I'll get off on watching, feel bad about it later, and then be an asshole about it after."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby kisses Tim, lips soft and lingering on his. "That's why we talk. Why all four of us talk."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "Kind of afraid everyone else is ready to leap in, and I'm the only one who's scared."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She kisses him again. "Love and respect, Tim. If this is where the line is, this is where the line is, and that's it. No cajoling, no pouting, no trying to pull you or anyone else a single inch further than they're ready to go."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
This time he kisses her, his leg gently stroking along hers. For a few minutes they're both quiet, thinking, kissing, petting each other.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Kindness," he eventually says. "That's part of this, too. Thinking back, I get all you and Breena were doing to keep me distracted. That was a kindness, and it really did help. Especially on narcotics, I think sex is the most distracting thing you could possibly do for me."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It's not always?" Abby asks with a laugh.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shakes his head and then grins at her. "Come on, you've seen me code. I've been in it so far you could set the house on fire, and I won't notice. I don't think we've had the sort of sex where I won't notice a fire alarm," he teases.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby grins at that. "That sounds like a challenge."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles back at her. "Uh huh. Well, we've got two hours before Kelly wakes up…"</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You know we were planning on hitting the beach house in August…" Tim and Abby nod as Breena says that. They do know that the Palmers were planning on some down time for the first weekend of August, which is two weeks away. "Come with us?" Breena asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That's a way to get this conversation started. It'd been sort of lingering behind the light conversation and interactions while the girls were up. All of them aware of it, but not touching it because they don't want to be fussing with babies while trying to have this conversation. So, they'd gotten together, had a pleasant dinner, played with little girls, got some insanely adorable shots of Molly helping Kelly walk, then got babies tubbied and put to bed, and now all four of them are on Breena's back porch.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy and Breena have several of those chaise lounge porch recliners, and for this conversation, for this night, they've got them drawn close together, small table between them, with the remnants of the wine and fresh peaches and strawberries for nibbling. Tim and Abby are sharing one lounge, Jimmy and Breena have the other. Add in some togas and it's got an Ancient Rome sort of vibe, of course (as Ducky would tell them if they asked) the Ancient Romans perfected the intimate dinner party, so it's not a bad vibe to have. Add in the fact that the lights in the house are off, and all that's illuminating them is the glow from the citronella tiki torches set around the porch and the moon, and it's a very close, very 'romantic' setting.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy smiles a bit. He's leaning on his right side, Breena sitting in front of him, leaning back against his stomach, her feet propped onto Tim and Abby's lounge. He sips his drink, and says, "This was supposed to be my summer study break. Since I had to shift two of my continuing education classes to the fall—"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sorry about that," Tim says. Like Jimmy, he's leaning on his side, curled into a question mark shape, unlike Jimmy he's on his left. Abby's lying on her back, in front of him, legs draped over his thighs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Don't be sorry. I've got to get a minimum of 50 clinical hours, and I can sub out classroom hours for clinicals, so I was able to clock all that time I was with you for that, which means I'm actually ahead of where I would have been if I'd gone to those classes."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, are you getting credit for all the PT?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods. "Yeah, I switched out historical clinical pathology for myofascial rehab. Technically you're my guinea pig, and I've got some evaluation forms you're going to need to fill out. And I'm… kind of learning some of the techniques the night before doing them to you, but-"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You're saying I have to grade you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh, yeah. Jethro's going to have to, also. I'm using all the hours I worked on him, too. Anyway, with only two CEU courses over the summer now, I don't need three days where Breena and the girls have something fun to do and I can spend all day buried in a textbook or watching medical seminars online."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, come with us," Breena says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's starting to wonder if the wine's a good idea. He's had one glass, Abby's, of course, had none, and between them Jimmy and Breena have finished all but the last inch of the bottle, so… Okay, actually none of them have had more than a glass and a half. So, just enough to make everyone feel a little bit loose, not enough to cloud thinking.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Okay. That's good. Tim and Abby look at each other. They knew they were going to be chatting about this, but 'beach weekend' is a bit more vague than either of them needs. So… "Just the four of us hanging out, having fun on the beach or…" Abby leads.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I don't know," Breena replies. "But especially after last night, I want to find out. I'm officially starting our conversation on 'or.'"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"'Or's' a kind of stupid name. Can we get something better?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm sure we <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">can</span> get something better," Breena says, sassy, "once we figure out what the hell we're doing."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sex." Abby says, very definite. "We're talking about all of us having sex, with each other. Or not. Or watching each other have sex. Or touching but not sex. Or playing with hard boundaries. Or…" Abby squints up at Tim a bit. "Actually, right now, 'or's' a really good name for this."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, fine. You guys talked about this some, right?" Nods from the other three. "While I was unconscious, what did you three come up to with regards to us 'orring'? I mean, that's when you got talking about this, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy laughs at 'orring.' "Not much of anything, at least not decision-wise."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Mostly took the plunge of saying, out loud, to each other, that we'd regret it if we never at least tried," Breena says, staring at Tim. "You almost died. And if you had…" She shakes her head. "That would have been it, game over, no chance to explore us… 'orring' away, and like I said, I don't know where this is going. I'm not sure where the lines are and what we'd be comfortable with. But if something had happened to you, I know Jimmy and I wouldn't have just mourned the loss of a dearly loved friend, but also the opportunity for the four of us to be more than what we are now."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim looks at the other three and says, "So, do we want more? I mean… This is good. This is warm and comfortable and easy and good. I love what we have with each other." He can see they all agree with that, and he can see the same sort of fear he's feeling in Jimmy's eyes. "And more… if it works…" He sighs. If it works… Who doesn't want this? <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If it works.</span> "Like I said to Jethro, I know I've already got the cake with the frosting, the ice cream on top, along with whipped cream, cherry, and sprinkles, too, but apparently there's a possibility of coffee to go with it. Which would be awesome, but, I don't want to mess up the perfect dessert because I got greedy for coffee." He looks at Jimmy and Breena, "And I don't want you guys fucking up your perfect coffee because cake was looking good, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They nod at that, and Breena gently strokes her toe against Tim's shin.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We could call it coffee if you don't like orring," Abby says, keeping her voice light. She knows this is serious, but like anything serious, being able to laugh through it is important.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Nope. You don't like coffee," Breena says to Abby. "Can't do this if you don't like it. And… that's our bedrock, we don't do anything anyone doesn't like. We just… keep checking in, making sure it's okay. That's why we've got perfect coffee and perfect cake, because we're honest with each other, and trust each other, and really love one another. I mean… We're sitting here <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">talking</span> about this, with all four of us, and… I'm not afraid to say anything right now, and I really hope you aren't, too, because, anything, it's all on the table because this won't work if we can't do that. If we can… That's how we made it to two couples, right, kept checking in, kept making sure we were all good?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy sends Tim a look, and Tim knows what that looks means. He figures Tony or Gibbs would get it, too. Namely, there's a point, with sex, where checking in and thinking, and making sure everything is okay becomes really difficult, and stopping is even harder, and part of building a good relationship is not getting yourself into a situation you can't get out of until you know you won't <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">have</span> to get out of it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And, for Tim, if there's anything likely to get him past the point of able to stop, it's Abby and Breena naked and happy and wanting more.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He looks at Jimmy, Jimmy's looking back, so he guesses he's the one who gets to explain this. "You know, if we do this, go to the beach with you, just the four of us…" Tim sighs. "Okay, I know me, and when we went clubbing, it was hot, really hot, balls in charge, brain checked out, holy shit, all I want to do is fuck, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">hot</span>. And, I don't know, maybe girls don't have this problem, but there really is a point where my brain literally stops working, and I'm fairly sure Jimmy's got a point like that, too," Jimmy's nodding enthusiastically, "and… And… If just the four of us go… Okay, one night, sure. I can keep the big head doing the thinking for one night. Two…" He's cringing a bit, "<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">probably</span>. I can <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">likely</span> keep my brain in charge for two nights, keep checking in, making sure everyone is cool. Three nights on our own, baby girls all sound asleep, we're fucking," he says voice absolutely showing this is a foregone conclusion. "At least, I'm going to want to. A lot. And no matter what the big brain is thinking, my dick will have rationalized a way to get what it wants, and it can be VERY convincing when it wants to be."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The girls giggle at that but Jimmy's nodding; he knows exactly how strong that desire can be.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hell, I want to, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">now.</span> We're all dressed, mostly sober, not touching, just talking about it, and yes, I want to do it." And right this second, all together, quiet night, alone, talking, he does want that. He wants it a lot. "I want all four of us, upstairs, in bed, naked, fooling around. I don't know if I've got the control to say no if we're all messing around. And I don't know if I'd be cool with it in the morning. So… Limits. We need some sort of limits in place, ahead of time, so I know where the lines are and what's on the menu and what's not."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He licks his lips. "That's really… that's what made clubbing work. I knew we had rules. I knew you two," he means the girls, "knew that we had hard lines, and that you weren't going to push them. And, once that sunk in, I could really get into it and enjoy playing."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's been nodding a long with that. "Yeah. Actually, night three is probably optimistic. Either it goes well, like clubbing did, and by the time we're naked I'm going to want to do it, or it'll go badly, and I'm <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">still</span> going to want to do it, but I'm going to regret it when my brain's in charge again."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Just go for a night?" Breena asks. "I mean, you both think you can handle that, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim and Jimmy are nodding. One night of blistering hot sex all over the place, feeling their way through… Yeah, that's temptation they can endure, and more importantly, enjoy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We could do that now," Abby adds. "Here, now, tonight." She can see both of the guys are ready to jump at it, and can feel that Tim's body has tensed, ready to move. Just from seeing that, she knows that if they just jump at it, all of them in bed together is going to end up with all of them in bed <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">together </span>because messing around is going to create a positive feedback cycle where every time they all check in and make sure the next step is good, they're going to say 'yes<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">.'</span> "No, bad plan, part of what we're looking for is a way to set this aside from our usual routine, build in some enforced thinking time. So, us, together, doesn't happen at home, ours or yours, not yet. But off at the beach, that's good. That's a separate space, help organize things…" They can see Abby's putting this together in her head, so they wait for her to finish getting it together. "Okay… Four bedrooms, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Five couples. We invite everyone else. We'll share a room. Master bedroom's big enough for that. We can… whatever, but the girls will be sleeping in there, and everyone else will be down the hall, so we'll have to stay quiet. Can't go full out. And I'm fairly sure having to face everyone…" Eh, everyone… not that big of a deal. "Gibbs…" Much bigger deal. That steely blue gaze giving you the 'don't be stupid look' will work wonders for this plan. "The next morning should keep brains in charge. If it's good… Okay, no, we need set rules for this, too. We share the bed for sleeping, get comfortable with each other, watch each other, enjoy watching, but only play as couples. Take clubbing one step further. If it's not good, we'll sack out on the floor, you take the bed, and we're all still friends when we go home."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim, Jimmy, and Breena are all looking at each other, and then Abby, and then each other again, and, yeah, that feels good. That's a decent next step, little further down the road, but not doing anything they can't back out of.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And, if it is good, and we're happy…" Jimmy leads.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Then we stay where we are or go further. We'll feel our way through it." Abby smiles; she knows how to set this up. "You guys ever really Dom/sub?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Read 50 Shades, but you already told me that was terrible," Breena says. "Why?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, it is. Especially in regards to why I'm bringing this up. Okay, so, not a big shock, what with the collars and all, but we do, sometimes, for real. And we've both got some experience with it with other people," Abby says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim knows where this is going and thinks that this'll definitely have some really good guidelines for how to get into, and out of, something that might be sticky, and keep everyone happy and friends.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It's a game," Tim says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles. "Best, most fun game, ever. But games have rules, made by the players, all set out, sometimes in writing even, though I don't think we need to go that far, and agreed on, ahead of time."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And just like a game, at any time, anyone can back out. Anyone can call time or stop. And if the rules aren't working, you break play and rewrite," Tim adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, that's how we do this? Set rules ahead of time, like right now, the rule is we're playing with our own spouses, watching, and that's where the line is," Breena says, "And if the game isn't fun, we just, stop?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah," Jimmy's liking this. He can follow rules. "And if it's good, we can learn and rewrite from there. And if we don't like it, we won't play that game again."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, feeling… he's not sure, something of an excited rush and a sense of stepping up to the edge of the cliff and looking over, and a sort of… quietly anticipating joy. "Weekend at the ocean." He smiles. "I think we're going to like this game."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena stands up, kisses Jimmy, and heads into the kitchen. Two minutes later, she's back with her phone, snuggling into Jimmy. "And everyone has been invited to a weekend at the beach."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That feels… Tim's not sure, awesome he guesses. Whatever it is, it's big and good and soaring.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, rules… We set them all out, clear, ahead of time. For right now, as we're working this out, rules get set at least a week before play; that gives us all lots of time to think." Abby says. Everyone nods. "Okay, me and Tim, you two together, no touching beyond that."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Everyone nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Anyone can break play for any reason, at any time, and we're all cool," Tim adds. "Doesn't matter what it is, or how stupid it seems, too cold, sheets are the wrong color, you think my cologne smells annoying," Breena waves that off. She helped pick more than half of them. "Anything's wrong or uncomfortable, and we talk about it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
More nodding.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim looks at his arm. "For example." He gestures to his right arm, feeling a little silly, but A: he wants to make sure that <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">everything</span> is on the table, and B: he doesn't want to be self-conscious about it. "I usually have a few more tricks at my disposal."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby laughs and nudges him. "Everyone knows you aren't bringing your A game yet, no one cares."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Still feels a little dumb," he's looking at Breena as he says this, "you're watching, but won't get the whole show."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Do you want to wait until your arm is better?" Breena asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No!" Spring or whenever he's really got full use of his hand back… No. Too long to wait. "Just… I'm usually less awkward, and the cast and sling are sort of scratchy, so I don't like the way it feels against my skin, so I'm usually a lot more naked and…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And you're injured, and we all get it," Jimmy finishes. "Trust me, we've both figured out you're not particularly shy anymore."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"At least, not with you two. Just, the reverse of last night, it feels a little odd to be wearing a shirt when everyone else is naked, and…" this feels stupid, too, but he does want to lay it all out, so rolling his eyes he says, "a hard-on and a t-shirt looks kind of stupid, you know?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That gets a laugh. Tim can see kindness in all three of the sets of eyes watching him, and that makes him feel better about it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Speaking of shy, we're not telling anyone, besides Gibbs, about this, right?" Breena asks. "He's already talked to you two, so he's going to know what's going on as soon as he figures out there's one more couple than there are beds, and we're not making Tony and Ziva sack out on the sofa."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The other three nod. But it's clear they're thinking about it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"For now," Tim says, but this sort of gets into what he was talking about with Abby, and a few of the other thoughts he's had bouncing around in his head. "This goes further… I mean… If this is something we just do, sometimes, you know, for kicks then… Then it's like the other stuff we do for kicks, private. Like, okay, I know you girls basically don't have limits about what you tell each other, but I don't tell Tony about what Abby and I do in bed in any detail, and…" he's looking at Jimmy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, I don't go into it in any real detail with Tony or anyone, really."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We talk," Tim says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Well, yeah, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we </span>talk, but you're not <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">anyone</span>."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thanks. And even with each other, we're still—"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Intentionally vague," Jimmy fills in.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "Anyway, if it's more than… more than a shiny new toy, we'd probably have to tell everyone else, eventually at least, right?" Tim thinks about the sketches he was working on for the house. "Like, if this is just fun... Our rooms at the house are across the hall from each other, on our own little wing. And if this is just fun, then, that's fine. We sneak over to your room or you to ours some nights. But… I mean, we're not building the interior anytime soon, not really, and if this is more… Are we going to want just one space for the four of us?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I guess that's part of what… what this thinking time is for," Breena says. She smiles at them. "Before we get to touching each other…" She's looking at Tim, bites her lip, thinking, and the other three wait for her. She smiles again, maybe feeling a little silly or uncomfortable, but this <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we talk everything out thing</span> is very real, so they will wait for her to get comfortable enough to say it. "Sex matters to me. I mean, in a way it doesn't, didn't to you three. And I know I'm the one who started this conversation going all those years ago, but… For me, if we touch," and everyone knows she's talking about Tim. Obviously, given those Valentine's videos, whatever's gone before with Abby doesn't trigger the concern she has here. "If I'm going to make love to a man who isn't my husband, this has to be real, it has to be about love. It can't just be… something we do for kicks. Can't just be about horny, you know?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's nodding first and fastest, but Tim thinks he gets it, and Jimmy reaches over, hand cupping gently against the back of Breena's neck, and he looks at her, love in his eyes, and kisses her, soft and gentle.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
When Breena pulls back from Jimmy's lips, she shifts back a bit, so she's fully spooned into him, draping his arm over her waist, drawing strength or comfort from his touch. "We have sex; it's forever. We don't cross that line until we're sure in our bones and guts and balls and <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">sure</span> that we can keep this going for the rest of our lives. Otherwise, it's look, don't touch, just a show we put on for each other for fun."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And that's the line, that's where the most tentative one of them is comfortable, so that's it, and none of them will push it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena takes a sip of her wine and looks at Tim, "So, a space for all of us?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shrugs a little. "Thinking about it, some… I mean… Okay. I'm always going to want some time with just Abby, you know?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The other three nod, they all get that. They may be thinking about a quadruple, but they are also two very happy couples, who would like to stay two happy couples.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"But, we've got the right side of the hall, and you've got the left, and… I mean, we can keep that hall there and just wander about. Or we can wall our wing off, take that hall down, really mess around with the floor plan… I'd still like us to have our own rooms, but… that whole section could be space for 'our' family. We're building up space for the older kids to be off on their own up on the top floor, so, our room, your room, some sort of central space, bathrooms, nursery for little kids. But whatever it is we're doing, sex or no sex, that sort of set up is making it loud and clear to anyone who comes to our home that we don't have the sort of relationship the rest of the family does."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You think this would bug them?" Jimmy asks. "Gibbs knows, and I was honestly surprised at how calm he was about the idea. I was expecting death threats, and he was all, 'just make sure you really think it through.'"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ziva already knows we're thinking about it. She's the one who got me thinking about it," Breena says, "which got me talking to Abby. So, she's never seemed shocked by the idea."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"If Penny's lectures about monogamy being a tool of the patriarchy to devalue the economic contribution of women while simultaneously capturing and enslaving them was more than just her blowing off steam, I'd imagine her being okay. At least, I never got the sense that she was big on the marriage is a sacred arrangement ordained by God that cannot be violated or rearranged in any way," Abby says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tony's told me about his threesomes, and Ducky's… eluded to having been involved in at least one orgy, so they're at least familiar with the idea. I can't imagine they'd be shocked," Jimmy adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Can I be shocked?" Tim says. "Duck was part of an orgy?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy wiggles his hand indicating he's not sure. "He didn't flat out say it, but… he's never been a monk or asexual. He's been happy to let me know the sixties were a lot more wild than they typically let on, and no one was kidding about the free love thing, and… Wait, wasn't your grandmother part of all of that, too?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"She was married to my grandfather at the time. And that's all I want or need to know about that," Tim says while shaking his head.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena laughs at Tim's answer. "When it comes down to it, that's probably all any of them want to know about us, too. I doubt they'll want the details."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby laughs. "You've never really had a conversation with Tony, have you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim and Jimmy are nodding. "He'll want the details. He wants <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">all</span> the details."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh come on, like you don't," Breena elbows Jimmy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shrugs. "Sort of. Yeah, I'm curious, but… I try not to be creepy about it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby and Breena giggle at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Stop it. I know you two are curious, too. You think I go deaf when you get chatting about Gibbs or Draga in the next room?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You heard that?" Abby asks, little guilty.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods, staring at her, and then at Breena.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Heard what?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"For Draga, they want to know if the carpeting matches the drapes."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles a bit. "I know the answer to that."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They're looking at him curiously.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We shared a room on that one case."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Nodding, both girls staring at him, waiting for the answer. Tim rolls his eyes a little, but he's enjoying teasing them. "Yes, he's a natural redhead, no he's not usually as hairless as he was at last year's Fourth of July, looks like he shaves his chest because he was kind of stubbly when we were rooming together. What did they want to know about Gibbs?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy shakes his head, pretending to be a lot more horrified by this than he actually is. "You don't want to know, and they shouldn't have been asking. Especially you," he gives Abby a mock <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">you should know better </span>look. "He's practically your dad."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby shakes her head. "But he's not <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">actually </span>my dad, and I'm allowed to be curious. I'm curious about everyone I meet that I'm even vaguely attracted to. In fact, as a scientist, it is in my job description to be curious about everything!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena's been giggling through this, and Tim has to admit that now he's curious. Jimmy's probably right, he likely doesn't want to know, but… too much build up. "What were you asking about?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"She wanted to know if he liked getting spanked. You know, handing out the head slaps and all, some sort of reverse repressed desire thing."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim closes his eyes and rests his face in his hand. "Yep. I didn't want to know that."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's still feeling pretty perky, and Abby did open the conversation along those lines, so… "You're curious about spankings for everyone?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods. "Not spankings specifically. But, I watch people, see what they do and how they interact with each other, and that makes me wonder what they like in bed. Tim was so shy at first, so… It made me wonder if he liked being in charge, you know, if that was one of his fantasies, and lo and behold, he did."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What'd you wonder about me?" Jimmy asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Took a while to get a good sense of you. At first, I was mostly wondering if you'd ever had sex before."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena's staring at Jimmy, smiling and shaking her head. "Were you really <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that</span> awkward?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy cringes. "I may have been."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He asked me to please call him Jimmy two seconds after I had just called him Jimmy. He's offering me tissue samples from a dead guy and says, 'White meat or dark?' He superglued his hands to my wrists because he was so moonstruck being in the same room with me, then Tim walked in and once he got us unstuck he chewed him out so bad he almost made Jimmy cry."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy opens and closes his mouth. "I wasn't crying."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby raises an eyebrow, staring at him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He ripped the skin off my palms so your delicate little arms didn't take the full force of getting us apart. It hurt!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh huh," Tim says. He can write a book about getting the skin of your hands ripped off by removing superglue, and it stings, but it's not<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that</span> bad.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby looks back at him, "And yeah, it was kind of hot to see your alpha side actually pop out for once back then, but flipping out on Jimmy who was in no way a threat wasn't very cool, either."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Doesn't have to be cool if you thought it was hot. 'My girl thinks it's hot' is all the excuse any guy has ever needed for anything," Tim says, smugly.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That gets a laugh.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Anyway," Abby gets back to answering Jimmy's question now that she's thought of a decent lie. Her real answer, that she caught him mid-trysts with Lee in Autopsy (they'd forgotten that Ducky had that camera on, so she got an eyeful one night when she was calling down to ask for more samples) and was wondering whether or not the corpses in autopsy were a turn on, or just something he was so used to they didn't hit his radar, would likely bring up bad memories. "You were the main witness on that one case, and we hypnotized you, and you started talking about our shoes. That got me wondering about you. Did you like to wear them? Smell them? Look at them? Were you a foot guy? Or was it the actual shoes? You always looked really buttoned up, but I was wondering how kinky you really were under those conservative little suits."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy smiles at that, then he kisses Breena. "We gonna let them see and find out?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smile back at him, giving him a long, wet kiss. "Think they'd like that?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's staring at Abby, eyes sliding all over her. "Ten years is a long time to be curious." He grins at Abby. "But I think you'll think it was worth the wait. And, maybe, if everyone else goes to sleep early, you can find out if I like spankings."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby grins back at him, and then looks at Breena. "First time we met in person, really met, not just got a glimpse of you, you guys were working on wedding planning, and it was Jimmy and I and you and Amy and we we're talking about the wedding costumes and what the ladies of honor would be wearing, and you were so pretty and pure and nice and sweet and… And I wasn't wondering so much as fantasizing about getting you all hot and dirty, and having Jimmy watch us, see him react to it, and then having him join in."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy closes his eyes and bites his lip at that. Breena kicks it up a bit by wiggling in his lap a little. His hands grasp her hips, keeping her still, then he kisses her gently.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Then he let slip you were a virgin until you got married, and that got me wondering," Abby shrugs a little. "But we've talked about all of that by now, so…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena nods. "Well-covered territory."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh, we'd probably like to hear you talk about that," Tim says, looking hopeful. He's been enjoying this conversation a lot, as Abby knows, because how much he's liking it is poking her in the hip.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's looking very interested. "If we're making rules and all, I'm always in favor of listening to you two talk about sexy stuff."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Me, too," Tim adds. "This… talking, teasing, I like this."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's happily nodding along. "This is good for you, too, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby and Breena smile, looking at each other.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, it's good. This is fun and safe and easy," Abby says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You still want to hear about virgin until married?" Breena asks, and both guys nod, eyes wide, liking this a whole lot. Breena grins at them, and inclines her head, letting Abby know she gets to tell this.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You really sure?" Abby asks, licking her lips.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Now both guys are looking, very, very interested.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smiles sweetly and then says, "Okay, but it's not sexy." The guys don't pout, but they kind of look like they wanted to. "New Orleans is very Catholic, and so is white Louisiana, but most of the south is Baptist, so I grew up with a lot of 'no sex until marriage' types, but they were always… sanctimonious twits about it. And Breena's not. You're just a big ball of love with some skin on you, and I'd never met anyone who made that choice who wasn't…" Abby's looking for a nice way to say it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"An uptight prude?" Breena adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods. "Maybe not that far, but never met anyone who was really comfortable with sex, liked it, thought it was good and holy and treated like it really was a gift from God, something glorious to be enjoyed, who decided to abstain. I mean, okay," Abby doesn't talk faith or religion much with Jimmy or Tim because neither of them care much about it, but, they've asked, so… "To me Christianity has one core, love. God loves us, He wants us to love each other. Part of love is sharing the good things, freely giving what makes life good. And I never got how you could base a faith on the idea that it is the duty of each of us to share the good things, all the good things, charity isn't just giving money to the poor, it's about giving all things to anyone who needs them, and then say sex is awesome and holy and beautiful and something God created so humans could revel in the joy of loving each other, but don't share it. That's the only thing you don't share. Keep it tucked away, just you and this one other person, hog it all up and be greedy with it. Everything else in the universe that's good, give that away with abandon to anyone who crosses your path, but not this. That never made any sense to me."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, that's what we were talking about. It was a lot heavier on the theology and much lighter on both of us giggling and saying suggestive things than you'd probably like," Breena finishes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh." Tim nods. "Yeah… That's, um… not bad or anything, but, you're right, not what I was expecting."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods, too. "Stranger in a Strange Land, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles at that. "The Gospel according to Heinlein? Yeah, that probably helped my thinking along, but I was on the way there before I got my hands on Bob. I was… I don't know, eight? And I figured out that I liked kissing. So, I'm at Sunday school, kissing everyone, and one of the nuns had a fit about it. Then she had a bigger fit when I told her that Jesus wanted us to share the things that make us happy, like cookies and toys, and kissing made me happy, so I was sharing it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
All three laugh at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"She didn't have an answer that made sense to me. Finally, she huffed off and got my mom, telling her that I was being 'inappropriate' and that I couldn't come back to Sunday school until I could control my 'base urges.'"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What'd your mom say?" Jimmy asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles. "She told me no kissing boys who weren't Papa or Luca or Uncle Max until I was sixteen, and then we went over what cold sores were, and how to tell if a guy had one, and why not to kiss him."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Your mom was awesome," Tim's saying as Breena's phone buzzes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She picks it up, reads, smiles, and texts back, and then says, "And Ducky and Penny are in for a weekend at the beach."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What are we going to do if they don't all go?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Have a good time, sleep in our own rooms, and maybe get a night out just the four of us the next weekend. One night on our own sound like an okay Plan B?" Abby says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They all think about it, and slowly nod. "That works."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Another buzz. "Gibbs is in. Abbi can't come until Friday evening."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh, when did you set this for?" Jimmy asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Same time we were going, Thursday night go there, Sunday come home."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy sighs. "Sunday back traffic is always nasty. Getting down there isn't too bad, but coming back… Yuck."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Friday night down was also a bear, so, hard time down, hard time back. Decided it was better to go after the nasty traffic relaxed and rested than it was to face it after a long week."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shakes his head a bit. "Does this feel bizarrely surreal to the rest of you? Foursomes to summer vacation traffic and back again?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That gets a laugh.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena's staring at her phone. "Wonder why we haven't heard back from Tony and Ziva. Think they're okay?" One of the side effects of Rule Number 3 is that with this group, if you text, you get a response within minutes usually.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tony was up all night traveling. And Ziva was supposed to be on all day interrogating." Tim squints at Breena's phone, but from where he is, he can't read the numbers. "What time is it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Bit after ten," she answers</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Probably just saying hello again," Abby says. "Plus, part of why you usually don't send the whole team out on any given job is so there's always someone left who can raise the red flag if you don't check in. Draga or Bishop would have fired off the all hands on deck if they were in trouble."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That feels right.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Plus, if there was trouble, Gibbs would have sensed it and gotten all of us looking," Tim adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods along with that. "Big time." She stretches a bit. "So, another bottle of wine and talking and chilling out, or early night?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You guys planning on staying over? Guest room is made up," Breena asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'd like that. It's always easier not to move the sleeping baby," Abby says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Amen on that. And I'm good for more wine. Besides, I haven't gotten you up to date on the latest Slater Funeral Home Drama."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy gets up to go get said bottle of wine, and as he's heading into the house he sighs. "Drama's the right word for it. I'll be out in a sec, you start getting them up to date."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So… As you know, my Uncle Wes…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-419-strut.html">Next</a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-81899045509095998922015-02-25T14:49:00.001-08:002015-02-25T15:24:15.571-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 416: KnowingMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Chapter 416: Knowing<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva is not, in fact, at Andrews.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's home, on her sofa, cup of tea next to her, laptop open, "reading" the reports that are flooding in from Okinawa now. She's "putting together questions," "getting background," and, sporadically, texting with Bishop to see what she's putting together on the flight home.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
What she's really doing is staring at her computer, wondering if today's the day her whole world changes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's late. Sort of. Okay, not really, not yet. Her period should have showed up today. It should have, like it has every twenty-nine days since she stopped taking her pills, decided to grace her with its presence at some point last night.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's usually so regular that the night she expects her period to show up, she sleeps with a tampon, and as of this point she's never woken up with a clean one in the morning.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But she did today.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, she's late, ish, maybe. Lot of long nights this last week, and that can mess a cycle up (though it hasn't before.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She has the test, in the bathroom, where it's been since they started 'trying.'</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Part of her wants to leap up right this second, take the test and find out. Cheering along is the part that's afraid Tony will flip out when this goes from a somewhat nebulous concept to something that's 'real.' That part knows he'll come around, but it also wants some alone time to savor this without having to deal with a terrified man.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Part of her wants to take the test with him. He's been there for every other bit of this baby-making thing, he should get to know the same time she does. Cheering that part on is the fantasy of the little gray screen flipping to pregnant and him leaping up, jumping for joy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Part of her is afraid that they'll take the test together, it'll come up negative, and she'll have to look at him and see relief in his eyes. It's not too much to ask him to be enthusiastic about their child. She's comfortable with that. She's also sure that asking him to be disappointed by a negative result is too much. He won't, can't feel that, because for him, negative means at least another month in his comfort zone. For him, negative is another month of getting to swim along with a life vest before getting dumped naked into the deep.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Part of her, the part that's noticed another text from Bishop and quickly replies to it, knows she's going to have a hell of a time interrogating anyone with this on her mind. That part is also aware of the fact that Tony will notice she's off while she's interrogating, ask about it, and in the observation bay is not how she envisioned telling Tony about their baby to be.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Of course, as she finishes texting, it's not like not knowing is doing much for her concentration, either. She's re-read the same update three times now.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Eventually, the tea she's been drinking works its way through her system. (As tea and all liquids are wont to do.) Which means a trip to the bathroom, where the test is, with her very unmade-up mind whirling around with images of little baby David-DiNozzo.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Brown hair and eyes. That's a given. Well, okay, it's not absolutely impossible that she might have a different combination. Ziva's grandmother's family was from Poland originally. Her grandmother had blond hair and blue eyes, and because she looked Aryan, she was able to be smuggled out of Poland as a child. Her grandfather was also from Poland, dark hair, dark eyes, didn't look Aryan. He made it out of Warsaw, made it to the Polish Resistance, but they turned him in to the Nazis. He escaped again and began the trek to Palestine, done with Poland, done with Europe, and sure that no Jew would ever be safe until they had their own country. Her father's family was Iraqi, dark hair, dark eyes. They fled to Israel when Iraq forced them out. Her father was young enough at the time that he doesn't remember it, but her grandparents did. They changed their name when they got to Israel, a sign of burning the reminders of a land that tossed them out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She shakes her head, not the time to be thinking about that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/ge2De-mW3rA/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/ge2De-mW3rA/maxresdefault.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Easy smile.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Brown hair, brown eyes, easy smile. She'd had an easy smile as a child. Tony still does. And this baby… This baby is going to grow up fat and lazy… That's not quite what she's looking for. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Safe</span>. That is. She won't worry about being killed on a bus. Her school won't have armed guards. She won't get her first gas mask as a baby. She won't have rocket drills at school.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She'll join the military only if she wants to.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Knowing this family, she'll know how to use a gun and fight by the time she's in middle school, but she'll never have to worry about defending her home with it. She won't watch the people on the street and wonder if they have bombs under their clothing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva's fingers touch her belly. Whatever she looks like, this child will be fearless.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And right now, she will be, too.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There are situations where Ziva finds patience easy. Give her a sniper's rifle and set her on top of a building, she can stay calm and focused all day.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://www.negativepregnancytest.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Positive-Pregnancy-Test.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.negativepregnancytest.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Positive-Pregnancy-Test.png" /></a>Staring at a little gray screen watching the tiny grains of sand drop from one side to the other of the hourglass to the other is, however, not a situation where Ziva's patience kicks in.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
No, right now, speaking of kicking, she wants to be kicking things, speeding up time by distracting herself. But she can't look away from the screen, because if she looks away, she won't see it turn, and she can't miss it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So she doesn't. The hourglass vanishes, the screen goes black, and then PREGNANT pops up, and she's jumping for joy, awash in the happiness of this moment.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Knowing is way better than not knowing. How that could have ever been in doubt is something she's finding immensely silly.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Knowing is… perfect.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Because right now, this is perfect. Right now, there's one more person in the world. Right now things are clear and sharp and bright and beautiful.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Right now is a future she'd given up on for a long time, a future she'd occasionally dream about, but banish when she woke, because those were the dreams of someone with a future, someone attached to life, living in its service, not a dealer of death. Not someone with a shelf-life of maybe 30 years.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She texts Draga, Tony, and Bishop. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Change of plans. Get him home and let him sit. At least twenty-four hours, forty-eight will be better. No contact, no one speaks to him. All alone except for the two minutes when someone brings food. Then we're going to break him.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She gets back from Tony. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Why are we changing?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Got some intel that makes waiting work better. Fill you in when you get home.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Won't mind a good long sleep and some decompressing time before going after this asshole. Sounds good to me. Still going to pick us up?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sure.</span></div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The only reason she can pull this off is because Tony and Bishop are <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">tired. </span>They're asleep on their feet. Otherwise, they would notice a certain bubbliness that's been hitherto uncharacteristic of their Ninja.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's crashed out in the passenger seat. Bishop's laying across the backseat as Ziva drives.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So," Tony says, slow, tired, "What'd you find?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Do not worry about it, Tony. It's complicated, and you'll do better with it when you've got some sleep."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sighs, looks at her, lots of gratitude in his eyes, and kisses her hand. "Sleep sounds awesome."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Mmmm…" Bishop says, eyes closed, holding up one thumb in an <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I agree</span> gesture.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony DiNozzo is a crack investigator of the highest caliber. He is also practically unconscious. This is a good thing because his wife, who is also a crack investigator of the highest caliber was a bit distracted after taking said pregnancy test and didn't do a good job of cleaning up the evidence.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Which is sitting in the bathroom trash bin, right on top, just waiting to be seen.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Which is not one of the seventeen ways she envisioned telling Tony. Fortunately, he gets in there, does his business, brushes his teeth and crashes right into bed (still wearing his jacket and shoes.)</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Thirteen hours later, he's out of bed, looking rumpled, but a lot happier, wearing his usual laying around the house Ohio State T and shorts.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He wanders around their apartment for a second, wondering where Ziva is, and if she got called in or something, and the notices her sitting on their tiny balcony, watching the sun set between the high rises.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He opens the door, stepping out, joining her. "Hey, beautiful."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She stands up, eyes sparkling, and kisses him. "Missed you," comes out several seconds later, along with a huge grin.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sits down in the chair she just vacated, pulling her into his lap. He's about to break into what happened while he was away, what new evidence they had, but… he's not feeling it. Right now he wants to sit with his wife and enjoy the sunset.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/files/2013/10/10155093343_cb2fc610c6_z.jpg&w=1484" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=http://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/files/2013/10/10155093343_cb2fc610c6_z.jpg&w=1484" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/10/08/spectacular-sunset-shuts-down-summer-in-washington-d-c-pictures/">Sunset in DC</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
In the Jewish calendar, days begin and end at sundown.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva approves of that. She knows it's less precise and more complicated than days beginning and ending at exactly the same time every single day. But, even knowing that, she still prefers a concrete mark of one day passing to the next. She likes the poetry of one day bleeding away, finally extinguished, and a new one born.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There's not much light left. The sun's almost all the way past the horizon, and the lights of DC are starting to dim what's left of sunset.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's a good time.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Her voice doesn't catch, there's no nerves, and for all the worrying she was doing earlier about it, right now she's sure it'll be good.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I am pregnant." She's looking at that sky as she says that, trails of red and orange still bleeding into black, and feels him jolt at it, then she looks to him, smile vibrant on her lips, peace deep in her eyes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's smiling back, mega-watt smile, she's seen the fake version of it a million times, but this one is real, holding her close, petting her hair and kissing her. When he pulls back, he says, "Wow! I…" he swallows hard, looking just so in love and so blissed out and so ecstatic right now. "I didn't think I could feel like this."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's grinning from ear to ear, kissing him again, because right now there aren't words for this, but there are actions, so she'll take them.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's late. Really late. Ziva's sleeping, and Tony should be, too. He would be, but his internal clock is skewed from travel, and right now he's just too excited to drift off.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He kisses Ziva's hair, and decides he better get used to her sleeping a lot. If Abby and Breena are anything to go by, any day now she'll be sleeping 24/7, or at least want to.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Maybe it'll be different for them. He snorts a little laugh at that, somewhat amused at what Sleepy Ziva might be like.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He gets out of bed and heads over to his dresser. There's a cigar box in there, with five cigars in it. (Three of them are real tobacco,<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">good </span>tobacco. The other two are sugar-free chewing gum. He knows there's no way McGee or Palmer will smoke a cigar.) It's something he brought himself when they started trying for real, a promise of sorts that he wasn't going to disappoint her on this. He is going to be a father, and he's going to do it right, and doing it right means celebrating this child for every day of his life.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He takes two of them out, tosses on some going out clothing, and heads to his car.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He'd forgotten that Gibbs sleeps now. Somehow that doesn't work in his mind. He's very firmly got the idea of Gibbs=awake in his head.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's also forgotten that Gibbs has a friend now who will bound to his front door and bark bloody murder if you try to just walk on in in the middle of the night.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And he'd forgotten that Gibbs locks his door, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's a bit distracted right now.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, after a minute, as he stands on the porch thinking this might not be the best idea he's ever had, and that possibly Gibbs does not want to be rousted out of bed at 4:36 in the morning, no matter how good the news is, when a very sleepy, rumpled, wearing only a pair of sweat pants Gibbs opens the door.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
For a second he looks surprised, and then that smile breaks out all over his face.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony grins back at him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
This… ability to just know… no words spoken, no need for filling up the space around them with sounds, this is something Tony has always appreciated about Gibbs. He's one of the few people Tony can be silent with.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony pulls out the cigars. "Smoke 'em with me?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods, solemn and joyful, and then pulls Tony into a long hug.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
By 04:40, Tony and Gibbs are sitting on his back porch, smoking away, not saying much, just being with each other. Between puffs Gibbs puts down the cigar, and says, "You're gonna be good at it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods. "I know. I didn't. But… I do now."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs pets the back of Tony's head. "Atta boy!"<br />
<br />
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-417-or.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-77002169015552998682015-02-23T18:39:00.000-08:002015-02-25T14:50:03.667-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 415: StrippedMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Chapter 415: Stripped<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's wondering, as his grandmother (as the family matriarch) sings the prayers and blessings, at what point you qualify as Jewish.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's an idle thought, mostly amused. Tony and Ziva aren't here. But they're still lighting the candles and doing the blessings and singing the hymns and… all of it, because, apparently they all like their rituals and no one in this family has any problems with saying thanks for a good week and good food.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, yeah, at what point does this stop being something you do because some of the members of your family are part of it, and start being who you are?</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He doesn't have an answer for that, especially since he'll likely be going to church and supper with the Slaters on Sunday.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Nope." Jimmy grabs Tim's glass of Riesling and puts it at his place as they pass drinks and food around the table.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Nope?" Tim's staring at the glass; he'd been looking forward to that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy shakes his head and pulls a prescription bottle out of his pants pocket. "Percocet tonight. We're working on your shoulder, biceps, triceps, pec, rotator cuff, and inter-costals."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Should I be happy about this?" Tim's feeling some trepidation, wondering how much this is going to hurt, but he takes a Percocet anyway. It should be really working by the time Jimmy gets started on whatever comes next.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's looking at the bottle, five more pills in there, as Jimmy says, "Probably not. But, you'll like what it gets you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What's that?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"More movement, faster, less pain in the long run."</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn.diabetesselfmanagement.com/2007/09/recipe_simple_gs_440x250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.diabetesselfmanagement.com/2007/09/recipe_simple_gs_440x250.jpg" height="181" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. He wants that, and he wants it yesterday, and if he's got to hurt to get it... Then bring on the Percocet. Abby's putting a piece of grilled salmon on his plate as he holds the platter (can't hold and take at the same time yet). "So why do you get my wine?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Because I'm gonna have to listen to you whine about it, and I don't get to have any Percocet for that."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim laughs. "I'm not that bad."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Keep telling yourself that." Jimmy takes the platter from Tim, and sends it down the table toward Jethro.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, I get why Tony's not here. He's en route, right?" Breena asks. "Where's Ziva?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Last I heard he, Bishop, a pile of evidence, and a suspect are on their way back. I think she's meeting up with them at Andrews so she can Draga can take a swing at the suspect as soon as they get him in." Tim's been texting back and forth with Tony and Ziva all day, his guys hunting through the data dump they've got for things that may be useful to interrogating their suspect.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, weekend interruptus for the rest of us?" Jimmy asks. Evidence for a bombing often involves bodies, and Abby's nodding along as well.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Maybe," Tim answers. "Not sure. I think they're escorting the evidence and CIA is getting it. Ziva tells me that she and Tony are getting a reputation as the people you send suspects to when you want them broken, but you also want to be able to show it was clean. They've got black sites for when they want it done yesterday, or messy, but when they want to look like boy scouts, they send them to us, now."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs smiles at that, something of the proud daddy look on his face.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Looks like all of your training is paying off," Penny says to him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shrugs, modest, still smiling.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Of course, Gibbs didn't just train two investigators. And number four is staring at him, thinking there's something else going on with that smile.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, what's up?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs spreads his hands in a <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">nothing</span> gesture.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Nope. As Ziva would say, you look like the cat that ate the canary. What are you thinking?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs takes a sip of his wine and shrugs. "Nothing."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Gibbs!" Abby says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shakes his head. After a few seconds he says, "Your guys still pullin' data for her?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "By now, it's Okinawa doing it again, and a few of my night owls."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, she's probably at Andrews, readin' up?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Should be. Last I heard Tony was due in round 05:00."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby looks up at that, smile on her face, and Breena gets it after a tenth of a second, too. If Tony's getting in <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that</span> late, Ziva normally would have had dinner with them, gotten a nap, and then headed over. So, if she's not here right now, it's for a different reason.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Like, maybe the bottle of wine, the blessing and drinking of which is a big part of each Shabbos.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Or maybe, if she happened to have some really good news she hadn't shared with Tony yet, that she didn't want to let out before he knew it, she could be hiding away.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Or they could all be a bunch of ninnies with overactive imaginations and she's just putting in the due diligence to do her job right.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Could be… But speculation is fun.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
At the end of dinner, after everyone besides the Palmers have taken their leave, Tim heads upstairs to swap out his work clothing for a pair of PJ pants. He's not sure exactly what Jimmy's going to do to him, but it doesn't sound like something he'll need a shirt for. Plus, not like anyone in this crew is bothered by him in his PJs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Once out of his shirt, he takes a moment to really look at his arm. First shot since before the cast.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's so thin. He feels stupid thinking that, because it requires him to admit how proud he was of what he had done with himself over the last two years. And being the guy who checks himself out isn't part of his self-concept, but… It's so thin. Thinner than it was the first time he lost weight. He's got have lost at least four inches around over the last six weeks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
New scars, thin and red and angry. He guesses the two around his deltoid must be from putting his humerus back into the socket and reattaching his ligaments. More scars, long lines, one on the inside of his arm, other on the outside, right below his tattoo, he guesses that's where they had to open his arm up to screw his humerus back together.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He can see at least two more hiding under his wrist and hand cast.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
His fingers hover over his shoulder, he hasn't touched, explored, yet. Tim figures they won't mind if he takes a minute to get a feel for his own body before everyone else hops on.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He makes contact, letting himself touch for the first time in weeks. For just light, gentle, stroking touch, it doesn't hurt. Feels kind of nice actually. The scars are numb, and so are several areas under them. He wonders if that's supposed to feel that way.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Soft pressure is okay, too. As long as he's not moving anything, placing his finger tips on his shoulder and lightly poking isn't an issue.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He gently circles his knuckles into his pec, right where it meets up with his shoulder and winces, that hurts. A light squeeze to his deltoid is fine. Slightly more pressure burns and aches.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He can remember looking at his arm and puking. By then he was in shock so hard and had so many endorphins flowing through him that he hurt, but couldn't really feel how bad it was. And then he looked, and… and he can remember the feeling of puking, and the resolution that he wasn't going to look again. But, beyond that one second of recognizing that his palm was up and his wrist was down, his mind blocked out exactly how bad it was.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Looking at the scars, he's feeling very glad he doesn't remember exactly how bad it was, and hopes he won't.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You okay?" Abby asks, popping her head into their room.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh. Uh… Yeah. Probably. Just… getting reacquainted."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh." She smiles and walks over to him, fingers hovering over his shoulder. He nods at her, and she gently strokes them down his arm. "Hello, arm." She lightly kisses the top of his shoulder. "Hello, shoulder, been a while. Looking forward to resting my head on you again."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim kisses her. "Me, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That feel okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Anything more than," he gently squeezes her hand, "hurts, but very light touches like that are fine."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Can't feel the scars."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods at that. "Join the club." Right after her c-section the numb area at the incision was almost four inches wide. It's down to closer to one now. She's figuring she'll have full sensation back just in time for Sean to come out. "Feeling'll come back, sooner or later."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He inclines his head and they head downstairs.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, how does this work?" Tim asks when he gets back into his living room.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
At his physical therapist's office there's an exam table, and exercise equipment, and elastic bands for stretching, electro-stim equipment, various oils and gels that make his skin heat up or cool down, and just piles and piles of stuff.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
If there's any stuff beyond Percocet and Jimmy, Tim can't see it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's just sitting on his sofa, talking to Breena, and the only concession to the idea of doing something with his hands is that his sleeves are rolled up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy leans forward and pats the floor between his feet. "You go here. Abby, you've got some massage oil, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Of course." She goes back upstairs to get it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's getting himself settled on the floor. "Facing away, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, back to me." Jimmy taps his knee. "Head goes here."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim feels really bizarre sitting on the floor between Jimmy's legs with his head on his knee, but… Okay, first off Jimmy's a doctor. Second of all, they're friends. Third, Jimmy's still in his work clothing, not his usual weekend in the summer time shorts, so it's not like he's snuggling his cheek against Jimmy's bare knee. And having done so, he's got an idea of what Jimmy's hoping to do, because like this his neck and shoulder are easily accessible and he's not using his neck to hold the weight of his head.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's back, with their massage oil, and some towels, and a few pillows, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's got the sense she's got a better idea of what's coming next than he does.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She puts one of the pillows in his lap, which is when he notices that he's been holding his arm in place. (After all, the sling is still sitting up on his bed. Right now it'd just get in the way.) He lets his arm rest on the pillow, which does involve a little straightening at his elbow, but it's within the comfortable range.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Then Abby hands the massage oil over to Jimmy. "Don't have any unscented, hope this is okay?" Which is when Tim remembers that the only massage oil they have right now is 1001 Nights scented, which means he's got a lot of very strong sensual and sexual images, memories, and sensations attached to this fragrance and that maybe if they do this again having a bottle of unscented might not be a bad plan.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Of course, depending on how much this is going to hurt, thinking about sex and pleasure might be a good distraction.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy opens the bottle oiling up his hands, and Breena says, "Oh, I like this one," while slipping around so she's sitting with Abby on the love seat, instead of next to Jimmy on the sofa.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What are we doing?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.canadianchiropractor.ca/images/stories/2011/May%202011/Figure-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.canadianchiropractor.ca/images/stories/2011/May%202011/Figure-2.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.canadianchiropractor.ca/techniques/targeting-fascia-2092">Fascia</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
"Right now," Jimmy lays his hands, gently on Tim's neck, right below his ear, and slowly strokes down his neck, over his shoulder, cupping his arm, to his elbow, "we get everything warm and soft. Happy muscles, happy limbs, are soft, and flexible, and pliable. The skin slides over the muscles underneath, muscles slide over bone, ligaments can bend and flex, and everything is in this web of soft silvery stuff called fascia."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"The stuff between the chicken breast and the chicken skin?" Breena adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Exactly." Jimmy pulls his hands up Tim's arm, cupping his palms against the skin, and when he gets to the top of Tim's shoulder, he presses down gently and pushes to the left a bit. "Yeah, see the skin should flow over the muscle. Everything should be able to move together and move around each other. The fascia keeps it in place, but allows for some glide." He pokes, gently, again, and Tim feels some burn with that move. "You're not gliding.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"When your body is working properly it uses its strength to do whatever it is. Strength is good, everything is doing its job right and is able to do that job. You get hurt, and suddenly your body doesn't have the strength to do the job anymore, so it replaces strength with rigid. Things get stiff, they stop moving, the lymph and other fluids don't flow properly, fascia dries out, and you end up stuck. Right now your arm is all stuck together like a dried out piece of jerky."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Vivid image." Tim says dryly, though given what he was thinking about his arm being so small, there is a sort of withered vibe about it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods. "Step one, get everything warm and soft. Taking a pinch of your skin and pulling it away from your arm shouldn't hurt." He does it on Tim's left arm, and it doesn't hurt. He tries on his right and it does.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What's step two?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Unsticking the muscles."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Let me guess, that's the Percocet part of this?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay then. And five more Percocets means this isn't all happening tonight?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Exactly. We're not even touching step three tonight, which is where I start going after the ligaments."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods at that. "Do I need to do anything?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Relax as much as you can and don't fight me."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Will do."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Okay, honestly, this feels pretty nice. Getting a shoulder rub from Jimmy's a little weird, but he's getting used to having a guy rubbing on him. The PT does it for his foot and ankle, and, so far this feels a lot better than that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's either really good at giving massages, or the euphoric side of the Percocet is already kicking in, and maybe it's both, but right now, this is awfully nice.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby and Breena look like they may be enjoying this a bit too much. They're both really, really watching and he can see them tracing the path Jimmy's hands are making over his arm, shoulder, neck, and chest, but, hell, if it's making them happy and doesn't hurt… why not? Plus, he's in favor of getting really well-laid tonight, and they're lapping this up like two kittens with an extra-large bowl of cream.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Two, happy, sexy kittens, talking with each other, watching him, and he's sort of idly thinking about having them head on over and help out, because, he's got an arm and leg that don't hurt and wouldn't mind some rubbing when, "Feels weird being half-naked and all of you are dressed," comes out of his mouth.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It occurs to him that this could possibly be the Percocet talking.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The girls are glancing at each other, and then look at Jimmy with big kitten eyes. He rolls his eyes, sighs, stops, and strips his shirt off fast before going back to working on Tim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim pouts at that. "You weren't the one I was hoping would take some clothing off."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy rolls his eyes and adds a little more oil to his hands. (He's also in favor of getting <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">very</span> well-laid tonight and has <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I really hope you enjoy this</span> all over his face and aimed at Breena. She's beaming back at him, grinning, and then licks her lips. He gets the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I am </span>message loud and clear.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, but we were, so you got out-voted," Abby says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim looks at the girls, and then looks at Jimmy, counts, blinks, and says, "Okay, I know I'm on drugs, but… There are two of you and two of us, how did we get out-voted?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He didn't vote." Abby says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm voting!" Jimmy sounds surprised at the idea that he didn't vote. He was eyeballing Breena at the suggestion of less clothing. "If the question is, do you want to see more skin on the girls, the answer is always YES. The only time I'm going to tell you to put more clothing on is if you're in danger of sunburn or cold. Oh look, we're inside, at night, in a pleasantly temperate house. Hmmm…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena stands up and twirls around, which both Tim and Jimmy enjoy because she's wearing this cute little sundress and that flares the skirt some, flashing her panties. Tim, on the floor, gets a bit more than a flash and he approves heartily. "I'm already half-naked." Then she sits back down again.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Abby?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You okay with it?" She's once again at that stage of pregnancy where her real clothing is snug, but not quite ready to move into maternity gear. So, lately she's been wearing one of his button downs with the sleeves rolled up, leggings, and boots.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Trust me, I'm good with this." And right now, he doesn't care if Jimmy's watching, too, he's really good with it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She slips off the leggings. Since it's one of his shirts, it's long enough to cover her butt, but that's all it covers. It's shorter than her shortest skirt.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's eyes are slipping all over her, enjoying naked legs, and liking that quite a bit.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Feeling more comfortable?" Abby asks, standing up, reaching over on the coffee table, making her shirt inch up just a hair, getting the bottle of wine they didn't finish at dinner, and pouring the last of it into a glass for Jimmy and Breena.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, very happy. "Yes, thank you." He eyeballs the glass, and then looks at Jimmy. "Not going anywhere, certainly not driving, and you want me relaxed, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy thinks about it for a few seconds while he keeps rubbing his fingers over Tim's bicep. He increases his pressure slightly and feels Tim wince. That's just the pressure level he's going to need to get the skin mobile, getting into the muscles will be worse. "Quarter glass. Start seeing double or having any trouble breathing, you let me know, right away."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sure." Tim takes a sip, and yes, it's as good as he was hoping it was going to be. "Read a review of this online, wanted to try it with the salmon."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It was really good," Breena adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Have to get more for next week." Another sip, and Tim starts to slide into a very relaxed headspace.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Shit, that hurts!" Tim yelps, jerking up and away from Jimmy's hands.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy gently presses, letting Tim know to put his head back on his knee, and returns to the long, slow stroke he'd been using on Tim's pec. Tim does, but this time his body is wary, and it's harder to just melt.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim had been just chilling out, leaning against Jimmy, kind of aware of the fact that there's a conversation going on, but mostly just relaxed and happy. All was good and right with the world and he was thinking that he really wouldn't mind spending more Saturday evenings like this. (In fact, to be really precise, he was thinking about how Percocet with a little alcohol when you aren't really hurting is a <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really</span> nice sensation and that anytime Jimmy wants to drug him and rub his shoulders, he's game for it, and if one, or better yet, both, of the girls would get over here and make out with him, this would be the literal definition of heaven.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And now Jimmy's ripping his arm off.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Level two, Tim, stripping scar tissue hurts. Gotta break it down, stretch it out, get it soft and pliable again, or you're never going to get full use of this shoulder back."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim whimpers, as Jimmy slowly, with deep, firm pressure, strokes his thumb across the underside of Tim's collarbone. He thought that Jimmy working on his foot was awful, but this is almost as bad as when he first got hurt. Okay, not really, when he first got hurt he was on a boatload of narcotics and felt this bad, and right now he's just got the one, but this still HURTS.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Do you have to do it that hard?" Tim asks, trying to make himself relax and having a very hard time of it. Jimmy's 'don't fight' instruction is going to kill him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Harder!" Breena says with a giggle, causing both of the guys to stare at her. Yeah, it sounds silly, but she's hoping this'll distract Tim from how bad this hurts. "Oh come on, this is fun to watch!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Actually what Jimmy <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">was</span> doing to Tim was fun to watch. She didn't think that watching Jimmy give Tim, or any other guy, a massage would do much for her, but… yeah, Jimmy's hands, warm and firm, slipping all over Tim's shoulder and chest. That was working just fine for her. But as soon as he hit the point where Tim jerked and started wincing, it got a whole lot less fun, real fast. She knows Abby feels that, too. She glances at Abby and they're both on the same page, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mission: Distract Tim.</span> And if anything is going to distract Tim, it's sex.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods. "Watching you two play doctor is pretty nice."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sighs and grits his teeth, and Jimmy sputters, "It's not playing doctor if you've got an MD!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena looks at him, sweet and sexy. "You and I have played doctor."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim flashes him a curious look.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh, like you haven't done something similar," Jimmy shoots at him, rippling his fingers over Tim's pec muscles.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"They play dragons," Breena adds, and now it's Jimmy's turn to give Tim the curious, rapidly morphing to full-out stupefied, look.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How does that even work? What, do you pretend to sit on eggs or something?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim rolls his eyes, staring at Abby. "You told her <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that?"</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby shrugs, about to say something when Jimmy (who is, because he's a professional and very good at what he does, and likely has some idea of what Breena's ulterior motive is, still working on Tim's shoulder) says, "Holy shit!" he's staring at Tim. "Oh my God, your dragon story! Is that where that comes from? Are you writing a novel about your <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">sex games</span>, with all of us in it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Now Tim's really staring at Abby with a <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really, you had to tell her that?</span> look. She shrugs, looking innocent, letting him do the explaining.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shifts a bit, so he can easily look up at Jimmy, who as he shifts slides his hands over to Tim's deltoid and begins stripping there. He mentally sighs, the whole thing is locked up with rock hard muscles, dried out fascia, scar tissue, extra bone calcification, staples, and ligaments that haven't moved in weeks. To say Tim's deltoid is a mess is to say the ocean is damp.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"They're shape-shifter dragons, Jimmy, and in human shape when there's sex happening, and…" Tim grunts as Jimmy starts to apply some real pressure, "And if you had even half of my imagination," said through clenched teeth, "you'd do it, too, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Palmer</span>."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Has he let you read some of the sex scenes?" Abby chirps. "Oh my god, they're so <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">hot!</span>" She looks at Breena. "You know, soaked panties, squeeze your thighs together and get off, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">hot.</span>"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena looks impressed. "And why didn't they end up in my inbox?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's staring at them, feeling kind of lost, and wondering when they started sending each other smut. Though… Yeah, Abby did give Breena his smutty books, and Breena gave Abby Fifty Shades, and that's the only one he heard of, but for all he knows they may be swapping erotica right and left. He does know that there have been, 'Hey, let's try… insert new position or thing here' nights, so… maybe that's where the inspiration was coming from.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He gets the sense he should say something before those stories do end up in Breena's inbox. "They're just for you. I was stoned off my ass when I wrote them, they're never seeing the light of day."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"They should, Tim. They're <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">smoking</span> hot."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"They need at least a rewrite before anyone else sees them."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, wait, Breena said some bits of the Dragon book were sexy. I thought it was like… Like Song of Fire and Ice. How smutty is this thing?" Jimmy asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs with his left shoulder; he's gotten pretty used to gesturing with only the one side. "Right now about two thirds of what I've got written is sex. I was home, doped up on pain meds, not like there was any real work I could do, so I wrote, a lot. Anyway, apparently if you take away most of my higher level mental function, I spend a lot of time thinking about sex."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You mean you don't normally?" Breena's curious.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"There's usual being a guy thinking about sex, and then there's spending six hours a day on it." He quickly looks at Jimmy, "And if that's how long you usually spend thinking about sex, I don't want to know."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy laughs. "I don't think even Tony spends six hours a day thinking about sex."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"At least, not since he hit forty," Tim says, making the other three laugh. "Anyway, can't work, bored, horny, I wrote a lot of other stuff, too, but yeah, lots of sex scenes, and you didn't mind getting sent them in the middle of the day."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Anytime you want to send me smut, I'm happy to receive it." Abby says with a smile. "I think Percocet just gets you horny."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh…" Well, that could be true, he's, well, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">was</span>, in a pretty mellow bring-on-the-sex sort of mood, which was just perfect and probably would be again in about two minutes if Jimmy would quit trying to shred his arm, but… "I think horny might be my default setting and Percocet just peels everything else away. But, once again, I think that's just being a guy, too. How about it, Jimmy?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He makes a non-committal noise. Tim's relaxing some as he talks, and he's getting into his delt a bit deeper, running the edge of his thumb along the grain of the muscle.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby looks at Jimmy. "So, playing Doctor? Anything you really like, Dr. Palmer?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That does a better job of getting his attention, he looks up from Tim's arm. "Hey, everyone has a playing doctor fantasy, and who says I'm the doctor when we're playing?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's interested in that. She knows Jimmy and Breena role play some, but this level of detail hadn't been brought up before. "You aren't?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Well, it's not exactly playing when you've got the MD, now is it?" Tim and Abby are staring at him. Breena's grinning, very pleased. Jimmy rolls his eyes. "About half and half. And it's not playing when the person you're working on is actually hurt, and what you're doing helps…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And it hurts like a fucking son a bitch." Talking about what they're doing not being playing doctor refocuses Tim on how this actually feels. "Back to my question, do you have to do it that hard?" Tim asks, because really, this is so far away from an erotic massage they're not even on the same continent.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Depends, do you want it to work, or you want me to just oil you up and play with you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh, I'm all for the oiling and playing!" Abby chirps.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Maybe we could oil you up, too," Breena say to Jimmy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Keep that up, and you don't get to watch next time," Tim says. "This couldn't be less sexy if we tried."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby laughs at that. "You're way the hell out of it right now, aren't you, baby? Have you noticed what we're talking about?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, what <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">we're,</span>" he gestures his left hand at him and Breena and Abby, "doing is sexy. What he's doing to me <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really </span>isn't."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena and Abby pout. "For you. Different story for us," Abby says. "Your skin is all slick and pink." She goes to sit next to Jimmy, and kisses Tim. "And he's rubbing all over you. Trust me, Breena and I love this show."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Both the guys kind of sigh at that. They know they're playing with it, but it's easier to play with if the girls don't flat-out say they're getting off on it. Tim's starting to feel a little self-conscious about it, and Jimmy's hands have stopped working.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Looks like Abby notices she and Breena pushed them a step too, far, so she scoots right next to Jimmy, her hip against his. "Okay, show me what you're doing so I can do it." She gently kisses Tim's neck. "Would that be better, me doing it? Or me and Jimmy doing it together?" She looks at Jimmy. "We've got… the rest of the deltoid, rotator cuff, and bicep to work on, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods. "Traps, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No reason we can't do you together. Intercostals after, too, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yep."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Wanna help, too Breena?" She kisses Tim again. "All three of us on you at once?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The addition of the girls to the mix is perking Tim up quite a bit. Okay, yeah it hurts, but if they're willing to rub on him some, too, that'll go a long way to keeping him nicely distracted, and… "Can I have more alcohol?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy shakes his head. "Want you relaxed and happy, not unconscious and having a hard time breathing."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sighs, then Abby starts rubbing her hands up and down his neck, focused, firm, not hurting pressure, helping distract him from what Jimmy's doing to his deltoid and…</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Why are you working my armpit?" Tim asks, jerking, that hurts and tickles.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Because your shoulder joint is three dimensional and the muscles that bring your arm closer to your body are here."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Come on, Breena, grab a part." Abby adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh… I don't know what I'm doing with this. Not like I've got an MD or Rolfing certification," Breena says, looking a bit nervous.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's enjoying the idea of the girls helping out with this a whole hell of a lot better than just Jimmy manhandling him. "It's extremely unlikely that anything you do'll hurt worse than what they're doing to me intentionally."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Nah. Not going to hurt at all," Abby says. "At least one of us should do something that feels good. Foot rub?" she asks Breena.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That, I can do!"</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There's the flirty, and beyond flirty talking they were doing before. And, the all of them not entirely dressed bit, too, and for a while, that helps keep up the lightness, helps keep Tim distracted, and makes this… fun.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, when it comes down to it, this isn't fun.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's not even trying to go after the joints or ligaments. He can feel Tim shaking under what he's doing just trying to work muscle, and with Abby working, too, they're doing it twice as fast, but it's still taking too long.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's torn between backing off, doing this softer and more gentle, because that's an option, but it takes so much longer, and every day he's not really moving is another day of everything stiffening, sticking, holding in places it's not meant to hold.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He knows Tim wants himself back as fast as possible, so he's pushing, taking him right to the edge if not very slightly over what's a good idea, but as they're getting to the end, with Tim lying on his side, crying, while Jimmy's working the muscles between his ribs and Abby gets his traps and rotator cuff muscles, Jimmy really wants to stop. He can see Abby does, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Almost done, Tim."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good." That's a whimper.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We can stop now, don't have to—"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Just finish it. Done this much, I can take a little more."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena's been down at his feet, gently stroking and rubbing his right foot and calf, but she stops at that and scoots up to hold his hand.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hey, come on, focus on me, okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He looks into her eyes, tries to smile some.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Really hurts, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, keep looking at me." She's holding his hand, stroking her fingers between his, then lays on her side, facing him, still holding his hand, but stroking his cheek, too. "I've got you. Just keep breathing. They're almost done, and you're gonna feel so much better after. We'll ice you down, and tomorrow you'll be able to move your arm more, hurt less. Maybe get you sleeping on your side again, soon. Know you miss that." Her forehead touches his and he's staring into her eyes. "Almost done, Tim, almost done."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He kisses the palm of her hand, and she kisses his forehead. "Almost done."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She keeps murmuring her little pep talk while petting his hair. Not making a whole lot of sense, but her voice is soothing, and Tim doesn't look like he's listening to her words so much as her tone.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy and Abby wrap up. It only takes them two more minutes, but they're a long two minutes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And when they finish, when he's lying there, aching but no longer burning, with the three people he loves best, all with their hands on him, there's a heaviness to that moment, a sense of something shifting.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They all feel it, know what rationally comes next from here, can all see the next move, where Tim scoots into Breena a bit more and kisses her, and Abby spoons him from behind and Jimmy… Tim's not sure what the hell Jimmy does, but he's got the basic game plan down for what's supposed to happen next.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Though that sense of what's supposed to come next is unspoken, the desire to back away from it is also clear. Even out of it, Tim's not willing to jump off that cliff yet, and he can feel they all want thinking time.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sits up slowly, and there the moment breaks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy gets up and grabs ice packs and as he's heading back in he sees Tim gently squeezes Breena's hand, and kisses it again. "Thanks." He turns to Abby, pulling her into his lap. She gets a kiss, too, and Jimmy gets a hand squeeze as well as Abby takes the ice packs and starts draping them over Tim's arm and shoulder. "I know I'm a pain in the ass about it, but, thanks." It's getting late, and he wants time to be with Abby, and think. "You guys can crash here if you want. Guest bedroom's made up."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thanks." Jimmy's shaking his head. Normally he'd say yes. Girls are sleeping. The guest room is comfy, wouldn't be the first, and won't be the last time they stay over after a late night. But not tonight, he's already pulling his shirt back on. "Think I want to sleep in my own bed."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena nods at that. "But, tomorrow night, dinner, all four of us, we've got talking to do, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah." Tim replies.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods. "Yeah, we do."</div>
<div>
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-416-knowing.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-55038272799576088022015-02-23T17:05:00.000-08:002015-02-23T18:40:09.578-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 414: With the FlowMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Chapter 414: With the Flow<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"There's absolutely no shot of me getting you to take that <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">thing</span> off, is there?" Penny asks Ducky as they head to American University's chapter of No Illegal Humans.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://40.media.tumblr.com/575dd682c01f858deff4c44a7704479c/tumblr_ncldul3EvA1rcou3so2_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://40.media.tumblr.com/575dd682c01f858deff4c44a7704479c/tumblr_ncldul3EvA1rcou3so2_1280.jpg" height="183" width="320" /></a>Ducky touches his bowtie, his red, elephant-bedecked bowtie, knowing immediately what the offending garment is.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"My dear, if they cannot stand this level of mild provocation, how are they possibly going to work with Jethro?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny inclines her head, that's a point. And she did get him to take the American Flag pin off his suit, so that was saying something. She sighs. Ducky has been a welcome and charming companion for all of her interactions with the adult, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">science</span> activities on campus. She is, however, somewhat wary of bringing what is very obviously a cis-het-white-male-oppressor into the younger, political side of things.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, wary or not, they're going.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Shall I be Dr. Langston or Mallard?" Ducky asks as they stroll across the campus.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny smiles at that and then shakes her head. "If you're Langston, they'll assume I took your last name, and that loses both of us points."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Mallard-Langston has a ring to it, don't you think? And if I've got the hyphenated name…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny smiles. She'll be amused to see how the twenty-something activists will parse that. "Sure, Dr. Mallard-Langston. Though Ducky will probably work well, too. Most of these kids go by first name only."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky nods.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's a pleasant group. More welcoming, especially toward Ducky, than Penny was expecting, but… It's boring. She supposes there's a possibility that they are keeping things tame because she and Ducky are new to the group, and old in years, and thus presumed to be conservative about law breaking and whatnot, but…</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's a letter writing campaign.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Apparently one of the kids, a poly-sci major has been working on a dissertation on maximizing political responsiveness while minimizing representation. (He's trying to prove that Congress and the Senate should be one body of 1,425 representatives. In other circumstances, both Penny and Ducky would find his research interesting.) However, in his number crunching, he's come up with a formula for exactly how likely a given politician is to sway an opinion based on how many letters he gets, pro or con, from registered voters in his district.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's got numbers on how much more valuable physical mail is over emails, let alone petitions. Apparently physical mail indicates an older person. Older, registered voters are much more likely to vote than young people… So, they've got paper, envelopes, stamps, pens, and lists of names of registered voters they're going to pretend to be, from districts all over the country. Then over the next week, different members of the group are going on road trips to mail the letters from the right Post Offices.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
In that Penny and Ducky have "grown-up" or "classical" handwriting ("Old" is the word the kids are trying not to use. Legible cursive would be the most descriptive term for it.) they're actually quite popular with this group.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Some of them are copying a few of Ducky's letters verbatim because his writing is clear, attractive, and does not sound like it was written by a twenty-two-year-old.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
As they head off, Ducky says to Penny, "Do you suppose I should have mentioned that if you do write an actual letter to your Congressman, he will send one back, and a large number of very surprised people will likely be calling their Congressmen soon?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She laughs at that. "They'll figure it out. Coffee?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Certainly."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Once they're seated in a small café on campus, Ducky sends a text to Jethro. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Meeting accomplished.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A few minutes later, as Penny comes back with a raspberry Italian soda for herself, a cup of iced-coffee for Ducky, a mug of black coffee for Jethro, and a plate of cookies for all three of them, he gets back. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Just dropped Tim off. Over in a few minutes.</span></div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And how is Timothy?" Ducky asks as Jethro sits down. He's always a bit on edge when Duck or Penny picks the place. Ducky because he usually goes for spots that are way too damn fancy, and Penny because… because she picks places like here, where everything just feels... off.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He can't pronounce half the drinks, and all of the food is organic, fair trade, vegan, granola and sprout-oriented stuff that he probably would like if Breena was serving it, but his Marine soul is rebelling against it here. The tables are tiny, almost afterthoughts, the seats are all fluffy, the art is… eclectic, that's the nice word, right? Ugly as sin and clashes with everything is the less polite version, and the music annoys him on principal alone.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny's grinning at him, enjoying this way too much.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
At least the coffee is good.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Doing okay, Duck. My truck's got less metal in it than his arm." Every time they look at the scans his knee aches in sympathy and his stomach clenches. "Doc says spring before he gets full use of his hand back. But he's down to just a cast on his wrist and fingers, and they're starting up on getting his shoulder moving again. That's good, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes it is."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs takes a sip of his coffee, and for as much of the vibe of this place annoys him, he's going to have to buy a bag of whatever this is, because it is tasty. He glares at Penny again and she smirks, very pleased with herself. Gibbs rolls his eyes, he's seen that look on Tim, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How'd your meeting go?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We impersonated members of different congressional districts and wrote letters," Ducky says dryly.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shakes his head. "Mail fraud? You guys really know how to skirt the edge, don't you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You know us dangerous radicals, right Jethro?" Penny adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We impressed a cadre of children by having functional cursive skills and a command of basic written English." If Ducky's delivery was dry before, he's verging on Saharan now.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No dice, then?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny shrugs. "One of the grad students looked… I don't know. I got the sense he may have been looking for more, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky nods. "It's only a feeling. And more may be anything from protesting in the streets to doing something useful. I have no idea if he may have any deeper connections."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Just a feeling of restlessness."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Cop?" Gibbs asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No." Ducky shakes his head definitively as he takes a drink of his own coffee. "I'm sure I would have made him if he'd been a cop. Not that sort of restlessness."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods, undercover cops usually have a sort of feel to them. He can usually pick them up pretty easily. "Mosque on Thursday?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny nods. "Yes. I'm running a talk on how to register to vote. Some of the ladies are newly citizens and have never lived anywhere they've been able to vote. Some of them were born here, but their husbands/fathers/brothers are not enthusiastic about them voting. The Imam is though, and was happy to let me grab one of the side rooms for a quick how to register and how to vote—"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How?" Jethro's got an eyebrow up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"The literal mechanism. How the machine works."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He holds his hands up. "Just pokin' ya."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh huh." She's giving him the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">smartass </span>look.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs grins back. "<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Semper's </span>all set. Got her registered yesterday. She's water legal now. How about your end?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"As of Wednesday we are the registered officers of Sojourner Inc," Ducky replies.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sojourner?" Gibbs asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Penny thought there was a certain eloquence to naming the company after a woman who led others through dangerous lands to set them free."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's also the name of the boat," Penny says. "Paperwork for that should be done by Monday."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods. "I'll get her set to carry either registration as needed."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky fiddles with his glass. "So, as of now, all we are waiting for is the proverbial damsel in distress?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny laughs. "It would appear so." She takes a sip of her drink. "Were you serious about having me come along?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"If you wanted to. I'd think being stuck on a tiny boat with a man you don't know, and a dog, would be unsettling for a lot of these girls. I'd think we'd want them looking and acting as… western… as possible when we get in sight of land, round here, this time of year, that's shorts and t-shirts and pony tails, and… And compared to Pakistan or Afghanistan or where ever, that'll be hard enough, with just me for company… Don't want them feeling… abused by it, ya know?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It will be easier to be the kindly old grandfather if there is a grandmother around, as opposed to being the dirty, old letch?" Ducky adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods. "Yeah." He fiddles with his cup. "Been thinking about that some. Trying to figure out how to keep 'em covered enough so it's not too uncomfortable, but western enough so I can sail 'em on past without getting a second look. Long t-shirt, those flannel PJ pants Abby likes, bandanna or something like that for the hair…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Let's actually meet the girl before we get planning, Jethro. For all you know, she'll be happy to hop into whatever makes it easiest for her to get into the country."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. I can hope, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We can hope."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know we're all gathering at Abby's house for dinner tonight, anything to fill your time between now and then?" Ducky asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Heading over to the house for a bit. Got some errands to run." Gibbs's phone buzzes. He pulls it out and sees it's a text from Ziva to him and Abby.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Case is still hot. No Tony or Ziva tonight."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny squeezes his hand as he says that. "Missing it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods. "Yeah. Tim's all fired up, tech stuff coming out at a million words a minute. Abby's guys are finding trace in places we didn't use to know to look for trace. Jimmy's done on this one, unless Tony gets custody of the bodies, and he doesn't think he will. Tony's running a case with four other agencies over three continents. I see what they're doing with it, and yeah, I miss it, a lot."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky smiles at him. "While Jimmy was in California, and I was back, overseeing Dr. Allan, that felt remarkably useful, in a way I hadn't for months and am afraid I'm not going to, again."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods. "Yeah. One of these day's a ghost'll pop up and they'll call me back in, but… Yeah, I miss it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They both take sips of their drinks, and Penny watches them, wishing she could help fill the hole careers that were entire lives left in their wake.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"One day at a time."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs takes another drink. "Yep." Then he stands up. "Gotta get moving if I'm going to be at Tim and Abby's by seven. See you there."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He makes it to the house in less than an hour. Given traffic and where the coffee shop was (wrong side of DC) he made epic time.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There's really not much he needs to do here, today. There are things he can do. More siding needs to go up. He could start arranging piles of shingles around the place so once they're up on the roof they're easily located. He could start ripping out drywall.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But he's not.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://destinsharks.com/wp-content/uploads/hagar/hagar-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://destinsharks.com/wp-content/uploads/hagar/hagar-01.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He heads over to the boathouse and opens the doors, and then scrambles up <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Semper's</span> side and into the cabin. He supposes there should be more hoopla for a maiden voyage, but he also likes the idea of the first time out being just the two of them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He gets her engine going, and pulls her out. Once he's free of the boathouse, he shuts it off, and begins to set his sails. Won't be out too long, but he wants some time with her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's not nearly as joking as it could have been comment about the last time he did this wasn't dead on, but it wasn't as far off as he wishes it was. It's been twenty-five years since he was on a sailboat. But he did do it way more than once.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But the last time he was on one, in the water, it was a rented boat, his girls were with him, they were on the Pacific Ocean, and it was a balmy winter day.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, right now, beyond the gentle sensation of moving water and the feel of the ropes under his hands as he goes about catching the breeze, this is basically nothing like the last time he did it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He can see them, both sitting on the rail of that boat, watching him, talking, laughing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Do you like it?" He wishes Shannon would answer, but he knows, in a way he didn't before, that he's talking to himself, just getting the ideas out. And he also knows, as he feels the tug of the wind catching sail, that he's not just talking about <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Semper. </span>"I hope you do."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nudges her over a bit, heading into the current. "I think you'd like Abbi. Feels weird to say that. Would have liked you to have met her." He shakes his head at that, too. "Okay, that feels even weirder." Which doesn't mean it isn't true. He remembers Penny saying that Ducky and Nelson would have gotten along. Maybe he'll talk with her about this when they get on the water together.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Don't know what you would have said about John, or training Jimmy. Wonder if that's the sort of thing we wouldn't have talked about. I would have done it, and you would have known, and just sort of, given me that look, when I'd head out, the one that said it was okay." He smiles at that memory. He had more than a few missions where he couldn't say what he was doing, but she'd always nod at him when he left, tell him to be careful.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm being careful." He stares into the blue sky above, feeling the wind on his face. "And I'm filling up the hours, some more useful than others. And there are a lot of things I'd like to say to you, share with you, but… but not getting to say them doesn't hurt so bad anymore."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He tacks starboard, seeing how she handles. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Semper </span>swings easy and responsive through the turn. Gibbs nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"She's sweet and solid, got a good feel to her, and I want to do good things with her. Make a difference.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Maybe get the Palmers out here on Sunday. Not sure if Breena wants Molly on here, though. She's a little too happy to hop into the water first shot she gets. Might decide to try that cannonball trick off the side." Gibbs laughs at that idea. "Gotta get some little life vests." He realizes he's not wearing one. "Get some big ones, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He tacks again, aft this time, and <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Semper's </span>just as sweet in the other direction. "Kind of wish I could get Tim on here. Penny wonders how much of him getting seasick is actually about boats. You remember that movie you made me watch, stupid comedy thing, with the guy who drew comics about cute and fluffy bunnies and didn't like boats… Kind of wonder how far a good experience on a boat would go to helping with all of this." He takes a sip of the coffee in his thermos. "Probably not far enough. Don't think I can get him on one voluntarily. Not unless it's a crime scene, and these days…" Gibbs shakes his head. "Don't think he's ever getting back on a ship. Not if he can help it." Thinking of Tim makes him think of Sean.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Got our first boy." He smiles at that. "Yeah, I know. Still makes me smile. Wondering if Ziva's got one in the works. Could be Tony's just making sure Bishop gets good experience. That'd make sense. I'd do that. Ziva knows field work better than any of them; she doesn't need practice. But, if you're going abroad, usually you take the person who speaks the languages, right?</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"She says the case is still hot, won't be at Shabbos tonight. Not sure what can be that hot. Tony's not getting back until morning. Manhunt's been handed off. They both tell me about how cases now just go on and on. All the intel Tim's getting will take weeks to go through, not like burning the midnight oil will help. But if she's tired, or feeling off, or doesn't want all of us immediately noticing when she skips the wine… That'd make sense." Gibbs grins. "Wonder if Tony knows, yet." Then he laughs, imagining telling Tony his first child is on the way. "That'll be fun."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He ties off the sail, happy with the direction they're going, and sits, comfortably, on the rail. "Or maybe I've got grandbabies on the brain."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
His eyes scan the banks, watching what looks like unbroken miles of trees passing by. Of all the places and ways he could have ended up, this one seems pretty good. "You remember, back in the diner, telling me I couldn't have both? Couldn't have you and NCIS. I wanted both. Still do. But… I'm okay with what I got."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-415-stripped.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-84818944841432473952015-02-22T17:30:00.002-08:002015-02-23T18:39:47.175-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 413: Right HandMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Chapter 413: Right Hand<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's up at his usual time, going through his usual routine (today he gets stretch out and slow shower time, yesterday he was on feed Kelly/make breakfast) and thinking about what to do with the teenager who is likely still sleeping in his guest room.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's thinking it'd probably qualify as creepy to head in and leave a note for her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Which is when he remembers that he lives in the 21st century and that the teenager sleeping in his guest room is more or less surgically attached to her phone.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, he gets out of the shower and sends her a little note.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Morning Cristin,</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You're at my house. </span>He's not sure how much she remembers from last night. Pretty much she got in the car, fell asleep, slept walked out and into their kitchen, stared at them, glazed and wrecked, through eating a slice of pizza, and then immediately crashed into the bed in their guestroom, and from the sound of it, hadn't moved since.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We're out doing morning things. Heather (nanny) and Kelly (little girl, you met her last night) should be down there when you wake up.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Eat something.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Go back to sleep.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Shower's down the hall if you want it. Got clean t-shirts and sweats on the chair. </span>Abby's old T-s and the smallest sweat pants (his) they had. They're still too big for Brand, but they are clean.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I'll check in when my ortho apt. is over. Give you a ride back to your car if you're awake. Let you sleep if you're not.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You're off until Monday. I checked, 55 hours in three days is okay for a job like we just had, but once that's done (and it is) you go hand it off and rest.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">McGee</span></div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs eyes Tim as he slides into the truck.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You're in a good mood."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "Got to work a real case." Then he gets Gibbs up to date with what's been going on. He wraps up with, "Before Kelly was born, we were wondering if I could do stay at home dadding." He shakes his head. "Pretty clear the answer is, 'No.' Even the injuries hurt less when I'm working. Well, working with a decent amount of sleep. They hurt something fierce when it's crash time."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs smiles, he knows all about that. "Driving yourself soon?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Supposed to wait until I'm off the narcotics, but…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs' eyes narrow. "No buts."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Then, no. I've done two days off, and I'm sharper on them and in less pain than I am off them and hurting, and even more sharp without the meds and not hurting."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods at that, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They drive a few more, quiet miles, then something hits Tim, speaking of not being all that sharp, "Jethro…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Inclined head that means, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I'm listening</span>.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know how much difference working is making for me. Are you okay? Abbi, Mona, the house, taking care of me, is that doing it for you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sees Jethro go still, carefully not answering, and gets the sense he's caught between not lying and not telling the truth. Tim's eyes narrow at that as he tries to decide if Jethro is trying to prevent Tim from worrying about him, or if there's something else going on.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Finally Jethro says, "You know how you told your guys not to poke into how you got hurt?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay," Tim says slowly.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Don't poke it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I told them not to poke because I didn't want everyone at NCIS knowing the Admiral tried to have me killed. Because that's private, and I didn't want the whispers or stares. You and me, we don't have private."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs laughs at that. "Maybe you don't."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Fine." There is a certain lopsidedness to Jethro knowing everything about them, and them not knowing everything about him, though Tim likes to think its evening up. Though as he looks at Jethro, he does wonder about that.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
More scans. They ache. They burn. One position feels like his whole arm is ripping in half. Tim supposes this is better and easier than the first scans, back when he was getting the first of the casts, but this isn't fun by any stretch of the imagination. Anything even remotely connected to his right arm is registering extreme displeasure at the idea of moving in any direction, let alone moving and being held in any position other than the one he's been in for the last six weeks, but he grits his teeth, eyes tearing, and does it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Then it's time for more waiting. He and Gibbs just sit there in the Ortho's office, waiting for the images to come back. "Starting to feel like I live in doctor's offices."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods. He's starting to get that feeling, too. With Tim not driving and Abby working, he's been to all of these appointments, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Bet the last one was fun."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles. "Last one was fun." He's grinning from ear to ear and shaking his head. "Kind of stupid, I mean, I love Kelly so much, all the girls, but…" he bites his lip, still grinning, "little boy."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs smiles, too, he gets it. "Yeah. Ten years. You, me, Sean, Jimmy and Donny, Tony and Third."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Not gonna be a Third. If they have a son, they're thinking David."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs grins at that. "Dave. Dave DiNozzo. Little guy, curly hair and brown eyes like Ziva, sassy, little wise-ass like his dad."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's watching that grin. "You know something we don't? Like why Ziva's stateside and Bishop went to Kazakhstan?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shakes his head. If anything along those lines is up, he hasn't heard, yet. "Just seeing it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Gearing up, going camping, guys-only weekend in the mountains."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's grinning at that, too. "S'mores, fresh fish from a lake, stories around a big bonfire?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Then Tim pokes a bit. "Jack Gibbs? Red hair, blue eyes? Say, five-years-old? He gonna be there, too?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "Already had that conversation with Abbi. I'm done with that. I've got my kids. Seven of you buggers is enough."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles at seven, not even sure why that lights him up so much, but enjoying it. "Okay. But you have had that conversation with her?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Don't date a woman pushing 40 if you don't want to have kids and she does. Not a kindness for anyone."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And Abbi's still here, so she's cool with it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, she is."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Dr. Kent heads in a moment later, new cast and sling in hand. "Good morning," they do the small talk routine and finally get to the meat of it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's putting the scans up on the plasma screen on the wall. "So, this is your shoulder." Tim'll take his word for it. For all he knows, that could be anyone's shoulder. Though, as he looks closer and sees the small scrap yard worth of metal holding the arm together, he decided that this does have to be his shoulder and arm.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kent blows up the shoulder scan. "When your shoulder was ripped out of joint it tore free at the Corocohumeral ligament, Glenohumeral ligaments, and the Capsular ligaments. We put the humerus back into the glenoid fossa. The Corocohumeral and Glenohumeral ligaments ripped free of the bone taking tiny chunks of bone with them. You can see the staples we used to make sure those ligaments hooked back into your humerus properly. And, as you can see," he's moving his finger over the brighter white areas near the dead white staples, "those sutures there show that the bone reattached and knitted back together properly. So, it looks like your shoulder is stable enough that it doesn't have to be immobile any longer."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He tosses up the next shot. "This is your wrist and hand." Kent shakes his head. "Wrists heal up slowly in the best, cleanest of breaks, there're just so many tiny bones and ligaments. It's looking a lot better than it was." He splits the screen and Tim can see a shot of his wrist from right after they got it set, and the shot from now, but he's not sure what he's looking at that makes the current one better. Probably all those brighter, white lines where there were just empty black spaces and screws before. "But you're not ready to go cast free, yet."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He zooms into Tim's hand and fingers. "Fingers are looking good. All of those little defensive breaks are healed up. Metacarpals, the bones in your hand, are almost there. Just like the ones in your wrist, they're tiny and have a lot of ligaments and muscles involved, and heal up slow in the best of circumstance, and this isn't the best." Kent makes the picture of Tim's hand even bigger. "Here and here, first and second metacarpal" he points to two screws in Tim's hand, the bones that attach into his first and middle finger. "These are right under the tendons that move your first and middle finger. Right now, I'm keeping those fingers immobile to let everything in here get really rock solid.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Your new cast is going to cover your hand, wrist to mid forearm, and your first two fingers. Since your last two fingers didn't break, and none of the metacarpals under those tendons snapped either, we're going to let them start moving around again. But take it easy." Kent wiggles his pinkie and ring finger. "The tendons that move these have to go through your wrist. Getting moving again is going to hurt, beyond just you haven't been moving. There's a ton of scar tissue in there that is not going to want to be moving around. Same story with moving your thumb, with a side of your thumb did break and get dislocated. Moving it is not going to be fun, keep at it, but do it slow and gentle, okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I've sent everything to your PT and CCed Dr. Palmer, as well. I've also emailed them suggestions for someone who specializes in rehabbing hands."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh good, more doctor's appointments," Tim says dryly.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kent nods. "I know; you're so excited. Part of my job is managing expectations. Balancing hope with reality. Reality, this is going to be long and hard and take way more effort than you think it should. Things you use to do on automatic will require effort and thought for a lot longer than you think they should. But this is also reality, if you don't give up on it, if you don't decide, 'I've got 80% of what I had back, it's good enough,' you will get full function in your hand back."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm a programmer and a writer, I need both of my hands working at 100%. So, how long…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"One hundred per cent? Spring? You'll be typing long before then, but, you're really good and fast at it, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Spring."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sighs. He doesn't want to hear "Spring." He wants to hear "last week."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kent looks at him. "I know."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's got <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">doubt it</span> all over his face. Kent rolls up his sleeve and shows Tim the scars all over his forearm and wrist. "Skiing accident. I've got enough metal in my wrist to make yours look clean and tidy. Two years of rehab, but I am a fully functioning orthopedic surgeon again. Trust me, put the work in, and you will get it back. After all, you hit the wrong key, you go back and delete. It's a little different if I don't get the scalpel in the right place."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods at him. "Okay. Got it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good. I'd like to set your next appointment for two weeks out. If all keeps going well, you'll be down to just a wrist/hand brace and sling then."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yippie?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kent nods. He gets it. "Let's get the new cast on."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's still warm from the 3d printer and smells strongly of melted plastic. He almost feels a little naked with just plastic from his mid forearm to fingers.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, let's see what kind of range of motion you've got. We're going to start at the top of your shoulder and move each joint as far as you can without pain."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sighs at that. At least since he's been doing some movement with Jimmy, his shoulder isn't completely immobile. He lifts it up and down, back and forth at the collarbone, and Kent hums a bit at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Your shoulder has been adducted and internally rotated." Which Tim knows means his arm's been across his stomach for six week. "First off, try to rotate your arm."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's able to move it almost a centimeter away from his stomach before it hurts. He's feeling pathetic about that, but Kent looks pleased. "Believe it or not, that's good. Next, abduction." Tim remembers from college that means move your elbow away from your side and toward Gibbs. And again, he's got about a centimeter before his shoulder screams at him. Kent's nodding along at that, too. "Extension." Moving his arm forward and up, and in that direction his shoulder is telling him in no uncertain terms that it's not doing jack shit, thank you very much. "Okay, we've got to see how much your elbow is ready to move before we get retraction. So, onto your elbow." Pretty much the only part of Tim's arm that didn't get hurt was his elbow. He's got three full inches of extension before his tricep says no more, and a similar distance of retraction before his bicep goes on strike. "That's looking good. With as badly broken as your humerus was, and the amount of surgery they had to do to put it back together, I was afraid you'd have more damage to your muscles. You'll have full range of motion in your elbow first. Okay, palm up." The cast kept his palm facing his stomach for the last six weeks. He gives it a try and just like with extending his shoulder his body is sending very clear, 'Oh FUCK NO!' signal to him on that. Kent keeps nodding. "Palm down." Exact same response. "Thumb?" It twitches slightly without pain, and he can almost wiggle the top joint. "That's good. Pinky?" He can bend the middle joint almost a quarter inch without pain, but the bottom one aches when he tries to move it, and he doesn't have the control to do anything with the top one. His ring finger is in the same boat.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, given how badly everything was broken, this is a really good place to be starting."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'll take your word for it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's why you're paying me," Kent says with a smile. "Cast feels good?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good. We've got a new sling for you." Kent starts to open it up. "The cast kept your arm in position before. This is a little firmer, little more snug, than the sling you were using with that cast. He fits it around Tim's arm and shoulder, and adjusts the strap that goes around his waist. I've got it set so you've got about two inches of play for internal/external rotation of your shoulder, and a similar amount for extension and retraction. If you're getting tired and achy and want more support, just pull the straps tighter." Tim's noticing that this has four different Velcro straps that attach to his waist and ribs. "Once it's tight, it'll hold your arm the way the cast did. Loose means more movement. Try to keep it loose as much as you can, okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ultimately, you'll only have it tight for sleeping, but you're going to have to play that by ear. If it's more pain meds or tighten it up, tighten it up."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods at that, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay. Speaking of pain meds, everything doing the job the way it should?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods at that, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good. I'm going to write you another script for more Tylenol 3, and then you're set to go."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thanks."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No problems. See you in two weeks."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Back to work?" Gibbs asks when they get into his truck.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Maybe. Gotta check at home." He pulls his phone out and texts. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Awake?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A few seconds later, as Gibb is pulling out of the parking lot he gets back. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yes.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Be home in about twenty minutes. Then we'll take you back to your car, okay?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sure.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Gotta stop home."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Picking something up for Abby?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Not quite." He explains who is home and why they need to get her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sees Gibbs' hand leave the steering wheel, start to head in the general direction of his skull, then stop and go back to the steering wheel. Gibbs then closes his eyes for a second and bites his lip before saying, "You took your exhausted, teenage, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">female</span>, employee home with you?" <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Are you fucking insane? </span>is clear on his face.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I tucked a sleeping agent in, at work, last night. Which is right out of your playbook, right? Abby took the teenage girl home. Which is right out of hers."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tim…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He knows what's got Gibbs worried. It's also why he wasn't immediately all, 'let's go adopt a teenage hacker' when Abby suggested it. He's the Boss. She is his VERY young employee. This could be a disaster of epic proportions if it went badly. "I'm being careful. I was telling her she had to go home, and that we'd drive her, because she was too tired to drive home, and then Abby's asking if home alone is spooky and lonely and next thing I know she's sleeping in my guest room. I haven't been alone with her, and I'm not going to be."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Heather's home right now, you're coming in with me, we're giving her a lift back to her car, and that's it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good. She's too young to be… You can't be giving her favors. You can't have her getting a crush on you, and you can't be in a position where she might get the wrong idea."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Speaking from experience?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim digests that for a moment, wondering exactly when Gibbs learned that, then… "Wait, Abby told me you did the same for her when she was brand new at NCIS."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim catches a sheepish look on Gibbs face. In fact, if this was anyone but Gibbs, Tim would characterize that look as trying not to blush. Then he knows what Gibbs was doing that night. "Wait, with Abby? We're you trying… You were married!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shrugs. "Stephanie wasn't supposed to be home."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Jethro! She thinks you were being all sweet and protective."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"By the time she fell asleep in my car, I was."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"But you weren't when you offered her the ride?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shrugs again. "Long case, bad case, Stephanie was supposed to be out of town, Stan and Abby'd already been out clubbing once, apparently she was fine with friendly and casual, and I just wanted to drink and fuck, thought she'd be up for it, too. Didn't realize how out of it she was until she fell asleep in the car. Then I realized how out of it <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I</span> had to be if I'd misread the signals that bad. So home, tucked onto the sofa, Stephanie smiled at me for the first time in a month, and I went upstairs to my own bed to crash, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim grits his teeth and sighs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Don't you look at me like that. You did the exact same thing the first chance you got, and unlike me, you didn't strike out."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Probably because she knew we were going on a date," Tim says dryly.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Would have helped."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's not sure what to do with that. "You ever try again?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shakes his head. "Got the little girl too firmly in my head after that to ever do more than flirt."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, feeling a little relieved at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Then Gibbs turns to him and smiles. "Bet that feels a bit like walking in and seeing you spooning Diane."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "I thought we were <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">never</span> going to talk about that again."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods, changing the subject a little, "So, how's Brand settling in?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So far so good. At some point I'll sit down with Howard and find out exactly how she was doing, but she was on 55 of 72, just kept working it until there was nothing left to work."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs looks impressed by that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They're home five minutes later and Tim is about to get out of the truck when Gibbs stops him. "It'll take you ten minutes. I'll get her."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Can you grab me a towel, too?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Why?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hand towel. Fold it up, wedge it between my wrist and my stomach, it'll force everything to stretch a little, and improve my arm stability."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods. "Biomedical engineering, huh?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Magna cum laude."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs heads in and finds the infamous Brand. He's happy that he did not roll his eyes. She's sitting at the kitchen table in way too big clothing, with her hair long and wet, looking like she's, at most, twelve-years-old.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's also having a pretty good conversation with Heather (who, as of five minutes ago, he thought looked twelve, but she's a paragon of maturity next to Brand) both of them chattering away while Kelly rides Heather's hip.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's the one who sees him first. "Pop!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hey, Jethro," Heather adds, bringing Kelly over for a hug and kiss.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Heather," she gets an affectionate kiss on the cheek as he takes Kelly from her, and Kelly gets a big hug and a big kiss. "Hey, Kelly girl."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Pop!" She's happily slobbering kisses all over him back. "Pway? Mona?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Not today, baby. Just picking up Brand," she leaps up as soon as he says her name. He extends a hand. "Leroy Jethro Gibbs. You can call me Jethro or Gibbs."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hi. I'm Cristin." She looks very shy, and even more achingly young as she blushes with him staring directly at her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tim's in the truck. Head on out. I've got to grab a towel."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Both the girls are looking at him like he's insane. Gibbs starts to explain and then stops. "It'll make sense when you see it." He kisses Kelly again. "Go have fun with Heather."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly nods at her Pop as he hands her back and heads into the bathroom in search of a hand towel.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
When Gibbs gets into the truck, Brand is already in the backseat, looking pretty nervous. Tim's making small talk, asking if she's feeling okay.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You introduce yourself?" he asks Gibbs while taking the towel and folding it up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim inclines his head toward Gibbs and says, "My dad."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's done that before, introduced Jethro as his dad, but like with the various Slaters, there's usually been some sort of qualifier. "My dad, or close enough," or "Dad'll cover it," something like that. It's the first time he's said it and just left it there. Gibbs smiles at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Brand's nodding, watching him stuff the towel between his hand and stomach, and without missing a beat Tim starts to explain what he's doing, as clearly as he can with his teeth clenched.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hurts?" Gibbs asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Got it a quarter inch past comfortable. Figure that's the fastest way to start getting more range of motion."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Run it by Jimmy when you get in, okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I will."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We picking up pain meds on the way?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Got some in my desk. Abby and I can get the rest on the way home."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs waves that off. "Heading to the house this afternoon anyway, going by the Target, might as well pick it up for you. Got some of my own errands to run, and might as well save you a few more minutes."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thanks."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No problem."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs drops them at the door at NCIS. "See you tonight."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim waves. Brand scoots out. "Thank you, Mr. Gibbs."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods at that, smiling.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim starts slowly hobbling toward the office, as Brand says, "It never actually ends, does it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hm?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"They take care of you forever, right? Been talking to my parents about that, especially the last few months," she rolls her eyes, "tired of being babied, you know? I'm not a little kid. Mom pretty much wanted to move here with me."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods. "Yeah. I know. I moved 3,000 miles away when I was seventeen. Jethro joined the Marines the second he turned eighteen. You need time on your own, so do they, but if you have a good relationship, they never stop caring, and neither do you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods at that, catching Tim calling him "Jethro" and he starts to turn again, but stops as she says, "Why do you have different last names?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm adopted."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh. Okay. So… not until Monday?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shakes his head. "No. Not until Monday. Go home, rest, play, explore DC. Summer sesson's in full swing at American and there are piles of students your age, also all away from home for the first time, head over and socialize. Or call your buddies back home, but you do not come in again until Monday, got it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods and heads off to her car.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-414-with-flow.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-5352035532958063362015-02-22T14:29:00.001-08:002015-02-22T17:31:26.730-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 412: Back In The SaddleMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Chapter 412: Back In The Saddle</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim worked straight through Tuesday, 'round the clock, in at 11:00 to the next 11:00 to the one after it on Wednesday morning. And then on Wednesday he basically slept 'round the clock, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby took him home, grabbing a quick bite on the way there, and then he staggered off to bed, Tylenol 3 and Aleve coursing through his system (and if he still had any Percocet he would have found that and taken it instead) and crashed into a deep sleep where he woke up briefly to have dinner with his wife and daughter, and then back to sleep again for the rest of the night.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Thursday morning, usual wake up time, he's moving again, groggy and sore and planning on another 8:00 PM bedtime (and probably a nap in the afternoon) but he's moving because there's 200 emails in his inbox and most of them are not requisitions for more staples or time off.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's feeding Kelly, while asking Abby, "Tony said something about there being 'data chips' in…" he doesn't remember his name, "the victim's arm. Did you guys get into them?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby shrugs and takes a bite of her graham cracker. She's been craving them since yesterday. No idea what about graham crackers Sean wants, but he's getting a lot of them. "We got into them all right, but it's gobbled-y-gook. So, once we got them up and running, off to your guys they went. Last I heard, there's a guy out of Rota who's an encryption specialist—"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Atherson." Tim nods. They haven't worked together yet, but he's thinking that if the mirror site he wants to add to his NCIS defenses works the way he wants it to, they'll need to. He's thinking that a hard but not impossible encryption placed on files that are actually collections of random numbers should drive anyone who tries to break into their stuff full-on raving insane.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Anyway, we got them cleaned off and running a bit before I took you home. From there the data went to him, and the actual chips went to evidence."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods again as he wipes cereal off of Kelly's chin.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They hear the sound of the sliding glass door open as Heather comes in. "Morning! Oh, there's my girl!" She sweeps over to Kelly, giving her a kiss, and then turns to the adults. "Good to see you back here, Tim, Abby said you were on a case. They're not treating you too rough, are they?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smirks at Abby before replying to Heather. "This time the dark circles under my eyes are just from being tired. Apparently my working-round-the-clock skills are rusty."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Heather smiles at that. "So, is now a good time?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby says, "Yeah, I think so," and then fills Tim in, "Yesterday, I told her we wanted to talk to her when all three of us were able to get together."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Right!" Tim can see by the look on Heather's face that she knows where this is going and is happy about it. "How would you feel about being a nanny to two little McGees?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Heather grins. "Two little McGees sound awesome."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Wonderful!" Abby hugs her, very happy, and then puts her hand on her tummy. "Say hello to Sean James. If all goes according to plan, he'll be on the outside January 28th!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hello, Sean! Oh, we are going to have so much fun."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly's looking very confused by all this, which is when it hits the grown-ups that they have not made any sort of specific comments <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">to her</span> about all of this. Abby says to her, "You've got a little brother, here, inside Mommy's tummy."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly's eyes narrow. That is not information that means anything to her. She does reach out and poke Abby in the tummy, but nothing happens, so she's not satisfied by that response.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim tries from this direction. "You're a big sister. And in the winter, when it gets very cold outside, you'll get a little brother to play with."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Molly?" Kelly asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Just like Molly! Anna is Molly's little sister. You've got a little brother growing inside your mommy. He's too little to come out, yet. But when it gets cold he'll be all grown and ready to come out."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Okay, she's looking a little more steady with that. She knows who Molly and Anna are and how they relate. "Bwofer?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Good point, no one in their family has a little brother. (Okay, not true, Abby has Luca and Kyle, but Kelly doesn't know who they are, and Jimmy is the little brother, but no one's ever even met the illusive Clark.) And as of yet they have not gotten into what Aunt or Uncle means, just that that's the title certain people in the family have.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Heather's smiling at her. "You and your cousins and your mommy and I are all girls. The baby, Sean?" Tim nods, she's got the name. "Is a boy, just like Daddy."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And at that Kelly bursts into sobbing tears because she's got no idea what a boy is, but she knows that Daddy is bigger than Mommy and she doesn't see how anything that size can fit inside her without hurting her mommy. Unfortunately the adults have no idea what's set her off, and she's woefully ill equipped to explain what the problem is.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Finally, Heather says the magic word 'baby' which is when it finally clicks for Kelly that whatever a brother is, it'll be small, and she begins to calm down.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, on Thursday, both Tim and Abby are twenty minutes late into work, and somewhat frazzled when they get there, but get there they do.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
First matter of business, before heading into the basement, before battling his emails, is to head up to the Bullpen and check in on Tony. Namely, just because he had gotten his end of the case (and a bunch of other cases) dealt with, did not mean that Tony actually had a shooter… two shooters, Tim thinks Tony mentioned something about there being two of them, in custody.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
When he gets up there, he doesn't even bother to get out of the elevator. He can see no one in the bullpen, which, hopefully means they've caught the guy and are all having a late morning, or are out getting him, as opposed to they're all out hunting down new leads.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim pulls his phone out of his pocket and then puts it back. He can't text and hold the phone at the same time.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Back down to his office, he flicks on his computers, and as they boot up he sends to Tony: <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Got your guy yet? Any specific information you want from what we get off the drives/computers?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Nothing comes back, so he hopes that means Tony's sleeping.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Next step: What the hell time is it in Spain? He checks. Six hours ahead. So he pulls up Atherson on his computer for face to face time. He'd expected Kim Atherson to be female, but a middle-aged Black man is facing him on the other side of the screen.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hi. I was wondering if you could update me on what you getting off the data DC sent over?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Atherson snaps to attention at that. Tim might not have known him on sight, but he knows Tim. "Nothing, yet, Boss." Tim's itching to check Atherson's background, that's a very Marine sounding 'Boss.'</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Corrupt data or nasty encryption?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"1024 bit key."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim knows that's code for <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">this is impossible. </span>"So, right out of the Cryptonomicon?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's not surprised that Atherson gets that reference. He's also not surprised to see that makes Atherson relax a bit. "Exactly. If you can find a key for it, if you can find me part of the key for it…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods; he gets it. They don't make computers big and fast enough to break that encryption, not without help.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That all, Boss?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Almost. I'm thinking of spiffing up out cybersecurity. We've got that mirror site in place right now, and what I want to do is make a fully functional version, with all of our files. I want file names, dates, and who is on them encrypted, tough but not unbreakable, and then I want all of the details in those files to be encrypted piles of random numbers and letters."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Atherson smiles. Anyone who breaks the first layer will assume they've got a dual encryption going. He laughs at McGee's idea. "You are sick."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thank you!" Tim nods, smiling. "Once we've got the full mirror up and in place, are you set to handle that?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It'll take me less than a day to write the scripts…" He pauses and thinks. "You just want me to do the encryption, right? Someone else is handling the script that produces a mirror file for every real one?" Tim nods. His crew in DC will handle that. "Just promise me, if anyone does get into it, that you'll make sure I get logs of the back tracking so I can see them try to break it." Atherson is grinning at that idea.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh yeah. That'll be fun to watch. Trust me, we get someone take a whack at it, it'll be movie night for NCIS Cybercrime world over."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Atherson laughs at that. 'I'll bring the popcorn."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thank you, Atherson."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No problem, Boss."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim logs off from that and then calls up his Mexico City team. No one answers and he realizes he should have checked the time there. It's… no they're only an hour behind, so... He double checks. He's only got two guys out of Mexico City, and they're on shift together, from about 10:00 to 14:00 and from 18:00 to 22:00. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Interesting schedule, must have built in siesta time.</span> But so far it's working.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sends an email to them asking for facetime once they get in.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Then it's back to his email backlog.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">999 emails to read</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">999 emails</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Open one up, deal with the muck</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">999 email to read</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He swears the damn things are coming in just as fast as he's dealing with them. It's occurring to him that part of being able to get through with his back log was doing nothing but emails, but part of it was also that no one was sending him anything of any substance. But as of Tuesday, he's really back, which means that, in addition to requisitions for staples, he's also getting case work, thorny code issues, and requests for 'opinions' (aka, please tell me what to do) on sticky cases.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It feels good. Sisyphean, but this is the hill he wants to be rolling a boulder up. (At least now, in a week or two the shine may wear off.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's absently rubbing his ankle, reading over a request from one of his Techs in the Seattle Office for how to translate what he just did so the Agent in charge understands and is able to use the information he's found, let alone get the right stuff for him once he's out again, when it hits him how much he's not hurting right now (only a mild ache in his foot and shoulder), and apparently the combination of light work and adequate sleep is very good for keeping his brain off of his body.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Another hour after that he gets face time with Valenz and Droit, his agents in Mexico City.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What have you found?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Valenz, who judging by both accent and skin tone, actually is Mexican, replies, "Lots and lots of data, but nothing useful, yet."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"1024 bit encryption?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Droit, a woman in her early twenties, shakes her head. "Word files."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim stares at them. "Word? Word for Windows?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They both nod, looking forlorn.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Valenz adds, "None of them are less than a thousand pages long, they're just blocks of random numbers and letters. No spacing. No punctuation. No paragraphs. Just millions of characters."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Some sort of code?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Droit shrugs. "Maybe. Since it's in Word we can't even use our usual tools on it. Right now we're trying to get them into a form the computer can mess with."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, not like you can give the computer a .docx and tell it to decrypt.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Um…" He's thinking. While he does write on his typewriter, he also writes on his computer for any sort of second or third drafts and all of his editing, and he knows Word inside and out. "Okay, so, either you produce your information, encrypt it, and then…" He winces. His computer geek wants to scream at this, and the writer is appalled at the work involved. "God, this is messy… Cut and paste it into Word. Which version is it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Word 2015."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Newest version. Give me a second." He pulls his version of it up and fiddles around. "Okay, open one of the files."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sees Valenz and Droit focus on the screen, and Droit's hand moving over the keyboard. "Top of the page, see all those options on the toolbar?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Droit nods. It's similar, but not identical to Open Office, which is the software his team is using. (Tim prefers Word for writing novels. He doesn't write novels at work, usually. His employees really don't write novels at work. Switching to shareware software for anything he didn't absolutely need the licensed version of saved his budget 500k a year in licensing fees. He's fine to swap that out for a bit less functionality.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"See the 'Review' tab?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
More nodding.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Go to versions." At the very least, the versions tab will show him what changes happened between saves, and if everything was uploaded all at once, he'll be able to see that, too. "Open the most recent version, open the version before that." He's half waiting for Droit (who's doing this) to say there aren't any other versions, but she's clicking away. "Okay, save both of them with different names." He waits a few more seconds. "Over to compare." He uses that all the time when he's writing for his edits. It's an easy way for him to merge two versions of the story into each other. "Put both versions up, and let's see how different they are."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They all wait, Compare takes a while on big blocks of text, and this is supposed to be thousands of pages long. After ten minutes of heel cooling, he sees his tech's faces light up, smiles spreading wide. "What?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Lots of letters are popping up as different between the newer version and the old one," Valenz says. His eyes are skimming over the screen.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It's in Spanish, one letter at a time, but no code beyond being buried in this. A meeting place and time."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Droit adds, "Maybe fifteen words buried in thousands of pages of text."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's thinking that's actually a clever way to hide a text. A book code of sorts. As long as you had the base document to compare it to, you could hide whatever you wanted in it and it'd be impossible for anyone to find. And unlike a book code, you've actually got to know your way around the software in question to find the cipher.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's smiling as he says, "Dig the good stuff out and let us know what's going on. You're up to date on the fact that the CIA's read into this, too, right?" He catches some less-than-perfectly professional eye rolls between his techs and sympathizes. "Yeah, I know, it'd be a lot more fun to 'share' everything we know and just give them the raw files, and let them stew until someone figures out how to use Word, but sooner or later we'll want them to be nice to us, so suck it up and hand it over."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"On it, Boss."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hi, Ziva." Tim looks up from his computer as Ziva heads into his office. It hits him that he texted Tony hours ago and hadn't yet heard back. "Everything okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes, McGee. Tony sent me a text. He'd apparently just gotten one from you, but right now he and Bishop are in Kazakhstan."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Because why wouldn't they be?" Phew, he breathes out, happy his part of this case is keeping him nice and comfy in DC. "So, I guess you want the heads up?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That would be nice."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Pull up a chair. It's good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva nods and sits next to Tim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"First off, those chips in…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Juarez."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. They have the encryption of the gods on them. Without help, there is no way to break them." Though he had sent Atherson a heads up to compare the encrypted files to each other to see if possibly there was a similar sort of code that they were using with the Word docs. He knows that it's a beyond long shot that they'd use the exact same encryption on the almost same base documents and end up with a letter for letter comparable text, but, in that they're getting precisely nowhere without the key, it was worth a shot. "No news back on that, yet. However, if you've got anything, or the CIA has anything they think might be an encryption key, or part of a key, we need it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva's paying attention, looking through her notes. Back when they did just plain murders she could keep it all in her head, but with cases like these, where there are hundreds of actors moving through years' worth of data, she needs notes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm not seeing anything listed as a key."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay. It's worth keeping an eye open for, and if CIA has tech guys with more data, it's worth pressing them to see if they can find anything."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods and makes a note of that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Next part, how many Word files have you run into?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That does seem to trigger something for Ziva. Her eyes light up. "A lot of them. They're sending emails back and forth to each other with these files on them. CIA has been over them with a fine tooth comb, and they know there has to be something there, but not what." She's flipping through data pages on her phone. "Like this one. A Word document with 400 pages of the New York City phone book on it. CIA thinks it's a book code, but they haven't found the matching cipher, yet."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That one's older isn't it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"They figured out some new tricks. Anything that matches something else, something you can check… Okay, this is going to be boring, take a lot of time, and probably not get you any information you haven't already figured out, but here's how it works. Someone scanned in the New York City Phone book. Then they went through and just added letters and numbers to spell out whatever it is. To anyone looking for a code it'll look like typos. Anyone who has the real version scanned in can use Word, which has a compare feature, to compare the old version to the new version, and it'll light up all the changes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Now, the ones that my guys pulled out of Mexico City are blocks of random numbers and letters. Nothing you can compare to, unless you've got the original, or they've written them on Word 2015, and you know how to use the Versioning Tool."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, you are saying that I need a herd of interns to scan documents so we can compare, and the secretarial staff to start going through any of the new ones we've got?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Unless you want to do it yourself."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
For a moment Ziva looks overwhelmed, and the she smiles. "You know, I think this looks like a job for all of those students at Quantico."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim has an evil smile on his face, too. "I'd think that pulling a class of CIA wannabes off training and making them scan documents seems like a fine way for them to grasp the truly grueling nature of spy work and how remarkably unglamorous this whole thing can be."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva's getting up when it hits Tim that he's got no idea how the actual case from upstairs is going. "So, you guys have your shooters?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She shakes her head. "That's why they're in Kazakhstan."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Your shooters ran <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">there</span>?" Okay, yeah, it's probably a good place to hide out, but McGee wouldn't ever want to be there. From what he knows about the place, ever since it lit up in civil war back in early '15 it makes Afghanistan look like a garden spot.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No. Or at least, we do not think so. We think the shooters may be in Belize. The CIA and the Mexican Federales are tracking them along with the Local LEOs in Belize. The explosives that were taken from the site of the shooting ended up being used in Kazakhstan ten hours after the shooting."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Why would the personal secretary of the main Mexican Diplomat have explosives in his possession? And what the hell were they flying to get them there so fast?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva sighs. "And this is why I will now take a quick and easy murder any day of the week over one of these."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I love you, McGeek! </span>Pops up on Tim's phone a few hours later.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Got cell service, I see. </span>Tim writes back.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For the next five seconds. Bishop's been complaining about those damn Word documents since we got this case dropped in our laps four months ago. Everyone knew there was something up with them. No one could find what. CIA has whole teams of cryptographers going through everything we found trying to find the ciphers for those damn things.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Glad it's useful. Mexico City's team is handing over everything it can find. Can you get me in touch with whoever's in charge of Cryptography at CIA on this case? I've got my own specialist and some really encrypted stuff from your victim.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sure. Okay, moving again.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Stay safe, Tony!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No problem.</span></div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ever since last summer, Tim has (and this is putting it mildly) not been the CIA's biggest fan. And apparently, as he's dealing with this CIA cryptography asshole with a chip the size of a nuclear submarine on his shoulder, the feeling is mutual.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Look, it's a simple question; have you guys found anything that is or might be an encryption key?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm really not authorized to share that information with you," CryptoAsshole says, smirk in his voice. "You are not read into this operation."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The first response, which Tim bites down before it gets out of his mouth, is that if this fucker ever wants to get a look at what he's got on those five chips, let alone what comes out of Mexico City, he better damn well get read into this op, as of the day before yesterday when his team found them a functional terror hub with all of the computers intact and in play.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's feeling pretty proud of biting that back because that means he's not screwing up Tony's delicately balanced team of alliances.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The second response, which actually goes get out of his mouth, is this: "If I'm not cleared for this information, why do I know you're the person to talk to about it, what precisely it is I need from you, and what exactly I need to do with it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I wouldn't know, Agent—"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Director."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
CryptoAsshole is very clearly not impressed by Tim's level. He might have just as well proclaimed himself director of a local pre-school. "Director McGee, but I can't be too careful. Once I get the OK from my higher ups, I'll answer the question. Until then, I don't know you, I don't know your agency, and I don't know anything about this case you're asking about."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim hangs up. "Asshole." Now would be a really great time to have a secretary, because he'd love to say, 'Get me the head of CIA Cryptography,' but there's no one but him to go about getting this person. Instead he scoots his phone over an inch and starts typing.<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">CryptoAsshole won't talk to me.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ha! When did you get good with nicknames? I call him Smithers. </span>He gets back from Tony eight minutes later.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If you're ever in a room with him and his boss, he's right out of the Simpsons.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So, his boss is Mr. Burns?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Pretty much.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Don't want to upset your apple cart. Want me to go hardass on his Boss's Boss? Or you want to handle it?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Boss's Boss?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Think Leon's going to be happy if I tell him some CIA pissant won't give me the encryption key I need and is claiming he can't because I'm not read in. Next step on my side is to have a chat with the Director of Cryptography at CIA.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">(Laughing) Let me make a few calls. Yes, I'd love to see the look on Smithers' face, but I want them to keep playing nice with me. Give me an hour, let me see what I can pry loose.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Okay. How's it going on your side?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sifting through debris, body parts, and explosive residue. Mostly Bishop and I are making sure someone who knows how to handle a crime scene is keeping an eye on things. Hope to be home with a pile of forensic evidence tomorrow morning.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">You know, I don't miss that, at all.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yeah, I could handle a bit less hot, dry, dusty middle of nowhere, everyone hates us, body armor chafing from the sweat, you're afraid to take a step for fear of ending up with someone's liver on your shoe, and only catching cat naps sitting up riding/flying between stops.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ugh. </span>Tim's having vivid flashbacks to Afghanistan and how much he did not enjoy that trip. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How many died?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Not sure. At least six.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sorry.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yeah, I know. Bishops looks ready to puke, and I'm sure Flyboy wouldn't be doing any better.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, staring at his phone. He can remember his first meat puzzle case. Not good at all.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Just got an email from your guys in Mexico City. </span>Tim's computer just chimed, too. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Time to do some reading.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yep. Me, too.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If you don't have what you need from CIA by… 20:00 feel free to go hard ass on their Cryptography department.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Thanks.</span></div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
An hour later, his computer chirps to let him know someone wants face time. It's Atherson.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's smiling. "I don't know how you did it, but I've got a key in my inbox."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles back, shaking his head. "Not me. Agent Tony DiNozzo and the miracle of how charm, a smooth delivery, a talent for BS, and a spine of steel works wonders for inter-agency cooperation."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good. There's a ton of stuff here, and it's late. I'm setting it up, making sure the guys in Okinawa," where it's morning and not almost (or way past) quitting time "keep an eye on it so there're no surprises."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sounds great. Have a good night, you've earned it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"'Night, Boss."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He grabs his phone again and fires off. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Got key. Prepare for massive data dump in the morning, </span>to Tony. Tim checks his computer, it's a bit after five. Abby should be down soon. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Heading home soon. Ortho appt. in the morning.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Heading home tomorrow morning, your time. Get in early Saturday morning. Monday morning get together and debrief?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sounds good.</span></div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You look <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really</span> tired and <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really</span> satisfied," Abby says, leaning against the door to his office.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Once he put his phone down and realized he was done for the day, Tim started to crash.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods, beat. He really should have gotten a nap this afternoon, but until two minutes ago he hadn't noticed he needed one. "Good day. I love my job!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Well, come on, let's wrap it up with a good night." She heads in, wraps her arm around him, gives him a kiss, and he slowly lurches up. They head off, him leaning heavily on her, and she holds his crutch.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
As they're heading out, Brand is snoozing on the sofa.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's your new cyberbaby, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods, and sees she's looking chilled, all curled up on the sofa in a little ball. Tim grabs the blanket that's on the back of the sofa and tucks her in.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He straightens up, noticing she didn't even move when he did that. "Sound sleeper."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods. "Um… I saw her when I dropped lunch off on Tuesday. Is she wearing the same outfit?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim looks at Brand. He can't tell what she's wearing anymore, because she's covered now, but, best he can remember she is wearing the same outfit, and she's been here the whole time he's been around. He can see her hair is looking pretty greasy, and… he inhales… yeah, she's a bit whiffy, too. It's a much milder version of a smell that immediately pulls him back to grad-school. Hacker that's been on a coding-binge. On the upside, she's a teen girl, instead of a teen guy, who, in his memory, tend to smell so bad after three days they can knock a person out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He gently shakes her shoulder. "Teenage hacker with no set hours overdoes it, alert the media."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smirks at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Brand, come on, wake up. You gotta go home."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Mrghm." She flails a hand at him. "Too tired."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Come on, get up. I'll drive you home. Well, Abby will."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Mmm?" He hasn't introduced Abby, and Brand doesn't know who that is.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Abby, Mrs. McGee, my wife. I haven't been driving since I got hurt, and I'm not starting tonight. Come on, get up. You need real food, real sleep, and a shower."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Brand sits up slowly, glaring at him, teen whininess and coding funk radiating off her skin. She's about to complain when the part of her brain that knows who she's talking to (namely her boss and not her parents) snaps into the front of her head, and she blushes hard.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm fine. I don't need to go home."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby picks up what's going on before Tim does. "Home's kind of spooky and lonely all on your own, isn't it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Brand rolls her eyes, but nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, you're coming home with us. We've got a guest room, bed's made up. Come home, have something to eat, and crash. Your place'll be a lot more comfortable when you're not running on empty."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Brand stands up slowly, shuffles back to her desk, looking like she's sleep walking, grabs her purse, and Abby leads her tired man, and his tired tech, to their car.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Brand's awake enough to say, "Cool car," but she's pretty much asleep again by the time Abby's got the car in gear.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby chuckles at this as they head home. "Gibbs did this for me. First major case on my own, running my own lab. It was the dead of winter, snow on the ground, and I'd never driven in it before, never seen more than an inch of it in real life. We'd been working the case for three straight days, and I was dead on my feet. He took me home, tucked me in on the sofa, and made sure I got fed in the morning. Only time I ever saw Stephanie look like she approved of something he had done."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I didn't know you knew him when he was married."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Only saw them together a few times. They were usually fighting then."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Is that how he adopted you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Step one." She checks Brand in the rear view mirror; she's dead asleep in the back seat. "We adopting a teenage hacker?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim chuckles at that. The idea that he's old enough to be the father figure to someone out of diapers is vastly amusing to him. "Maybe. Let's see how it goes."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-413-right-hand.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-31515150703647732072015-02-22T12:06:00.001-08:002015-02-22T14:30:22.931-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 411: All Hands On DeckMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
Chapter 411: All Hands On Deck<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim gets into his office in a very good mood. He opens up his computer, uploads the shot of Sean, and begins printing it out to put on his door. He figures that's the most efficient way to get the news out to the wider world that another McGee will be joining it soon.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's in an even better mood as he gets to <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">walk</span> from his desk to his door, holding the picture and a piece of tape.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's onto something with the whole keep taking the real pain meds and move around more thing. This still hurts, but a lot less than it did on Aleve, and a lot less than it did on Friday with the Tylenol 3. He's not sure if that's because he's moving more, or if it's just a matter of Tylenol 3 being built up in his system enough to really do its job, but either way, he can walk several steps at a go somewhere between mild pain and moderate discomfort. Both of which he considers better than how walking used to feel and vastly better than not walking at all.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's taping the picture up when his computer chirps at him. He stops taping. He hasn't heard that chirp before. It's not his go check your email chirp, or his you've got an IM chirp, doesn't sound like Facebook (which he's rarely on at work and hasn't logged onto yet, anyway). It's not the 'a job you're on the hook for just came up' chirp. And he's fairly certain it's not the 'we're low on hackers get over here and do your job' chirp, either.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, he knows he did tell the computer to let him know when all sorts of things were up. (He can very easily get so into his work that he needs some sort of alarm to let him know to shift focus.) And he knows that if this is a chirp he doesn't remember setting up, he's getting a Zebra alert instead of a Horses alert, so this is some manner of exotic thing looking for his attention.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The computer's on its third chirp by the time he gets to it, and when he sees what's up, he's cursing that he's only got one hand.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sends out the All Hands call fast, anyone who is not actively on a priority one job (terrorism threat, kidnapping) just got called into work.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Someone's attacking NCIS, trying to break his firewall, using their intranet mail servers as an attempted entry point.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Manner, Howard, and Brand are all heading toward his office as soon as he's finished typing up that alert, but he's already switched onto job number two.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Palmer."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Jimmy, remember that all hands on deck scenario?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh, yeah, sure?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Meet me in Vance's office in ten minutes, okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim turns off his phone, and checks his computer to see who's up and on by now. Three techs in his office, and twenty-two more around the globe.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Good place to start.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We've got an attempted security breech in progress."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Brand's eyes go wide. This is her second day on the job and they've already got a hot case. She's happy and excited and a little nervous. Manner doesn't look impressed. Feds get hacked all the time, usually those hacks fail.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Looks like they're trying to use our email system to get in."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Howard also looks bored by this. They know how to shut this down. "So, we're all hot and bothered, why?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles at her, and by extension anyone who's watching this through his video feed.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"First off," he gestures so they can see what's on his screen, and hits the commands, curses under his breath when he hits a few wrong keys, and then hits them in again, slowly, so that the rest of his crew can see it on their computers, "this one probably would succeed if we just left it alone." They can all see that's some sophisticated code aimed at them. "Second of all, we aren't usually a target of this kind of attack, so they're looking for something specific." They get hit two or three times a day, but usually by people who are just messing around. This attack looks like something that could make it through his firewall, given enough time. "Third of all, I want to see how fast we can get an NCIS mirror system up, and then, while they think they're raiding the place, and we're spooning them crap information, I want to see what they're looking at, who they are, and what they're using the information for. This attack looks like it's got some brains behind it, not just kids messing around for kicks, so let's get to it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And suddenly everyone who's listening knows why this is an all hands situation. Shutting the attack down would take a matter of minutes. Building a mirror site will take hours, if not longer. Containing the attack so that the hackers think they're getting somewhere until they get the mirror up and the hack switched over to the mirror site is yet another level of something all-together.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, I've got to go see Leon, you all know your specialties, break off into them, and get moving."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Brand's looking elated at the idea of dealing with this, and a bit lost because she's not sure what team she should be. "Good time to start, Brand," Tim says. "I want you with Howard working on finding out who is doing this. Subtle enough so they don't know we're tracking them back, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes, Boss."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Manner, you know what you're doing, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Manner nods. He's already got his phone in hand, checking to see who else is up and working. "Yeah, Blake, Tomishido, and Frederickson are on, too. We've got making the hackers think they're getting in without letting them see anything interesting."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles at them, and gently pats the back of Brand's head as he grabs his crutch and heads, as fast as he can, toward the elevator.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, I take it there's something interesting going on?" Leon asks as he eyes Tim and Jimmy in his office.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim quickly explains what is going on, and why he wants the clean piss-test waived. Jimmy quickly adds in the bit about being okay to work, before Leon asks why he's there.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Leon smiles and nods. "I did not, for one moment, think you'd actually obey that order. I was thinking, that at best, I'd be able to get you to take an extra day or two off before you got Agent DiNozzo to pee into a cup for you. I'm impressed, Dr. Palmer, that you've done such a good job of reining McGee in. Yes, go work, do your magic, report back when you know what's going on."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sends a glare that's halfway between annoyed and bemused to Leon, and then starts to hobble toward Cybercrime.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's at the door when Leon adds, "By the way, I got your email. Congratulations!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim actually has to think for a second about what Leon's talking about before it hits and he feels tremendously stupid for forgetting. "Oh, yeah, thanks! We're over the moon about it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Leon smiles at him, nodding. "I understand."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
If he could be bouncing on the balls of his feet, he would be, but he can't, so instead of actually bouncing up and down, Tim's just giving off the impression of wanting to bounce up and down.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I take it you're eager to be back?" Jimmy asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You have no idea. It's a great case. Whoever's behind this is using an…" and from there very technical words start spewing out of Tim, and Jimmy just stands there, nodding at him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
When Tim pauses to breathe Jimmy says, "You realize you could be saying this in Klingon and it'd mean just as much to me?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh, yeah. It's a good case."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, I gather. Don't overdo it, okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, then deflates a little. "You're serious about being on Tylenol 3 being like being drunk, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. I was."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Great. My last one was this morning. Seriously, should I just be supervising?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy thinks for a minute, too. "Drunk" is very subjective and ranges from out of your head to mildly impaired. "Sixteen plus thirty-seven plus fourteen minus three."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sixty-four," Tim shoots back almost before Jimmy's done talking.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"If I gave you a quadratic could you factor it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smirks at that. "If you could remember a quadratic to give me, then yes, I can factor it, in my head."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy inclines his head. Tim read his bluff. At this point he's not even sure what a quadratic is anymore, beyond something he used to do in high school. "If it absolutely has to be right, make sure someone else gives it a one over. This is going to take a while, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Like all day?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And then some."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'll check in before I go home, see how bad you're hurting. You haven't worked a full day, brain on, for a while, sack out and get a nap, or two, if you need to, okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay." The elevator bongs, letting them know they're at Autopsy. Jimmy's about to step out when Tim asks, "Do you have any Novocain or something like that?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No, but I can probably get some. Not a good long-term solution, but if you've got like an hour's work and the pain is driving you buggy, we can see about trying it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thanks."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The doors slide shut, and though Tim had hit the button for the basement, he also presses the button for the Lab, as well.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He hobbles in, sees the LabRats ratting away, wrestling data out of samples and Major Mass Spec. Abby looks up from her pipettes and sees the look on his face.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You've got a real case."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, and I'm cleared to work it. Not sure when I'm heading home, but…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smiles at him, seeing how happy he is to be working. "I know the drill. When I get lunch, I'll bring you some?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thank you." He kisses her gently, fingers brushing her tummy. "You let them know?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She turns away from Major Mass Spec to her computer and points at the shot of Sean on it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles again. This is a very good day.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Okay, once upon a time Tim did this whenever he needed to. Code all day, code all night, vanish into numbers and symbols and make the computer sing his tune in its sweet little hum of a voice. No problem! Bring on the code. He was the code master, and it was his willing tool.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Not today.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
First off, he can type faster than he can talk. At least, he can type faster than he speak code. Sigh. By the time it's out of his mouth he's often getting lost in the details.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Second of all, while it does appear that what eventually does hit the screen is good, it's tiring him out a whole hell of a lot faster than he thinks it should. He used to do this for hours, slurping down coffee, fingers flying, brain firing on all cylinders.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's been three hours, his eyes are already blurring and he's having a hard time staying focused. Part of it, he absolutely knows, is the lack of caffeine. Large quantities of mild stimulants help keep his brain on track. Part of it, absolutely, is the Tylenol 3. In addition to not being able to focus the way he wants to, he's also feeling it leach out of his body, which means he's starting to ache, which is also not helping with his focus. And part of it, though he doesn't like to admit it, is that his body is already working double overtime healing up and doesn't have much energy to spend on things like deep, intricate thought.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's (according to him) pathetically grateful when Abby comes in with lunch, thus giving him a good excuse for a break.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How's it going?" she can see he's less 'go get 'em' than he'd usually be this far into a coding spree.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He rolls his eyes and sighs, pulling the bag toward him. "What's for lunch?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Cold cucumber-dill soup, smoked salmon sashimi, iced mint tea."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sounds good." He's looking really tired as he takes the straws and glasses out of the bag.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You're fried, aren't you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I shouldn't be."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She shuts the door and then kisses the top of his head, sitting on his desk, resting her feet between his legs on his chair. "You are allowed to be fried the first time you go back to doing something strenuous after you get really hurt. I didn't go back to work for three months after Kelly was born, remember?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, but you also didn't get to sleep after she was born. I'm sucking up twelve hours a day."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Which you need." She turns the monitor toward herself and can see where he left off, and suddenly more code starts filling in on the screen. "See, someone else is taking over for you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He squints a bit, then makes himself not squint; he does not need to squint to read a computer monitor five feet away from his face. "Harrison out of the Great Lakes office. He's good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Wonderful. Let me guess, there's no way I can get you to go home."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shakes his head. "Can't go home. I can take breaks, catch a nap on the sofa, but as long as I'm saying we've got to turn this into a trap for the guys attacking us, I've got to keep watch on it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods. "Then get a nap, okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"After lunch, I'll get an hour down."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Okay, two hours. It was supposed to be an hour. He was sure he wasn't going to sleep. Just lay down on the sofa and rest a bit. Next thing he knew Jimmy was gently poking him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I guess you can't be in too much pain."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sits up, gingerly, wincing. "I wasn't." As soon as his brain realizes he's awake, it starts sending flares of pain through his shoulder, arm, calf, and foot. "Umng!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's why I poked you, would have let you sleep but your neck and shoulder were all squashed up, figured you'd hurt even worse if you spent more time like that."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thanks." Tim's very gingerly lifting and lowering his shoulder at the collarbone, feeling pain sparking through his pec and shoulder.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, moment of truth time, more Tylenol 3 and just supervising, or Aleve and working?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"If the Aleve isn't doing the job and I can't focus, can I take the Tylenol 3 and just supervise?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Let me check." Jimmy does some googling. "It's not great for you, but yeah, once, it's okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I've got Aleve in my desk and Tylenol 3. With any luck the Aleve will take the edge off, and the work'll keep my brain off my body."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Here's hoping."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim grabs his crutch and stands up, and Jimmy rises from his seat on the sofa next to him. "I thought you were going to check in before you left. It isn't that late, is it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Nah, half past four. Got a case. Not sure when we'll be back. Allan's gassing up the truck, figured I'd stop in and check on you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thanks."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No problem. I told Abby I'd poke in when we get back, mostly likely after she's headed home. If you need a ride home tonight and I'm still here, I'll give you one."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Unless this wraps a lot faster than I think it will, I'm not going home tonight."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Have fun with the bodies."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy waves, heading out of Cybercrime.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim swears that once upon a time, he had stamina. He's absolutely certain he used to. But for the time being it's AWOL, and he's the grumpy MA looking to drag its ass back on board and throw it in the brig.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Or he would be, but he's too damn tired to go looking for his lost stamina.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Right now, he has successfully kept an eye on everyone, planned but did not execute how to back track the attack, and ordered pizza and burritos for the whole team.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He'd like to get another nap, but the sofa and both beanbag chairs are currently in use. Manner went home at his normal time, punting his job off to Connon. Howard and Brand both hit sixteen on and were sacking out for their mandated ten off. Trevet had hit ten on and was grabbing a nap to clear his head. Really more than ten hours at a go isn't a great plan, but some hackers do hit their stride after that. (Brand was actually sulking about having to break at 16. Meanwhile, Tim's wishing he had her energy.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The NCIS mirror decoy is up and running. Tim's made a mental note that that's going into their permanent defenses. Anyone who breaks the firewall is going to get a mound of crap. The pirates who are going after them right now are getting piles of it, meanwhile his crew is getting to see what they're going after. They're mostly pulling up employee data files, Vice Director Craig's travel itinerary for the last six months, but not for the six months coming up, the location of several hundred cases' worth of stored evidence, and case notes for two hundred more cases. His guys haven't found the pattern behind what they're taking, and in that they're still taking stuff, it's readily apparent that they haven't yet figured out that what they're getting is just strings of random numbers. With any luck, they assume that what they're getting is encrypted.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Meanwhile, NCIS has the location of the hack down to somewhere in Mexico City, and in only ten more hours, they should have it down to a street address. That is, assuming that this stop in the track back is the real one. He's got people checking to see if it can be backtracked any further, other people trying to get a fix on where in Mexico City, while a third group attempts to figure out who these guys are, and the fourth (which he is theoretically in charge of) attempts to figure out why they want <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">this</span> particular pile of stuff.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's feeling especially stupid that it takes him this long, but he's tired, he's hurting, he's out of practice, and he's not nearly well-drugged enough to be thinking clearly about anything that isn't the case, but finally as the clock hits 01:30, he remembers that upstairs, there's a person who specializes in putting together vast wodges of data, sorting through them to find patterns, and then explain what they mean.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"DiNozzo." Tony sounds distracted when he answers.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You guys still here?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, case up here went hot this afternoon. Just got the scene processed. We found the body of Herico Juaras, personal secretary to Emilio Ventente, the head diplomat from Mexico."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim feels something click when he hears that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How'd we get the case?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Long story. Part of my multi-year long terror cases. What's up?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I need you to send Bishop down. We're getting hacked, as of ten thirty this... yesterday morning, from Mexico City."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony says something under his breath, possibly, "Eight" but Tim's not sure. He does say, loud enough for him to understand. "According to Ducky our time of death is roughly 10:00 yesterday morning."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Interesting."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Bishop'll be down soon."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thanks, Tony."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There are patterns, and there are patterns inside patterns, and then there are patterns that require the lens of a certain kind of mind to see.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And then there's junk.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ellie's looking through what files are being taken. She's sitting on the conference table, shifting things around on the plasma, making notes, munching on a never ending bag of Swedish fish, sipping her coffee, and shaking her head.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Meanwhile, Tim's in his office, feeling awake and pretty good because he's on crimes solver mode and that's giving him a decent second wind. He doesn't want to think too hard about how he's going to feel when he crashes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, so, crime scene photos…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's got them up on his phone. Leon already knows they're building files for the hackers to find and that the real ones are going to be entered in a few days under a different case name and lead investigator.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony keeps flipping through, and finally says, "All set. Should hit your inbox…" and Tim's computer beeps.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim glances at his inbox and shifts the photos to the right file. "That's most of them, isn't it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Cut a few out. All the ones that indicate we know there were two guys there. We're going to make it look like we know Renuald Transez was the killer."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"All right, and he is?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Wet works for a group that makes its money ensuring safe travel for drugs over the border."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "Okay, and… once again, you've got this case why?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"They use that money to help fund a group that's been trying to shut down the Panama Canal."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh. Haven't we been out of there since…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"'99. Yeah, we ended up with it because we had more boots on the ground and better intel."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ah…" Tim's hit the point where he's too tired to get all of these details. He uploads the photos. "Anyway. New files are up and in. If they grab them, we'll know."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Bishop hops in as he says that, still shaking her head. She takes a long drink of her coffee. "Judging by what they're taking, my best guess is that they want something we've got in evidence, and they want to know who worked the case. They're probably hoping that if anyone notices the breach that they won't be able to tell what they accessed because they grabbed so much stuff."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods. "Okay, back up to the lab. Let's see what we found but didn't know about."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Two hours later a PAY ATTENTION TO ME I'M FREAKING RED ALERT IMPORTANT chirp blares out of Tim's computer.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He jerks awake, says some extremely profane things at how bad he's hurting from falling asleep at his desk, rubs his eyes until they focus, and then ineffectually whacks at his mouse to get his computer to shut up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The third time he successfully manages to do it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
His eyes scan over the screen, smiles, and he sends back a very quick IM. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Good job! A round of whatever the hell your team likes to drink is on me. Paypal me the bill!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He stands, sways, pain shooting through his arm and leg, grabs his crutch, no way in hell he's walking without it, and then hobbles into the main conference area.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Jimenez and Smith out of Rio got the address! We know where those bastards who are hacking us are. I'm heading upstairs."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
By the time the elevator gets to the bullpen, Tim's really hurting. He thought he was hurting before. He was wrong.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's making little whimpering noises each time he steps, and knows in a way that he never has before that these days he literally cannot make himself pull an all-nighter.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Draga and Ziva aren't at their desks. Tony's not at his, either. Bishop is at hers, still munching away, files spread out all around her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We got the hackers' address," Tim says, and notices that she doesn't look up. He looks closer and sees the cords on her earphones.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Bishop!" She turns to him, and he hears a groan from behind Tony's desk as Tony slowly pulls himself up from the nap he was getting on the floor. For a second, he and Tony share a quick 'we're too old for this shit' look, and then Tim says, "My guys got the address of the hackers. We know where they are. So…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods. "Ziva and Draga are driving down to Norfolk to talk to a lead. Is this the sort of thing where we've got time to get to Mexico ourselves, or should we send in the guys on the ground?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'd send in the guys on the ground. I mean…" Tim doesn't know the Mexico City field team. In fact, he's not entirely sure Mexico City has field agents, what with the whole it's several hundred miles from the ocean and not a big spot for US Naval presence. He knows that his guys are there because they're stationed out of the consulate, thus giving them the best shot at rock solid communications and good security. "Where are your guys on the ground?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony rubs his eyes. "Um… San Diego?" He stretches, winces, twists his neck and it pops loudly. "Think Leon's still here?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Let's go check?" Tim's got no idea of Leon's here or not, after all, not like he can see Leon leave from his office these days.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They head up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No Vera," Tony says. Vance's new secretary isn't at the desk.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim knocks on the door, no answer, so he pokes his head in, no Vance. He shakes his head at Tony.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, Mr. Fourth-in-Command. Can you order a strike team?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's never thought about that before. "Probably. Question is, do you want to shut this down, or leave it in place and see if they come for whatever you found."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony shakes his head. "Already know what they want. Jimmy found it in the autopsy. Henrico had five data chips sewn into his arm. The Lab's cleaning them up, and in the morning Abby'll start messing with them. I'm sure you'll get called in on them, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "So, then, you want me to call in a strike team, or grab the jet so you can go yourself?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony sighs. Then he laughs a little, pulling out his cell phone. "That's how Gibbs would have done it. I need to call the CIA. They'll get pissy if I don't let them in on this, and I know they've got boots on the ground a lot closer than we do. But, if you can get it up on MTAC so we can see what we're dealing with, and brief the Spooks, that'd be great."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, tired. "That I can do."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's been years since Tim's watched a mission he broke go live in MTAC. But he's sitting there, in one of the observation chairs, not in his usual seat at the com (Draga's handling that now) watching the glow of three CIA agents and ten SEALs swoop down into what looks like a small auto body shop in downtown Mexico City and "neutralize" the "targets."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Once the targets are "neutralized," he sees two more bodies, his guys from the Mexico City office, hurrying in. They're taking custody of the computers. It took a major pissing match between Tony and Hullen (CIA contact for this op) but somehow Tony won control of the scene and the evidence.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
CIA's getting credit for the bust.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Mexico is happy to see another branch of what has been a problem for them go up in smoke.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
All around, it's been a good day.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And when he steps out of MTAC, and sees Abby standing there, waiting for him, he very happily lets her lead him out of NCIS and home, to a long, drugged, and blissful sleep.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-412-back-in.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-26301274149430410122015-02-20T18:00:00.001-08:002015-02-22T12:07:34.365-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 410: McSciuto Mark IIMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
Chapter 410: McSciuto Mark II<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's different the second time. Not that it's less exciting, but… there's a sense of calm this time.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, they're only <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">almost</span> bubbling out of their skins with excitement at getting to see McScuito Mark II.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's already on the table, holding Tim's hand, both of them waiting to get the show on the road as the Ultrasound Tech gets her stuff set up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
New one from last time, but Tim doesn't remember the last Tech's name. According to her nametag, this one is Nancy.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, are we thinking this is a boy or a girl?" she asks as picks up ultrasound wand and applies lube to it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Boy," she answers.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, then let's get some shots of him!" And after a few seconds, a little humming from Nancy, and Abby stiffening up slightly, and then relaxing (Tim's working on not paying too close of attention to how they get those pictures. He's afraid his brain might decide it's sexy if he watched and that'd just be… well, probably icky and horrifically inappropriate, so he's watching the monitor) they find the familiar little white on black shrimp on the monitor.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And there he is!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And like the first time, Abby's hand clenches in his in excitement, and he feels a hot rush of excited pleasure as he kisses her, eyes never leaving their baby.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"His heart's beating fine." Nancy zooms in so they can see the blood thrumming through him. "Uh huh… Yep…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That sounds a little off.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What?" Abby asks, sounding a little scared. Neither of them are experts in this, but from what they're seeing everything looks good.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How far along do you think you are?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby thinks, remembering that she's got to add two weeks to the right number. "Ten almost eleven weeks? Why?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Nancy nods. "Yeah, that looks right. Did you want to do a Nuchal fold test?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And Tim and Abby remember that you've got to do that before the twelfth week. "Yes."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, let's get that measured, too."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I was going to ask why you two waited so long to come in, but… You've had some excitement lately, haven't you?" Dr. Draz asks as she walks into the office, looking at Tim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim and Abby nod. Tim adds, dryly, "You could put it that way."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What happened?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ever hear the phrase 'I feel like I got hit with a truck?'" Tim points to himself.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Dr. Draz winces. "I'm sorry. They catch the guy?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim and Abby glance at each other, since they've never tested out the cover story, they've never answered any questions about it before.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shakes his head. "No. But," Draz knows he's a cop, "I've got good people checking into it for me."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good. Okay, I'm sure that's more small talk than you'd like."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They're both nodding at her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She opens up her folder. "Everything looks fine. Nuchal fold is exactly the way it's supposed to be. Heart, lungs, brain, spinal cord all look exactly like they should for almost eleven weeks along. All in all this looks like a perfectly healthy small person."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim and Abby both beam at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I do have a question for you, I see you've got a prescription for Zofran?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Who's Dr. Palmer, your PC?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Also a question they don't precisely know the answer, too, though both of them are familiar with the idea that your buddies are not supposed to be writing prescriptions for you. "Yeah," Abby answers. "We've been seeing a lot of him lately."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Draz eyes Tim again. "I'd imagine so. Well, first off he's a few months off of cutting edge, we've got something better now, it's called Flarlan. Zofran works for four to six hours, and this works twenty-four. Zofran was designed to deal with chemo-induced nausea, and Flarlan was designed to deal with morning sickness in specific. If you especially love Zofra, we can stay with that, or I can switch you to Flarlan."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm usually feeling pretty good by noon, so, do I want something that works for 24 hours?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Dr. Draz shakes her head. "Always a good plan to use as little medication as'll do the job. I'll write you up a longer scrip for more Zofran. We've also got another new goodie. We test your pee and can tell the baby's sex from it. Insurance doesn't cover it, but if you don't want to wait the nine weeks…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Scary expensive?" Tim asks. 'Not covered by insurance' are words he often hears bandied about in horror as he's been sitting in different waiting rooms. Fortunately as government employees, they've still got insurance that covers everything, and as an agent hurt in the line of duty, he's got an extra layer of coverage, so those are not words that have slipped out of his lips. (For which he's grateful. He got a hold of one of the itemized price lists of what his treatments are running and almost passed out because he thought it was a bill.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Not too bad. Seventy-five. We can do it here and it doesn't take long, so…" She's looking at Abby.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh yeah! Lead me to the specimen jar."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Once we're done with this part. Any extra concerns? It's pretty much the same routine as last time."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim can't believe he didn't think of it until now, but he didn't. "Where's the placenta?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Dr. Draz smiles. "Exactly where it's supposed to be, right up top. Though that reminds me, the hospital you used last time doesn't allow VBACs." She can see Tim and Abby's blank looks. "Vaginal birth after C-section. It's a liability and expense issue. Closest one that does is about an hour away from here in Alexandria."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's ready to say, "Another C-section's fine," after all, it seemed to go smoothly <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">to him</span>, and he likes their hospital a lot, he especially likes how close to their home it is, but in that he is now a veteran pregnant daddy, he doesn't say that, and just waits to see what Abby has to say.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'll research. The C-section wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Draz nods. "And if you opt for another one, this time we've got a much better idea of what pain medication agrees with you, so post op should go better."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby crosses her fingers. "If we do a c-section, we schedule it ahead of time, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's the idea. Up until they put the epidural in, you can always change your mind, but if you wanted to, you could leave here today with a birthday set. Assuming your baby cooperates."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Huh." Tim can see Abby's desire for the "perfect" natural birth warring with heading out of here with a set date and time. The scientist loves order and precision, and that's definitely where she's most comfortable. The Goth likes natural and organic. He's not sure which side she'll come down on. "So, we could schedule today, and if I did my research and decided to go natural instead?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Not a problem. If we schedule today… We're pretty far out, so obviously things can and likely will change, but this makes sure there's an operating room and an anesthesiologist and all the rest of that aware of the fact that sometime in the general vicinity of your due date, they're going to be swinging into action."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods at that. "Grab your calendar. Let's get a date scheduled."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles at that. He likes order and precision, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, due date is February 5th. We like to do repeat c-sections at 39 weeks, because you're less likely to have started real labor by then, which minimizes the chance of rupture. How does January 28th in the morning sound?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim feels another hot, tingling rush at those words. He's grinning like a dork, but just so happy he can't not let it out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's squeezing his hand, hard, and nodding at Dr. Draz "Sounds awesome!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Wonderful. Anything else?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They both shake their heads.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, let's get you set up for the sex test, and then off you go!"</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Smiles broke out across the Gibbs clan as they each checked their phones and saw the tiny, grainy shot of the ultrasound, along with the caption: <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sean James McGee, ETA January 28th, 2016, 10:00 AM. More details when we see each other in person.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And Jimmy would have to admit, as he was showing the shot to Dr. Allan (and anyone else who stayed still long enough to be badgered into seeing the shot), to being in an especially fine mood.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-411-all-hands.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-60801798890105745302015-02-20T17:52:00.001-08:002015-02-20T18:00:53.952-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 409: BrandMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Chapter 409: Brand<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's eyeballing his dresser. He's standing, sans crutch (though most of his weight is on his good leg) and getting ready to grab something, and then actually, while holding said something, walk (two steps) back to his bed.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's progress. He grabs his boxers, socks, and jeans, and limps the two steps back to his bed.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Even though the last cast only covered his foot, it's still a lot easier to get dressed without it. He's not worried about catching it in his boxers or jeans, which is nice. And, in a 'look on the bright side' sort of way, holding his foot extended so he can get his jeans on is sort of like PT, getting all those muscles stretched out again.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Plus, first time in weeks he's been able to wear socks and shoes on both feet. Sure, the sock goes under the ankle brace and the shoe over, but, as he checks himself in the mirror, fully dressed, he's back in what he considers his 'real clothing' and that feels good.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Feels more like himself, less like everyone is staring.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He grabs the crutch and begins to head off to face the day.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You text Jimmy? Let him know you need more pills," Tim asks as they idle at a stop light.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Nope. OB appointment tomorrow," Abby replies.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles at that. "Get to see little dude!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's smiling back. "Yep!" They're both quiet for a few seconds. "Need to talk to Heather, ask if she's on board with taking care of two baby McGees."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sighs. "I really hope so. I love Heather. She's awesome. And I don't want to have to find a new nanny, once was enough. What did she have in her profile?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby shrugs. "I don't remember. But even if she had it listed that she was cool with watching twelve kids, we still need to talk to her."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"McGee." He's sitting at his desk, looking at pictures of the Isle of Skye, when his phone rings and he answers it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"There's a kid here, says you're expecting her," says the familiar voice of Burt at the front desk.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Assuming she's Kristin Brand, she's right. Newest Cybercrime hire. Send her down."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Her ID checks out, but you still need someone to escort her until she's got her badge."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'll be up. Tell her it'll take a bit, okay?" Burt knows why Tim's not going fast these days. He puts the phone back, grabs his crutch, and begins the trek to the first floor.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
As he's hobbling out, he sees Manner working away at his desk. He did a good job of making sure Cybercrime didn't imploded while he was out. Actually… That's a combo that could work really well. Brand has talent coming out her ears. New ideas, new theories, lots of enthusiasm. Manner has a lot of skill, lots of experience. He knows how and why things work. Assuming they don't end up killing each other, they could learn a lot from each other.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles as he heads up. He'll get Kristin settled and once she's in place, say a month from now, she's going to get some assignments with Manner.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kristin Brand feels overwhelmed. She's in her most 'adult' outfit, (a very conservative navy blue suit, cream blouse, pearl necklace, hair pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck) trying her best to not look twelve, but everyone else around her is eyeballing her like she's some sort of interloper who accidentally got lost from the career day field trip and needs to get back to her class before the bus leaves without her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Burt referring to her as 'a kid' didn't help. And standing there, waiting, and waiting, and waiting isn't making this any easier.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, finally, she sees Mr. McGee, he waves, heading <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">slowly</span> toward her, and after a second, when he gets past the metal detectors and she can see all of him, including the crutch and the broken arm, and her eyes go wide.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hi, Brand."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She goggles a bit, and finally says, "Hi."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles at that, giving off a relaxed vibe, and if she had been staring at anything besides the cast arm, she would have noticed it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Come on down, let's get you processed and settled in."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods, meeting his gaze, finally sees that he's not annoyed by her staring, and feels a little better. "Okay, sir."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shakes his head. "McGee or Boss, Brand. I work for a living."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods at that, too, not getting it, but not about to argue or ask. As the doors to the elevator are opening, she's kicking herself for doing this. Her friends are still at home, getting ready for college. They're playing or messing around with summer jobs, enjoying the last rush of freedom before school starts for real.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's alone, in a new city where she knows literally no one, with a driver's license so new that it still smells like hot plastic, a brand new car, and a tiny, furnished apartment her parents had to co-sign for. Everything she owns is in six boxes, four of which are still packed, and right now she's wishing she had stayed home.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They head toward McGee's office, and once in there, she looks around again, really seeing it this time. (She's not sure she got this far last time. She knows she messed around with Howard and Ngyn—Brand looks around but doesn't see them here right now—but she doesn't think she was in here.) So, as McGee sits down, saying, "I'd pull a chair over for you, but can't really do that yet," she gets the hint she's supposed to sit down, and does so.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
As she sits, she sees the target with the smiley face shot into it, then looks back at McGee, broken arm, walking with a crutch, and sits there, staring, unblinking, wondering what on earth she could have possibly just gotten herself into.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles to himself as he hears the elevator bong. He quickly glances up and can see Manner's look of annoyed shock as he walks Brand past his desk. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gonna be fun. </span>He's sort of happily anticipating sticking Manner with Brand in a sick sort of way. He's got the sense that this is how Gibbs probably felt about sending him and Tony out together for the first time.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's sitting down, getting comfortable, and Brand is staring at him like he's a train wreck. He can read the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What the hell did I get myself into?</span> look on her face. So he lets her stare, lets her get her bearings. He tries a gentle explanation for what he was doing, but she's still too shocked to really engage with him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Finally he says, a little louder than the first two gambits, "Do you want to know what happened?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She jerks a little at that, his voice having finally gotten through, and blushes, embarrassed at having been caught staring. "Uh, yes, sir."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sighs, he's got a feeling they'll be doing this a lot. She's got to get comfortable before she can get out of her how-to-deal-with-adults politely training. "McGee or Boss. I intentionally did not become, sir. All of your co-workers, call them by their first or last names. They'll let you know which. You're a full member of this team; no one in Cybercrime is Mr. or Mrs. to you. Field agents are Agent Insert Last Name Here until you're invited to use their names. Everyone else, Mr. or Ms. is fine. If you run into Leon," she doesn't know who that is, "Director Vance, you can call him, sir." She's sitting on the edge of her chair looking like she's about to leap out and run away. "You can breathe, Brand. It's okay to relax here." He eyes her outfit, wondering if that's part of why she's acting so nervous. "It's in the employee handbook, which you'll eventually have to read and initial, but the dress code down here is casual. If you're dressed like this because it makes you comfortable, that's fine. Be as formal as you like. If this is what your parents picked out thinking it'd make a good impression/make you look like an adult, wear what you like. Down here, you don't have to pretend to be anyone you aren't."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh, yes." She's still looking very fish out of water.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Official story for this," Tim gestures to himself, "is that I went to a conference and got in a car accident on the way home. The official story is bull. The real story is classified, and I'd prefer it stays that way. But suffice it to say, there is a reason why you and everyone else on this floor will have and maintain FLETC martial arts and firearms proficiencies."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"This happened to you at work?" Brand looks horrified by that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's realizing that she probably did not sign up with the idea that people would beat the shit out of her in this job. So he quickly fills in, "Not here. I was a field agent for fourteen years, so I get sent on some interesting jobs. You are not a field agent, nor are most of the people around you. You'll likely never run into a situation where you'll need to do anything more violent than staple paperwork. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But</span> if you ever need them, you will have the skills to defend yourself."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She doesn't look like she's buying that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"DC can be a scary place. I'm 6'1", have a martial arts proficiency, and will not voluntarily go into some parts of it without a gun. My wife can shoot. When my daughter is your age, she'll be able to shoot, too. Trust me, this is a skill that's way better to have and not need than it is to need and not have.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, so…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It's in the handbook. We offer classes here. They won't issue you a gun because you're not a field agent, so you'll have to buy your own."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I don't like guns."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Common enough. "That's fine. You don't have to like them. You still have to be able to use one, and that'll be a lot easier if you own one to practice with. I try to get everyone to the range at least once a month; you can come with us or not as you see fit, but you do have to learn how to use a gun."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's looking really unhappy about that, and he's wondering if she has some of the same issues he did, great with her brain, not so great with her body. "How long do I have to learn this?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"By the end of your Probie year, you've got to have your certifications, and re-cert every year after. Trust me, you'll get it. I got it, and I was <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">awful</span> with a gun at first. Plus, it's a really good way to blow off steam and clear your head after too many hours online."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That gets a tiny smile as Brand seems to remember that Tim actually does know his way around a computer.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He stands up, wishing he'd thought of this before they got seated. "Come on, let me show you around."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's a pretty quick tour, partially because she's seen all of Cybercrime before, partially because Tim's not taking her anywhere out of the way. He directs them to her desk. "This is yours. Set it up however you like. If you want or need something you don't have, shoot me an email and I'll see if we can get it for your or figure out how to jigger something up to make do with. That pile of paperwork," he points to the three inches of forms next to her computer, "all need to be filled out, in black or blue ink, perfectly, or else Delores the HR Troll comes up and yells at us. I'll probably be gone before you get that done." He's still not back full time, and having gone back on the Tylenol 3, he's got a nap and more PT up for this afternoon. "But, get that done and have Manner," he points to Manner's desk, "show you the system. He can run you through how we work cases. That'll probably be all of today for you.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hours are flexible. You need to be logged in and working forty a week. Since we work world-wide now, it doesn't matter which forty you're here. You need to have at least ten off for every sixteen on, though. And if we end up with shifts that need more coverage, I ask the computer to start picking ID numbers at random until we've got those hours covered." It hits Tim that last month this girl was a Senior in high school and someone else set her whole schedule. So he makes how it works in the Dungeon even more plain. "You come in when you like, you leave when you like. You get lunch when you're hungry. You work the jobs as they come in, and you work until you hit a stopping point. If you've got a week where you do sixteen hours the first day, crash ten on the sofa, sixteen up again, crash again, and then do sixteen again until you are done with the case, that's fine. Overtime is in the handbook. If we've got a light week and you decide you want to do five hours a day each day, that's fine. You want to do four ten hour shifts, that's also fine. Be here when you need to be here, do the jobs that need to be done, and beyond that, you set your schedule however works best for you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim can see a gleam in her eyes at that. He thinks he recognizes the look of a teenager given vastly more freedom than she's ever had before. Brand nods, looking at her desk. Right now there's a monitor, a keyboard, a stack of paperwork, and four black pens. The rest of it is up to her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"The girls I was talking to last time?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ngyn and Howard."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. When are they usually here?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Howard's usually in around two in the afternoon. Ngyn usually gets in after midnight. For the next month, you'll be mostly shadowing people, so if you want to shadow them, that's fine." And for the next month, until she's on her feet, that is fine. But he's going to be getting her working with Manner more. He's sure her style needs some discipline, and he knows Manner's needs some fresh air. "Both of them will be happy to help with whatever you may need. So am I." Tim flips open the handbook, and since he's taken over, page one is McGee's rules. "Never be unavailable. You need something, call or text. Someone on the team will always respond. Okay, I'll get out of your hair and let you fill out forms."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smiles and gets to filling out.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Manner heads into his office about twenty minutes after Brand's started filling out her forms. He shuts the door, pulls up a chair, and sits down across from Tim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You hired a nine-year-old."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim flashes his amused look at Manner. It's not that there's been a radical change in their relationship. Mostly Manner's been doing his job, keeping his head down, and doing his best not to have to interact directly with Tim. He might like the challenge of actually being a real law enforcement officer, but he's also still wary of Tim's fast and loose with the rules style. But, especially after having more or less run the place while Tim was out, he's feeling like he's earned the right to speak his mind freely.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Which Tim doesn't mind. He may not like what Manner has to say, but he'd rather Manner just outright say it rather than hiding and being a pain in Tim's ass about it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, it's with a somewhat relaxed and sassy attitude that Tim says, "You were young once, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Manner's not annoyed, yet, but Tim can tell annoyed in on the horizon. "The difference is, when I was young, I wasn't pretending to be a Federal Agent."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"She's not pretending. Her ID, once they print it up, will be just as real as yours."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's worse!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim doesn't like the edge in Manner's voice as he says that. "You going to give her crap on it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Manner rolls his eyes. "What crap could I give her? I figured you'd know this by now, what with all the pictures of Kelly you've got up. The thing about babies <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">they </span>give <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">you </span>crap. Not the other way around. We're going to be cleaning up her messes day in and day out."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs. "Maybe. But that's a possibility when any new hire."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No, it's not. Any other new hire would have at least proven they could get through <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">college. </span>You don't know if she can hack nine to five well enough to graduate from… Where'd she get in?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"MIT."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Manner's not impressed by MIT. "Let alone actually do this job without cracking."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Let her do her job. Treat her like any other Probie, like Howard."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Howard belongs here. She graduated college. She graduated FLETC. She got hired by… NSA?" Tim nods; he thinks that's right, but doesn't really remember. "She proved she's up for it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Brand's proven she belongs here. These days the ticket to Cybercrime is skill. She's got it. We'll work on the rest of it as we go along."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Manner is very determinedly not rolling his eyes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Remember, we're not bookkeepers anymore. We go out and take down bad-guys. She took out Anonymous. That's more bad-guy-taking-down than you've done in the last five years, and it's more than I've done with a computer, ever. And part of why she could do that is she, unlike you, unlike me, doesn't code like a middle-aged white guy who's been doing this for decades. The bad guys know our style, so we're getting people with new styles so we can take them down."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Took 'em down. Yeah, she took down Anonymous. No convictions. Nothing she's got can stick because what she did was illegal, in that she's not a cop and just want traipsing all over the place. All she did was scatter them to the winds. That's where you want us going?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim thinks about that for a second. "Sometimes. We'll get convictions as much and often as we can, but I'm sure there'll be times where fast and done will matter more than by the books. When that has to happen, that's what's going to happen."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Manner's giving him that <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I hate dealing with unruly cowboys</span> look.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, I know. You're happier by the book. I'll keep that in mind the next time we've got a few hours until an ISIS cell goes hot and kills thousands of people."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That gets another quiet glare.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shifts topic. "You did a good job keeping on top of everything when I was out. Thank you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Manner inclines his head. "Yeah, well, that's why it's a good idea to put administrators in charge of departments instead of agents. I know what you did. It was important. Navy's happy. But you weren't running the ship while you were doing that. Vance doesn't investigate crimes anymore for a reason, you know?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sighs, and nods. Yeah, there is something to that. "Anyway, thanks."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You're welcome." Manner stares at Tim for a second and then his eyes go wide and his shoulders slump. "Oh, God, you're going to make me babysit her."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smirks. "Not anytime soon. I want her settled in and feeling a bit more confident before that happens, but yeah. She'll need more discipline, and you haven't learned a new trick since Hannibal was eyeing Carthage."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hannibal was from Carthage," Manner doesn't say 'you twit' out loud, but Tim knows it's there. "He didn't sack it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That just means it was even longer ago than I was thinking. It'll be good for both of you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That time Manner does roll his eyes, and he heads out.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles as he does, finding that whole experience perversely satisfying.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Dealing with Manner gets Tim thinking. While he was out, Manner took over the administrative stuff. Is got dotted, ts got crossed, and while he did have a huge stack of papers to be signed, emails to go through, and stuff to do when he got in, his department did not stop doing its job.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But Cybercrime doing its job isn't just about getting all the forms filled out. (And yes, there are still forms. New ones popped up today.) They still had cases to work, two big ones in fact, and Howard stepped up and took over coordinating the efforts for that, making sure that the right people did the right things at the right time all over the world.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She won't be in today until after he goes home, but he does think it's important that, like Manner, she gets some petting for doing a good job while he was away. He writes up an email thanking her for stepping up and doing the job well.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That done, he gets onto that stack of paperwork. After all, someone has to sign the requisitions for staples.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-410-mcsciuto.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-31888781414717267082015-02-20T17:30:00.001-08:002015-02-20T17:52:40.675-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 408: FaithfulMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
408: Faithful<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
More doctors' appointments, must be Friday.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It's looking good, Tim. Your tarsals are coming along nicely. The vibrational heads have gotten them healed up a lot faster than expected. You're going home cast-free on your foot, which means you can start, gingerly, putting some weight on that foot."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I can stop using the crutch?" Tim asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Dr. Kent nods, but not enthusiastically. "For about two steps at a time. You can start working on putting some weight on your foot, but not all the time. We're going to stay with the braces for now, bones heal a lot faster than the ligaments and tendons that ripped when your ankle dislocated, but no more casts. Time to work on just getting everything moving again."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim exhales, happy to hear it. "How about?" He touches his right arm.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kent shakes his head. "Nothing new for that today. Next Friday we'll rescan, see how your shoulder is doing. At the very least, we'll size down some-" That annoys Tim. Yes, he's not moving his arm at all, so he's losing muscle mass, but he doesn't want to be. "And if it looks like your shoulder joint is solid, we'll see about moving you down to a cast for your wrist and hand. So, with any luck, another week and you get to start working on shoulder and elbow range of motion again." Kent checks his notes. "Actually, no matter what, next cast you get to start using your pinky and ring finger again."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim supposes that's good news, but it's not like he can type with seven fingers, not when the three missing ones are the ones he does the most with. But still, that's a little bit more of himself he's getting back. Another inch closer to getting his body back.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He'd be happier about that inch if the finish line wasn't ten miles off. But, if an inch is what he's got, an inch he'll take.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Only four?" Tim's hobbled his way down to Autopsy to go visit Jimmy and talk about his pain medication.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's sitting on Jimmy's chair while Dr. Allan hovers about in the background shuffling something, trying to look like he's not listening.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's leaning over his desk, next to Tim, initialing papers while talking to him. "1000 mg a day. 500 for the first shot, and either 500 twelve hours later, or one 250 at twelve and eighteen. Take your pick. Or stop being a twit about it and take the damn Tylenol 3."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's looking up at Jimmy, how tempted he is to get a pain killer that's not fighting out of its weight class clear on his face. He sighs. "I want to start really working again."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy pats his good shoulder, sympathetic, but his voice has an edge to it. "Then you're going to hurt. I'm not letting you screw your stomach or stroke out because you're too stubborn to take a narcotic."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy can see Tim's got <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">frustrated</span> all over his face.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It's not a race, Tim. Take the pain meds. The better you feel, the more you'll move, the more you move the faster you'll heal, faster you heal, the less medication you'll need in the long run."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That gets an eye roll, but one that's resigned to the fact that Jimmy does know what he's talking about. "I am so bored!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sorry."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm done my email backlog. I've got all the requisitions done. All I'm doing in there is sitting on my ass collecting dust."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You've got that much free time?" Jimmy can't believe that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How long would it take you to get done with your housekeeping if you didn't do anything but it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy inclines his head, especially with the automated paperwork taking most of the housekeeping off his plate, that's a good point. "Go home, write, do something useful. Get the welcome packet ready for… Brand right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Brand does start Monday. Which I'm looking forward to. But, I've already got the welcome packet done, and all the stuff she's got to fill out is on her desk, already." It'd taken him a lot longer than he'd like to admit, but he was bored enough to go down (up, eventually he'll get his mental compass used to the basement instead of the third floor) to HR, and pick up all of the forms (fortunately there were enough of them he could tuck them between the cast and his side, and they didn't slip out) and then hobble back to her desk and set her up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good God, you are bored, aren't you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "I can't go home because I can't drive, and Gibbs dropped me off here and headed to the house after, so I'm here until Abby takes me home. Can't write here because I can't type, and I'm not about to be saying that story out loud in my office."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You've got a door."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, but they come in, and I'm not getting caught saying…" Which is when Tim notices that Dr. Allan isn't even pretending to mess around with whatever it is in the back of Autopsy and is just happily leaning against one of the tables, listening away to the two of them. Allan doesn't need to know precisely what he's writing these days, so Tim edits mid-sentence. "It's NSFW and that's that. I don't want my guys messing with stuff like that here, so I'm not, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, you're saying the next bits are <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">interesting</span>?" Jimmy looks intrigued. He's heard second-hand that Tim's written some chapters of the book that Abby really liked.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh… Yeah."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Breena and Gibbs and I still in it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim may be blushing at this point. He's written some non-smutty bits, but not a lot of them, and yes, Breena's in some of the smutty bits, and Jimmy's (sort of) in a few, but no Gibbs, and with the way Jimmy said that last bit, it sounds like all three of them may be in the<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">interesting </span>bits, and he really doesn't want Allan whispering <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that</span> around work, so he modifies his answer some. "Mostly writing stuff with Abby and I. Not so much with you guys, yet. Outlining stuff with you in it, but no real writing."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Allan definitely looks intrigued by this, and Tim's wondering if Jimmy's cool with him knowing about it, or, if, given that Jimmy's back is to Allan, he just doesn't know that Allan's listening in. Tim glances, meaningfully, toward Allan, and Jimmy's eyes follow his, but he doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact Allan's just hovering around back there.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Well, write some boring parts that the Minions won't mind if they walk into. Gotta do set design and stuff like that, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. He's bad at setting. Not describing it, he's good at describing a setting, but the reason why all of his books to date happen in the real world with real people is that making things up whole cloth isn't his strong suit.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But he's got an internet connection, two hours to kill, and an idea of the vibe of the place, he can kill two hours on research.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He stands up slowly and takes a step, wincing, not reaching for his crutch. Jimmy just about leaps to his side, getting a hand under his good arm, steadying him. "What are you doing?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Doc says I can take a few steps without the crutch."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Not in here you aren't! Not like this. There's nothing on your good side for you to grab onto if you wobble, and the floors in here are linoleum over concrete. You fall here, and it'll hurt." Jimmy grabs Tim's crutch and hands it to him. "The idea is to heal, not injure yourself even more by doing too much, too fast, stupidly. Breena and I are coming over to dinner tonight." Once again, Shabbos is at their house, though with the way he's healing up and hopefully walking more soon, and maybe, if things are really looking up, able to walk up steps, this is probably the last week at their place. "When we get there, we'll redo your PT plans, okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Fine." Tim takes two steps. "It's going to hurt, isn't it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods. "Take the Tylenol 3, even if you don't want it in your system when you're at work, take it so we can work on your PT and you can sleep easier."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sighs. "Okay. When I get home."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good. See you tonight."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thanks, Jimmy." And Tim slowly makes his way out.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
When he sees the elevators close, Jimmy turns to Dr. Allan. "Enjoying that?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Allan inclines his head to indicate, yes. He is finding the dynamics and relationships of his new job interesting. "I thought we aren't supposed to treat our family and friends."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy shrugs. "We're not. He's got a real PT he's seeing, and I'm not handling any of the real work. Mostly I'm… I don't know, keeping him pointed in the right direction and trying to save him from being stupid."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Allan looks amused by that. "Full time job?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Not usually. You know how it is, healing is long and frustrating, and it's easy to want to take short cuts."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Allan nods at that, and Jimmy wonders if he knows about it from a physical level or just the emotional one. "He writes books?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Like real books, ones I could go out and buy?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods at that, too.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And you're in them?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy can see that Allan finds that idea uncomfortable. "When he's writing, he's Thom E. Gemcity. The last of his current series comes out in November. They're mysteries based on us."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Last?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He's starting on a new… not sure if it's a one shot or series. I don't think he does, either."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Allan thinks about that for a moment. "Is it odd, Dr. Palmer, to see yourself through his eyes? I mean, that's how the books work, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy's never thought about it that way, and he's suddenly thinking about going back and reading The Traitor Within, where Pimmy Jalmer dies and James Relamp shows up. He does know, though that level of it never hit him, that he likes Relamp a whole hell of a lot better, because Jalmer was this cross between awkward, goofy, and creepy that set his teeth on edge.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Which also gets him thinking if that's how, back then, he looked to other people, too. In which case the whole 'Autopsy Gremlin' nickname makes a hell of a lot more sense.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He also knows that Relamp is the version of him that Tim saw after they got to know each other, and that Relamp reflects a version of himself that he likes. The image he wants to see in the mirror. He wonders if Daegan M'Gy will be someone he likes even better.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Allan's still waiting for him to say something, so Jimmy pulls his thoughts together and says, "Everyone you ever meet will see you somehow, and even with your dearest loves, you'll never really know what it is they see. With Tim, you know. If you read the books, you'll see, especially the first one, all of the characters besides Amy and Cathy." Tommy's partner who had been killed, off screen. The series starts up with the hunt for her killer and a new member of the team, Lisa, joining up. "Are mean and rough." Jimmy smiles a bit. "A whole bunch of jerks who sort of all tolerate each other. That gets a lot better over the series, the characters get backstories: they learn how to deal with each other. That's fifty-fifty us getting better with each other, and they're stories, so he can't just dump it all in at once. But if you read all of them, you'll see us go from a bunch of jerks who sort of tolerate each other into a family."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Allan's looking interested, like he might actually read those books.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy sighs, there's a downside to reading those books. "Just, if you do read them… Nothing, and I mean <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">nothing</span> that Pimmy Jalmer does <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ever</span> actually happened in real life."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Allan looks disturbed. "How bad is it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "I don't care what he and Breena say about it being a dream and symbolism, I'm a freaking<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">saint</span> for putting up with him."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny Langston is used to waiting for the other shoe to drop. She spent a good third of her married life with her husband actively fighting, waiting for the sound of footsteps on her front porch. For four months, her husband and two oldest sons were in Vietnam. For the years that followed, at any given time at least one of her men were in active danger, somewhere.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So she's used to that faint nagging pull of fear.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Which does not mean she likes it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's feeling it for John right now, very strongly. And for everything else that's going on with him, for all the pain and horror and anguish of the quagmire of shit, she still doesn't want him murdered, but for all Tim said about not going after him, she is not stupid, and she is not unaware, and she is not bad at reading people.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Something very bad is going to happen to John, and the only hope she has for it is that Tony or Ziva or that other Agent will find something he did and get him in jail before Jethro or Tim kills him.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The worst part of waiting is that she's still part of this family. She's with these people every few days. Right now, she's at the house, spending hours with Ducky and Jethro.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
On the surface, everything is calm. They're wrapping up the stone facing on the bottom three feet of the house, getting all the masonry looking nice, filling in the tiny bits, stuff like that. They're talking, working together, but the tension is there.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She can feel Jethro's anger, because she feels it, too. Every time she sees Tim she wants to rage, wants to scream at that idiot child of hers for doing this, wants to hit him, hard, wants to make him hurt and make him grieve. She just, unlike the rest, doesn't want him dead. She wants him broken, repentant. She wants him to have the full on Come-to-Jesus-epiphany, wants all of the anger and pride and rigid identity to shatter and... On one level, even if it happens it doesn't matter; she knows there's no shot of John ever coming to terms with the rest of the family. She knows he will never be welcome in any place that is Tim's home, which means here, or the home she shares with Ducky, let alone his own home, or Jethro's, but she can hope, at least, or dream maybe, of a day where they might at least talk on the phone again, or maybe, if he ever really got it, have a cup of coffee face to face again.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She places another tiny bit of stone, covering a few inches of wall, shaking her head. It's not going to happen. She misses his voice. It feels stupid, but she wants a few more words, real, spoken words, not invective screamed at each other.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But she can't get them, because for all she hopes, and for all the dreams, she knows John isn't going to change.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Which means waiting, tense, to see how the other shoe falls, dreading how bad it will hurt.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There are, hopefully, distractions from this. Something that gets their mind off of it, and gets them working, together, on something good, something useful and healing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Next Friday, I've been invited to join a meeting of people who feel that current immigration laws are problematic," she says as they break for lunch.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs looks startled for a second and then nods. "Been so long since I thought about that, I almost forgot it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky unpacks the lunch box he brought. "We have been a bit distracted of late." He, too, thinks getting them working on something other than John is a good plan, if for no other reason than his continued domestic harmony. Living with a woman who is, rightfully, tense and jumpy is not fun. Not that he doesn't understand and sympathize, but, it is his experience that any emotional difficulty goes better with long, hard work on a worthy cause. At least, that's how they've always dealt with problems in the past.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Problematic how?" Gibbs asks, taking a sandwich from Ducky, and opening the cooler of cold drinks, handing the first of the icy Gatorades to Penny.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thank you, Jethro." July on the Potomac. It's got to be close to 95 degrees, and even with boat loads of water and working on the shady parts of the house, they are <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">hot.</span> "Specifically, they want to talk about people in need of asylum and how to get it for them."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Interesting?" Gibbs isn't sure if she's being vague to be vague, or if that's all she's got on this.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny inclines her head a bit, indicating that she also doesn't know if they're going to be talking about a specific person in need of help, or if this is a political meeting about lobbying for change on the rules for asylum seekers. "No promises or anything, but… Maybe it's time to get that boat ready to hit the water."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Just got to stick a name on her, and she's ready to go."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Then pick a name, Jethro. If there's something for us to do, I want us to be ready."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles at her, but she doesn't smile back. "Whenever you need to go, I'll be ready."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abbi didn't make it to Shabbos that week, which actually suits Jethro just fine. It's not that he doesn't want her there, he does. He's hit the point where seeing her is the highlight of his week, and he feels a little boost in his mood when her number pops up on his phone.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, there's something that he wants to toss open to the family, but doesn't necessarily want to talk to her about.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, today's the day.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We're working on the house tomorrow." They all nod at that. Another bright and sunny Saturday means working on the house. "And Jimmy's going to help me get the boat into the boathouse." That's the first Jimmy's heard of that, but it's good cover for another week of sniper practice. It's been raining a lot so he hasn't gotten much practice in beyond working on taking the rifle apart and putting it back together. Which he can now do with the rifle in its silk bag. He doesn't need to see, or directly touch it, anymore. Supposedly that's progress.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You all know she was supposed to be Shannon," Gibbs says. He doesn't want to make a big deal out of it, but they all know about this, and he might as well just get it out and say it, rather than pretend he doesn't hear them gossiping about it later. "But… like Jimmy said, she can't be Shannon if I've got a future beyond living in the past. Can't be Shannon if I'm hoping on taking Abbi out there. So, I need a name for her, and I don't have one. I'd like it if you'd all think about names."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Do you have any themes? Ideas for what the name should focus on?" Ziva asks. "Or should it just sound nice?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hope. The future. Better days ahead, hard days behind."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I like Better Days," Abby says. "Or does it have to be a girl's name?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hope's a girl's name," Tony adds.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It doesn't have to be a girl's name, and I like the idea of 'Hope' but I'm not christening her that. Want something more… I don't know. Something."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny puts her wine glass down, and looks at Jethro, "I like Better Days, too. It's light, relaxed, like a boat ride's supposed to be."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim says something under his breath to that, which may have been, "Or it's the Bataan Death March," but he's quiet enough no one hears him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Eos, the dawn of a new day. Elpis, the personification of hope. Antevorta is the goddess of the future. Amphitrite was the consort of Neptune and the goddess of the sea. There's also-"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Duck, it'd help if I could spell them."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Does it have to have a name?" Breena asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods. "Yes. Can't register it without one, and I can't take it out of the boathouse and onto the water until I've got it registered."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hoping to get sailing soon?" Jimmy asks, thinking that might end up being part of their training exercises. They're less than three hours from international waters, so load up, grab some targets, and it wouldn't take long before they were not only nowhere near anyone else, but outside the reach of US law enforcement.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Not sure when exactly, but when the weather breaks, and it starts to cool down again, I'd like to get out. Nothing like fall sunset and night on the ocean." And, while that may not have been something he was planning a minute ago, he is now, because that's true, there really isn't anything like a warm day and cool night, out on a calm ocean, billions of stars overhead, water lapping gently at the hull below.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny's smiling (something they've seen all too little of lately) and nodding at that. "Nothing else like that, at all."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We'll have to do that. You and I, some fall night." Part of this is cover for whatever they may be doing in the days ahead, part of it is a genuine invitation to spend time together, both of them doing something they love.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Certainly."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy and Breena and the girls stay late after dinner.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Well…" Jimmy says, staring at Tim. They're downstairs right now, while Abby and Breena handle tubby time.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh, yeah?" Tim says back. He's feeling pretty relaxed and mellow right now. Possibly having something to do with two glasses of wine, a Tylenol 3, and a very good dinner.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Lots of stuff to grab, soft, carpeted floor, and sofas all over the place to land on. Up you get."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Now?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy wiggles his finger, a gesture that means <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">up. </span>"Get your ass up. You decided you wanted me as a physical therapist, well, guess what?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sighs. "Great. You were a drill sergeant in a past life, weren't you?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy giggles a bit at that idea, and so does Tim. After a second, Jimmy gets serious again. "Quit yapping and get to it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim scoots himself to the edge of his seat, and stands up. It's hard and it really hurts. He's biting his lip and has his eyes closed. He can feel each break in his foot, and there is way more play than he likes in his knee and ankle, but, for the first time in weeks, he is standing on his own feet, without any help.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
For about three seconds, and then down he goes again. Jimmy shifts a bit, gets a hand behind him, so he doesn't hit the sofa at full speed, but hit it he does, cursing with relief.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, that's good. How bad does it hurt?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Bad enough I'm considering the exercises you're making me do for my ankle mild discomfort. And given how much pain medication I'm on…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy smirks at that. "I'll call that a five on the one to ten scale."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods a bit. "Only because it's fast. I can feel everything when I do that. Breaks, dislocations. I stand on it and everything screams."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods, sitting in front of Tim, carefully palpating his foot.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim jerks his foot away. "That hurts!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, I know." Jimmy grabs his foot again, continuing his examination, a bit more gently this time. "Trying to see how messed up the soft tissue is. The thing about broken bones is they're not broken or healing in a vacuum. There's all these muscles and tendons and ligaments and nerves and blood vessels around them, and if you're going to have functional limbs you need to make sure they haven't just turned into one big knot of scar tissue."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Great. How's it feel?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Like a foot."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim flashes him a <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">quit dicking with me </span>look. "Like a foot's supposed to feel?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, more or less. Everything is going to hurt for a while because you haven't been moving it much, but the more you do, the better it'll get." Jimmy sits back on his heels. "Look, if you can stand the boredom, keep taking the meds. The more you walk, the more you flex, the stronger and more flexible, and the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">faster</span> everything heals. There's the reason your OB had Abby up and walking around twenty-four hours after the c-section, and that was to make sure the scars healed up strong and flexible. Your Ortho and PT is making you move as much and as quickly as possible for the same reason."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Same choice staring him in the face, use his body or use his brain. "I hate this."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know. But… look, I know you, you'll be off the narcotics by the time we get to any of the real work on your shoulder, so, at least now, while you can, baby yourself some. There's nothing you're doing down in the basement right now that's worth this pain."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You don't know that."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Please," Now Jimmy's flashing his <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">quick dicking with me </span>look. "You'd have gone cold turkey and dragged me up to Leon to tell him you could work if that was the case."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim inclines his head a bit; Jimmy's right about that. "What would you have said?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"At your size, twenty-four hours off means you're safe to work. Won't necessarily be as sharp as cold sober, but if it's an all-hands-on-deck emergency, you're clear to hack. Especially since you've got that software in so you don't have to try to type."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thanks."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No problem." They hear a loud splash and giggling from upstairs. "I think Molly just showed Kelly and Anna her latest trick."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim can hear Abby and Breena corralling babies who are laughing uproariously.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What's she doing?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"She's figured out how to pull herself up on the arm rail and cannonball off the side of the tub, and she's really fast at it. Little booger waits until you're holding Anna, washing her off, and scoots up there in a flash, next thing you know everyone is soaked."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's biting his lip, trying not to laugh.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, just you wait until you're on tubby time again."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tubby time means I've got two working arms. I cannot wait to do tubby time again."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy smiles at him. "Yeah, I know."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, I'm guessing I'm supposed to actually go to your house and mess around with your boat?" Jimmy says into his phone. He's in his car, heading to Gibbs' place, figuring that the best way to lie is to actually tell the truth.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods and then says, "Yes," because while Jimmy's gotten pretty good at reading his different forms of quiet, it's not exactly easy to do that over the phone.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'll be there in fifteen."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It was actually twenty-four minutes later, but, in that he's got cups of coffee, (hot for Gibbs, iced for him) and a collection of cold snacks (high today, 97) he's forgiven for being late.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, what do we do?" This doesn't look terribly difficult to Jimmy, from everything he can see the boat is on the trailer which is attached to the truck, so, to him this looks done, but he's also never done anything like this before.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Nothing, right now." Gibbs tosses Jimmy his keys, opens the door, and Mona goes bounding into the cab, excited by another day out and about at the house.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods at that, slowly. "Are we doing anything at all with her?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Lot easier to get her in the water with two guys."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"All right."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They're on the road when Jimmy asks, "So, this is boat number…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Three. Built one after everything went wrong with Diane. Built Kelly. Now this one."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy knows what happened to Kelly, shot full of holes, disassembled by Abby, logged as evidence. It's probably, still in a million pieces, in the deep storage evidence lock up for NCIS. "What happened to Diane's boat?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Finished it a bit after Stephanie and I split, filled it with newspaper and gasoline, lit it, and pushed it into a lake."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You spent years building a boat to set fire to it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs looks non-plussed. Jimmy looks amazed. Gibbs shrugs. "It made sense at the time. Pretty fire."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'd imagine a wood boat filled with flammable materials would be." Another thought hits Jimmy. Gibbs gave Kelly away. "Um… Is this the first one of these you've actually sailed?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You do actually know how to sail, right? This isn't something you did once three decades ago, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That gets Gibbs' <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">don't be a smartass</span> look aimed at him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Just checking."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Five silent miles later Gibbs says, "Everything about Diane burned. How we started, how we ended, all of it. And Stephanie was more fire. By the time that one was done, so was I. Done with them. Done with married. So, out to the lake, a lot of bourbon in me, a lot of gasoline, kindling, and two wedding rings in <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Diane</span>, and up in smoke they went.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I could build <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kelly</span>, but I couldn't sail her. Too many memories. Building her was good, giving her away was good, Leyla and Amira and Mike had some great times with her." Gibbs shrugs. "Just like her namesake, I hated how she ended up, but it was out of my hands."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy listens to that, and sighs quietly. "Yeah, you really need a name for her."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ideas?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy shrugs. "Don't ask Tim. He's terrible with names."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs rolls his eyes at that. Not that he disagrees, after all he's read most of Tim's books, (he decided not to go find the sexy ones) so he knows that Tim is bad with names. He also wasn't desperate enough to ask Tim for a name.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Once she's in the water, bobbing gently against the trailer, a thought hits Jimmy. "Um… Isn't it easier to get the name on her if she's not swaying in the water?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So… We taking her back out again in a week?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shakes his head. "I'll put her name on clear vinyl, and then attach that." That's not standard operating procedure for naming a ship, but, if he wants to put a new name and numbers on it quickly and easily, that's the way to go about doing it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Actually, he thinks about that some more. Ducky and Penny have that lawyer on standby, if he were to… build a corporation or a non-profit or whatever the hell they do, that corporation could own a boat. That boat could be registered out of… wherever works best. The fact that that boat would be identical to a boat owned by Leroy Jethro Gibbs, but had a different name, tags, and flag, would just be convenient. He could swap out his tags if he needed to, and because they'd both be legit, he wouldn't have to worry about a deep background check on them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He makes a mental note to mention that to Duck and Penny, and then sighs quietly because now he needs <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">two </span>names.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, you unhook her, and I'll sail her into the boat house."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, Jimmy gets to it.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Saturday had been a long and full day. Ducky and Penny had spent close to eight hours at the house. Today's job for everyone who isn't Tim: attach the log cabin looking siding to the house. With the whole crew working they got the entire first floor and half of the second floor attached. (Tim continued to work on floor plans. As the only one besides Penny with any engineering background, and unable to do any heavy lifting, he's become the unofficial architect for the house. To say this makes him nervous is an understatement. To say that someone who actually has a degree in architecture is going to look over this plan of his before they start ripping out walls is a fact.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That's a good day's work for eight hours.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And so, 'round dinner time, Duck and Penny head home to a quiet night of take out, hot showers to sooth sore joints and muscles, ice packs to cut down on any swelling and inflammation that may arise as the result of said day of hard work, followed by a lazy night of reading and talking.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That's how most of the night went, pleasant, warm, and comfortable. In that Penny isn't crying or, from the looks of it, wrecked by anger and guilt, this is one of the best nights they've had in weeks. As they settle into bed, light sheet and blanket draped over them, Penny, who had for the last few weeks turned her back toward Ducky, a sign of a need for comfort, snuggling, and sleep, tonight reached for him, facing him, a sign of desired kisses, it turned into a very good night, indeed.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
While it's true that anyone who knows Ducky knows that he likes to hear himself talk, it's also true that there is a select group of ladies who are familiar with the fact that, properly relaxed, and in a splendid post-coital mood, that he can wax poetic and often goofy toward his companion, and in that tonight was the first time in weeks that he's been in such a mood, he is feeling especially effusive.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I have always felt there was a special melody to the name Penelope," his soft Scottish burr caresses the syllables of Penny's name as his hand slips over her arm that's resting across his chest. By this point, she's well-used to his post-sex chatter and finds it soothing and relaxing. "Donald, of course, is frank and boring, no music at all, but Penelope, beautiful sounds flowing one after the other."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Mmm." Penny's never been very impressed by her name. It's just a name to her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Rhymes with Calliope, muse of epic poetry, which is fitting I suppose, in that Penelope is the leading lady of an epic poem."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny exhales, slow and deep, drifting, her lips pressed to Ducky's shoulder. "Uh huh." She knows all about Penelope from the Odyssey. Long ago, before feminism, before learning to stand on her own, she was a child bride with a husband often away for long stretches of time. "Penelope is faithful," she wore that on her heart and kept it close as a mantra. If that Penelope could wait twenty years, running her husband's home, keeping gold-digging suitors at bay while raising her son, she could handle six months or a year.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And she did, but they were long months and longer years.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky's thinking along a similar line, remembering reading the Odyssey years ago, and two words, inspired by his beloved's name and the hunt for another name spring to mind, "Semper Fidelus."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That wakes Penny up a bit, those aren't words she's expecting. "Mmm? Semper Fi?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky kisses her forehead. "Jethro's boat. The hunt for a fitting name, something that captures what that boat was supposed to be about, a testament to his loves, and to who he is and who he hopes to be, faithful to his need to protect people."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny thinks about that. "Shannon and Kelly are not forgotten, but not the bedrock of his life anymore, shifting his passion and focus to what comes ahead, and promise of his faith to that, plus all of his Marine life wrapped up in it." She's smiling at that. "I think it works."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
By Sunday, Abby's got a new morning routine. Wake up, feel like crap, grab Zofran, take Zofran, stay very, very, VERY still for about ten minutes, tentatively sit up, nibble a few saltines, sip some lukewarm ginger ale, and, by then, she's not exactly feeling spiffy, but she's good enough to face the day.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Usually, by noon her hormones figure out what they're doing, and she's feeling better.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Thus, she is, according to a not very scientific survey of Breena and Penny, the only woman in existence to ever have morning sickness only in the morning.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
By Sunday, Tim also has a new morning routine. He wakes up, grumbles a bit, grabs his pain medication, dry swallows it, sits himself up and starts on his range of motion exercises. He pretty much has to start with them, because apparently his body is under the impression that all of his injured areas should fuse tight while he sleeps, and if he doesn't start out stretching, he's pretty much not going to be moving anytime soon.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's still mid-stay very still and he's very tentatively starting on his torso twists (which Jimmy said he could start today) when he says, "Remember how we used to wake up? All snuggled together, maybe a little sex, warm and comfy?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Then we did some yoga, grabbed Kelly, and got on with the morning." Yoga in the sense of quiet, meditative time together more or less died when Kelly was born. However, they did usually manage to get ten or so minutes of stretching out, and then one of them would grab her and take care of her morning routine and breakfast for them while the other one finished working out and got a shower. Next day, they'd swap. Little hectic and crowded, but it was getting the job done.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And now it's not. Abby's sleeping every second she can, and Tim's just getting to the point where he can do a few, very basic, seated poses and hip openers. He's mostly doing his breathing, then working on stretching out his calf and shoulder a bit, today he's adding in the twists for his ribs, and if all goes well, he'll eventually stand up and take a few steps.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yep." Abby reaches for a saltine and sits up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's my anniversary goal. October 23, 2016, four years after our second first date, we're starting the day wrapped in each other, feeling good, making love."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles at that. "End the day that way, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I really hope so!"</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Sunday was another bright and sunny day, which meant another day at the house, and by the end of it, when the rest of the family had headed off to their own homes, Ducky asks to see the boat.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sure, Duck." Jethro'd done the grand tour yesterday, but he's fine with showing her off again.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The three of them head to the boat house, and for a moment stand there, watching her bob slightly with the gentle rise and fall of the water.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I think I may have stumbled upon a name for her."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jethro looks pleased at that and his face is telling Ducky to say more.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Semper Fidelus."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs smiles at that. He can see the angles on that, and he also deeply approves of a name that is welcoming to Abbi as well as summing up what this boat meant and means to him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Penny rests her hand on Semper's bow, "She's a symbol of faithfulness, to the past, to the future, a commitment to doing the right thing."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs nods. "I'll get to work on it. Now all we need is another one." This time Penny and Ducky are staring at him in confusion, but the minute or two in which he explains what he's looking for in the way of two registries has them both nodding in concert. "Come on up and in."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He gives Penny a hand up, and Ducky as well, though both of them are capable of climbing in themselves. Below decks he has several storage areas, and, towards the bow, built in above a small desk area, is a small, letter-box looking drawer that he taps. "This one's for carrying her papers. Every boat has one, where you put your charts, your registration, whatever other information you need." He opens it, and it's about five inches deep. "I'm thinking I can modify this, put two shelves in and a lock. Turn the key half-way, and only the bottom shelf opens, turn the key the whole way and the top shelf will open, giving you the second one. Keep whichever set I'm supposed to show in the bottom one, and the second set in the top, only pull them out in an emergency." He takes one step over to the bunks. The top bunk is small, a good size for a child, but an adult won't fit up there. He gently taps the wooden planks that support the top bunk. "Hollow one or two of these out, and I can carry the alternative registration and name in here. Things get hairy, I can swap names and regs in less than five minutes. As long as I've got a bit of heads up, I can sail right past whoever's looking for one ship by carrying the marks of the other. Name her Semper Fidelus and fly the Marine flag as well as the US one and no one'll look twice at her, unless they're actively tipped off."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky and Penny look impressed by that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, tomorrow, I'll get her registered. You guys see about getting the second registration up, and… come Friday…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ducky feels a rush of anticipation. He knows that most likely all Friday will accomplish is introductions to another set of people who may, or may not, get them one step closer to the active part of their plan, still there is the thrill of the grand conspiracy moving forward and he's enjoying it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Come Friday," Ducky says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Friday," Penny finishes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-409-brand.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-60090519748649448592015-02-20T16:55:00.001-08:002015-02-20T17:31:08.888-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 407: Lunch With McGeeMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
Chapter 407: Lunch With McGee<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Bootcamp without Tim is just weird. Not that Tony's been doing this all that long, but it just feels odd not to have McGee there.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
After the first two months, when he started to wipe the cobwebs of not having really fought in years out of his mind, and got back into it, it became really fun.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And not just fun, but useful. First off, he's honing skills that have been rusting for a while. Secondly, this is vastly more interesting than any sort of aerobics or running he's ever done. On par with real sports. Because you have to think, watch, and react. He does kind of wish he could get this crew on the court, (they'd go home with a lot fewer bruises if he could get them playing basketball) but he's thinking that's unlikely. (When it comes down to it, he suspects the Wonder Twins both get off on telling people they're into MMA. It may be possible that he, sort of, gloated, a little, when talking to one of the CIA spooks about how he was keeping in shape with hand to hand when said Spook was talking about Pilates.)</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And Tony is in better shape, now. (Not where he's wanting to get, not yet, but better. Fight Club was right, fighting turns men from cookie dough into carved wood. Say what you will about solving problems with words and whatnot, but he hasn't had arm or shoulder definition like this since Bush was in office.) In fact, it's possible that mesh shirt/leather trousers combo might come out again for Halloween, which is a bit earlier than he was expecting, and would please Ziva to no end.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He also thinks that it's good for him and McGee. As the last few months of working together showed, they need a space for competition. He knows he doesn't feel that with Gibbs or Palmer. He can fight with either of them and it's just about going through the moves, the exercise, working/fighting hard.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But that's not all it is for him and McGee. Gibbs has been and pretty much always will be Tony's Boss. That's part of why they can't work together any more. Tony can't be the Boss if Gibbs is around. And Jimmy's never been part of the chain of command. It's not that Jimmy was so far down on the pecking order that it never mattered, as that he's not actually a rooster, so he was never part of the pecking order. But McGee… Part of Probie-ing the ever living shit out of McGee was making sure he knew his place. Part of it was making sure Tony knew <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">his</span>. And when they fight, that history is part of it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
For the most part, they're past that now. McGee knows his place. Tony knows his. They each own their own places. But they've still got that edge of jockeying for who's on top. And that comes out when they fight each other. Tony can, as much as it's possible, relax when he's fighting Palmer or Gibbs. He can't relax when he fights McGee, because that edge is still there. Which means, of all of his sparring partners, McGee's the only one who really gets him <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">fighting</span> when he fights.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And he misses that.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How's Tim really doing?" Collin asks as they finish up Bootcamp and are unwrapping their hands. He saw Tim at church and tried not to stare too much. He <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">knew</span> Tim got the shit beaten out of him. Amy had told him about that, but <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">knowing </span>and <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">seeing</span> are not the same thing. Seeing, and then of course, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">imagining</span>, because you can't see a guy you regularly spar with hurt that bad and not imagine what had to put him there, made Collin want to throw up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's fought Tim, one on one, two on one, two on two, three on one, all sorts of combos. He knows Tim can fight. Sure, when they're doing it, they're pulling punches and trying to not actually kill each other, but… The guys who did that to Tim had to be the size of trucks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's looking at Jimmy for an answer, who notices that everyone else is, as well.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"As well as can be expected. He's messed up. He's hurting. He's not going to stop hurting anytime soon. It's only in the movies that someone goes through that and bounces back two days later."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony snorts a quick laugh. "Or they're <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">him.</span>" He jerks his head at Gibbs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shrugs, unwrapping his fingers. He knows he always did heal up faster than most of the people around him. "Even I don't bounce back <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">that</span> fast."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I've had hangnails that have taken longer to heal than you with bullet wounds," Tony says. "Still, I know McGee wanted to get started with knives, any ideas on…"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Knives?" Collin asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tim doesn't have a knife combat proficiency, and he wants one. Eventually, when Jimmy says he's ready, we will begin training," Ziva says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He's got to get walking first, without a crutch, and that's at least three weeks, probably six, off, and he's not doing anything until his arm is out of the cast, probably another two months for that. So, best case scenario, he's back with us in fall. And just to work out, no one's fighting him then. As badly busted up as his arm was, it's going to be a long time before he's doing anything beyond rehab. And that's a really hopeful forecast. And…" Jimmy stops, thinking for a moment about Tim in Autopsy, not sure about saying it, but… "Look, he's saying he wants to fight, and that's fine, but… once he actually gets fighting, he may find very quickly that he really doesn't want to fight. I know I didn't want to shoot a gun after I had to do it for real, and even safe, with Tim, in a well-lit shooting range, once again<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">safe</span>, that first shot brought back a lot of the feelings of fear and danger that went with doing it for real." Jimmy shakes his head a little. "Once someone's actually going after him, Tim might flash back to it. Since he's making his guys keep up their martial arts proficiencies, I'm sure he will, too, but… It might be a long time, it might never happen, where this is fun for him again."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva's nodding when Jimmy mentions that. The guys catch that nod, know what it means. Jimmy's giving her a <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">you want to add anything?</span>look, but she shakes her head. Some things she doesn't like talking about.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony and Ziva are heading home. He's driving. She's looking out the window, watching cars blur by.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How long?" Tony asks. Seeing her nod, it hit him that his Ninja knows all about going back to it after a long hard fight.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Until fighting didn't bring Somalia back, or until I enjoyed it again?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Both?" They still don't talk a lot about Somalia. They have, he knows what happened and how she dealt with it, but neither of them like dwelling on it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"A year before I could strike and not feel a second of panic. When I was taken, I knew they were going to win. I knew how to read a fight well enough to know I couldn't get out, and then… Then it was all about making myself as expensive a target as possible. For a year after I got back, every fight, no matter how easy, I felt that second of realizing I couldn't win. I was able to master it, control it, shove it into the back of my mind and not deal with it, but I felt it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods at that. "Enjoying it again?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smiles, and it's a cold, hard, deadly smile. "Bodnar."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods at that, too. He'd told her, all those years ago, 'I will hold him down while you kill him.' He didn't need to do that. When he saw what Ziva did, when she went full out, no holds barred, no reserves in her mind, when she was fighting to inflict not just maximum damage, but maximum pain, he realized exactly how stupid that offer was. He'd meant it, and it was sincere. It was just… less necessary than offering to hold down an opponent for Superman.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
All he did was occasionally kick Bodnar back toward Ziva when it looked like there was a shot of him running, and then limping, and then crawling away.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You should talk to him," Tony says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I will. When he's a bit more healed, when he's had time to come to terms with the fact that this will always be there. You should talk to him, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
His eyebrows furrow. "About?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He is your friend, he was hurt, you two have not had any time alone with each other since. Tuesday, if we don't have a hot case, have lunch with him. I will mind the store."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There is a case. Tuesday and Wednesday they're hunting down clues, interviewing suspects, putting the pieces together, but, by early Thursday morning Ziva's lounging in the back corner of interrogation, while Bishop breaks her first perp, pulling a full confession out of him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Once the words are out of him, all that's left is writing up the paperwork and getting his signature.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ziva heads out with Bishop, sending her back to her desk to start typing. She stops into Observation and says to Tony, "I have got this. Go have lunch with McGee."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles at her, nodding, and pulls out his phone. Tony flashes a text to Tim. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Lunch?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sure.</span> Comes back a minute later. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Got a place in mind?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We'll figure it out. I've got to take you, right?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There's a minute long pause, where Tony is sure that Tim's being annoyed about the fact that he can't drive, but then, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">True </span>pops up on his phone.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So it hit me," Tony says, heading into Tim's office, carrying a bag and closing the door, "that you've got an actual office now. Which means," he's putting the bag on Tim's desk, and tugging a chair over, "that I can bring food to you a hell of a lot easier than I can get you to food." It also hit Tony, when he decided what he wanted to eat for lunch, that the place in question didn't have much in the way of seats. It's way more of a delivery/take out spot, and dragging Tim to somewhere he can't really sit is a bad plan.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim inclines his head in a somewhat annoyed gesture. It's not that Tony's wrong. He's dead on right; Tim's best crutching speed is about a third of Tony's walking speed, and, in his attempt to get back to real work on Monday, the only pain killers he's had are Aleeve (the absolute maximum number of them Jimmy says he can have at his weight), so he's aching all over and crutching even more slowly than normal. And, with hurting all over he's in a bad mood and annoyed by everything that makes him remember he's hurt, like not going to places, or, even more basic things, like breathing.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He closes his eyes and tries to pull away from the hot knot of annoyed festering in his head. "What'd you get?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Cheese steaks." Tony smiles. "New place on 35th claims they know how to make them."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
This is a conversation they've been having for years. Tony's been on a quest to find a real Philly Cheese Steak since leaving Philadelphia. Apparently there are passable replicas in Baltimore, but once you get any further south than that, they vanish, replaced by something called "Philly Cheese Steak Subs" which are, in no way, shape or form, "real" cheese steaks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's gotten to the point where he no longer believes in the existence of a "real" cheese steak. He's thinking that Tony's built them up so much in his mind that they could go to Philadelphia, get the steaks, eat them there, and they still wouldn't pass muster.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"The unicorn hunt." Tim pushes his keyboard out of the way as Tony hands over a silver foil wrapped sub that smells pretty good, and puts a large container of fries between them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Always." Tony snags a fry while opening his. "Fries are good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim munches one. They are. "Yep. Good omen. Maybe there's an actual unicorn in there."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony snorts at that. "Kind of horn-shaped." He inhales deeply as the scent of fried beef, onions, and…</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Cheeze whiz?" Tim winces. He can't imagine anyone intentionally putting cheeze-whizz on a sandwich, let alone wanting to eat a sandwich that has cheeze whiz on it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's how they're supposed to be made. Yours has Swiss."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thank you." Tim manages to get his unrolled, and it looks pretty good. He's perfectly happy with not getting the 'authentic' experience. He takes a bite and his eyebrows shoot up, that's a <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really </span>good sandwich. Not barbecue good, but fried steak, onions, mushrooms and Swiss cheese, on a roll with a crispy crust and a chewy crumb is definitely going onto the go-get-it-again list.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's humming with pleasure. "Hard roll, processed cheeze, just enough grease… It's perfect. And look, no lettuce, no tomatoes. I didn't even have to tell them to skip the mayo."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods along. "Tasty." They eat quietly for a few bites, just enjoying the food and sitting with each other.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony looks out seeing the Minions (two of them are in right now) working away. "Didn't you have more of them?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim looks out. "Twenty-four/seven and a lot of night owls. Any given time I want five of them on. Right now two of them are here, one's in the Great Lakes office, two more in Europe, and I think I've got one in Okinawa, one in Perth, and one in Istanbul. While I was out, Sturm came up with a scheduling program, you put the hours you want to work in, and then log in when you're working, and once five people are on, it lets everyone know the slots are filled. You can work or not as you like, it's fine if more than five people are on, and for a lot of shifts we've got more than five on. If we ever drop below five, it sends out a note to everyone who's got that time listed as one they want to work. It keeps beeping everyone on that shift who hasn't put their forty hours in every two minutes until someone logs on. If it goes for more than twenty minutes without someone logging on, then it opens it up to all of us. If another twenty minutes goes by, it lets me know, and I go kick some ass until someone logs on and we're up to full strength."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Cool."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah." Tim watches Tony chew for a second, and then, once he's between bites asks, "How's it going with Bishop and Draga?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Smoother than you're walking."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim rolls his eyes some. "What isn't these days?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good point. It's… I don't know. A quarter of the time I look over at the bullpen and want to ask who the hell all these people are and what they think they're doing in there. Fornell was in last week and he had the same response. Just stood there, stared, shook his head, sighed, and then got on with it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"The cases are different, so the work has to be different, right? Homicides are still about the same, just wrapped one of them, but the big ones… We're getting intel from everyone, coordinating hunts from all over. We'll get a case, and the first week is just working through data from FBI, NSA, CIA, and Homeland. It's my job to track down who has what and make the bastards share it. That's why Fornell was in. Bishop slices and dices and give us some sort of projection of who we're looking for and what sort of stuff they're likely to do next. She's really excited about this, because back at NSA all she did was write papers about what could happen, and here she's getting to come up with her forecast and then work with us on what happens next. Ziva and Draga spend hours reading through cases, getting the details, putting the picture together.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It's July, we've been on this since January, and the only one we've moved on was that London case. Maybe we'll be ready for another one of them by November. Nothing gets taken care of right away. We've always got something cooking, and we just shove it to the side to deal with murders. We don't even have paperwork days anymore. There's always a massive backlog of intel that needs to be gone through to add to whatever picture we're working on. We're adding cases a lot faster than we're clearing them."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles at that. "Sounds like you've become the CIA."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Really. You know how we'd walk into something and some local LEO would give us crap about trampling into a year-long case?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, well, I've got the year-long cases now. I've probably got three-year-long cases now."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods at that, too. "Got a bunch of them cooking. We set up <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">a lot</span> of electronic surveillance for you guys."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's what Draga's been doing. Something about 'passive intel gathering.' He's got the computers watching email and chats and texts and Facebook and whatever, searching for key terms Bishop dreams up."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We do a lot of that, too. Coming up with anything?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony shrugs. "I'm here eating with you, not in Istanbul busting up an ISIS cell."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good point."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony puts his sub down. "Okay, I may be messing this up, but Draga and Bishop were talking about it. You know we're on Silk Road 4 now?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That's an oversimplification of the situation, but it'll work. "Yeah."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Bishop wants Draga to figure out a way to break into it, and just watch. Not shut it down. She thinks it's a hell of a lot more useful up and working, because then we can see what's going on and who's doing what and where."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"If Draga pulls that off, I'm stealing him. I can pay him better and give him better hours."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony looks at Tim. He doesn't say out-loud that that's beyond Draga's skills, but it's clear in his eyes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim looks back. "You know how to upload a job as well as anyone else. Put it in the system and we'll take a swing at it. Can't promise we'll get it working, let alone anytime soon, but, hell, we do that and we'll have every member of the alphabet soup begging for our data feed." Then Tim stops. Brand's first day is Monday, and sure, she's going to need some time to get up and running, but busting into Silk Road to monitor it might be a good match for her skillset, especially if she's got a decent team with her. Even if Tony doesn't put that in the job queue, he's thinking they're going to get on that. Then another thought hits. "Of course, there's always been this rumor floating around about Silk Road, that CIA's been running it since version 2. So, you may want to ask them pretty please and save me thousands of man hours."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know a guy who might know."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Check in with him, and…" Tim thinks even more about the logistics of that case. "Hell, okay, if the CIA is running it; they don't want that getting out. So, if you get the sense that you're being stonewalled, we may go poking about in their data feed. Not like they're going to report us for piggy-backing onto their top secret op. They don't want the fact that they're running it getting out, especially since if they're running it they aren't sharing what they're getting out of it. The Congressional hearings alone on that would take years."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony smiles at that and takes another bite of his sub. "Is Abby going to need to start up another McGee Defense Lawyer Fund?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm better at this now than I was then, and I've already done it before, so I know what mistakes I made the first time." Tim smiles at Tony.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And ever since you got that Director title next to your name, you've been feeling pretty cocky about everything."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim inclines his head, not disagreeing about that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony shakes his head a bit. Tim most certainly has his place now.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Another quiet minute while they both eat. Since they're kind of on the topic, Tony decides to say something about it. "I got an email from Burley this morning."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's eyebrows rise.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He's double and triple checking every case Mane or your dad could have been involved with."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, he knows that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He's not coming up with much."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim also knows that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The door to Tim's office is closed, but Tony glances at it to double check, anyway. "So, really, you don't want us doing anything on your dad, or was that just about cover in front of Penny?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim glances away from Tony, to the target on the wall behind him, then back to him. "You and Ziva are working on catching him at something, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's all I need."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony's not buying that. Tim can read his <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So, are we not talking about this because we're at work, or is there more going on here? </span>look.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm good." <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We're talking, just keep it vague. </span>Tim's face replies.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Bullshit. You aren't good. You can't be good!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fine. I'm not good, there's a plan here, okay? </span>Tim's eye roll tells Tony.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
This part's in bounds, so Tim says it out loud. "I want you guys to find something on him. I want him disgraced! That's what I want. More than anything else, that's what I want."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods at that, too. "You know, we can…" <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Fake the evidence. You want something pinned on him, and we'll make that case Chip put up against me look like amateur hour. </span>At least, that's what Tony's trying to say with a look.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim gets it loud and clear. "No. I need him to go down for something he actually did."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And if we can't? Burley's not finding shit. Ziva and I aren't, either. Mane's got lots of hinky stuff on him, but he's conveniently dead."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim hits Tony with a <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">trust me, it's covered</span> look.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sure?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "But, maybe…" He tries to think about it like a lawyer and how the patterns would work. "Okay, go through all the other secretaries and pets. If you can get stuff on all of them, that would be grounds for a conspiracy case, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods. "Shaky, but better than nothing."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim puts his sub down, thinking about what happened to him, what triggered his Dad. "Um… long shot, but…" He rubs his face. "Check the cold cases, December 29th on to January of '95."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony grabs his phone and sends that as a text to Burley. "Okay. Why then?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim knows Tony's asking not just because he's curious, but also because a twenty-year-old cold case is going to be almost impossible to solve, and unless it's a murder or kidnapping the statute of limitations on it'll be over.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I've been talking to Wolf about all of this, and he says that domestic abusers usually have one victim. That, there's something they get out of going after that one person. December 24th 1994, I told him I wasn't going to Annapolis. That fight was so bad that they didn't let the two of us spend any time alone with each other after that. He was back on his ship by the 29th. That was the end of me as his target. It was clear he'd never get another shot at me, so… maybe he found someone else?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony nods slowly at that. "Okay. We'll check." Tony puts his cell down. "You never said how bad it was."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs. "Took a while to get enough perspective to see how bad it was. Not like he did this," Tim looks at himself, getting across what <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">this </span>is, "to me when I was a kid. Just words. Lots and lots of words."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's what was going on before Kelly was born?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. It's why I'm not talking to my mom anymore."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Ducky said it was… bad."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He tried to have me killed, yeah, it was <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">bad.</span> Guys who get along don't do crap like this to each other."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony decides to leave it alone. He poked because he was curious, and to see if he could get Tim to expound on bad, but Tim's not touching it, so Tony's done, too. He might want to know exactly how bad bad was, but he's not going to press.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But after a few seconds, Tim does start to fill him in on details. One of the things Wolf's suggested is that talking about it'll numb some of the force of it, so, Tony's here, he's offered to listen, he's safe. Tim adds more, "It was bad enough that once I ripped up my acceptance letter, and that fight ended, they wouldn't let us be in the same room alone. My mom and Gran were afraid we'd really hurt each other. Six months later, I'm graduating. He'd already set it up so he had leave for my high school graduation and was land based that whole summer, but I wasn't going to Annapolis, so he didn't attend. Then they got me out of there. I got my diploma at something like 5:30 in the afternoon, and I was in the air first thing in the morning to go live with my grandmother until I could get into the dorm for college. I lived with her that summer, didn't speak to or see him again until my grandfather's funeral two years later.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He was out of Alameda that summer, so… Summer '95, might be a good place to look. He was never happy on land, but he was there, because… I don't know, I guess there was supposed to be some sort of getting me ready for Annapolis crap, which probably would have meant sticking me on a boat until I'd thrown up enough weight to look good in uniform. It didn't happen, and my mom started the divorce proceedings that winter, so it must have been a worse summer for her."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sees the light in Tony's eyes and knows what he's thinking.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, she may have been his target of choice if I wasn't around. I don't know. Whatever happened, she wasn't telling me, and it finally got bad enough she decided to get out. Or my grandfather got so loopy with Alzheimer's that he didn't know what was going on in her marriage anymore. Pop was very, very Catholic and Mom and the Admiral divorcing would have killed him."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh. Would have freaked my grandparents out if they'd been alive when Dad started getting divorced every two years."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. That was a bad few years for my Mom. Pop faded away, she and The Admiral," Tony notices that Tim never calls him 'Dad' anymore, not that he used to, not a lot, but every now and again it'd pop out. It doesn't anymore. "got divorced, Gran was sick, but we didn't know. She thought she was just run down because taking care of Pop was three full time jobs. They died within a year of each other, and Mom was taking care of them and Sarah, and trying to get on her feet again."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"California didn't have no fault divorces back then, did it?" Tony's thinking he may look into their divorce papers, too. The custody set up for Sarah may be informative of what was going on.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Don't know. But even if it went 'well' which it probably did, a long, messy divorce would have looked bad so he would have tried to avoid it, it would have required breaking everything up." Tim's feeling pretty tired and listless just going over that and Tony can see it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sorry, this sucks to talk about, doesn't it?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Rumor has it, it gets better."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony shrugs at that, not in his experience. "She's been gone forty years, I don't find talking about it any easier."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sighs. He knows the 'she' in question is Tony's mom. "Yeah." He taps his fingers on the top of the desk. With the situation with his own parents being so messed up, Tim's never really asked any questions about Tony's family. Tony's told him things, and Tim listens and nods, but he never dug any deeper. "Tony, what happened to her?" He's heard stories about her, about who she was and the sort of things she'd make Tony do. When he was new to the team those stories focused on the Little Lord Fauntleroy obsession, and the vampire themed home and just weird stuff. As more time went by, they got stories about going to the movies and quiet time, and… And he doesn't know what happened to Tony's mom.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tony smiles softly, sadness in his eyes. "I don't really know." He exhales. "I think, but I don't know, she was schizophrenic. There were times when she was normal and good to be with, and we'd see movies, and go into the city, and I think she was on medication then. And then there were times where she'd be ripping out the electric lights and making sure everything was lit with candles because it'd keep us safe. Or drinking all the time and fighting with my Dad. And, uh… One day I come home from school, and the housekeeper takes me to the hospital, my dad was already there and she was 'sick,' and for three days we stayed there, but she didn't get better. I think she ODed on something." Tony blinks, hard, and gives Tim a <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">see, forty years, not getting any easier </span>look, and Tim nods. "I never looked into it any deeper. She just got sick one day and died, and then I was in boarding school until I went to college."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They sit there quietly for a few more seconds and then Tony forces a grin onto his face. "God, that's depressing. So, Silk Road 4, is that something you can do?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim picks up his sub and takes a bite from it. "Not easy, but yeah, I think we can."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-408-faithful.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-53788835611273536332015-02-20T13:51:00.001-08:002015-02-20T16:55:52.924-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 406: SickMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
Chapter 406: Sick<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
On Sunday, Tim wakes up to something other than the fierce ache of time for more pain medication. He wakes to the sound of retching, and Abby saying, "Oh god."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It takes him a bit, but he gets his crutch, and into the bathroom, where Abby is kneeling next to the toilet, skin ashy, hair sweaty, and looking utterly miserable.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Are you okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No," Abby looks like she's about to say something about asking stupid questions, but her body has other ideas, and she's retching again. He hobbles over, slowly gets himself sitting on the floor, and gently pets her back.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
When the spasms pass, she looks up at him and says, "I'm going to die," and begins to retch again. He gently rubs her back again. In all the time they've known each other, he's never seen her get any sort of tummy bug. Then he realizes this isn't a tummy bug, and smiles, but in a way where there's no shot of her seeing him do it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He lumbers up, gets her a Dixie cup of cool water so she can rise her mouth, and rubs her back again as she sits back on the floor.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You didn't have that conversation about no morning sickness with Sean, did you?" he asks as he works one of the anti-nausea points on her wrist.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Didn't think I needed to." She looks at her tummy. "No making Mom puke, you hear?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Ten minutes later, when she was throwing up again, it became fairly clear that Sean appears to be indifferent to said command.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's been more than annoyed at his current physical limitations, but right now he wants to scream. Abby's throwing up, Kelly's fussing, and he can't really help either of them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He hobbles into Kelly's room, talking to her, telling her good morning and stuff like that, but he can't pick her up because he needs the crutch to stand and he needs the only arm that works to use the crutch.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Okay, there has got to be a way to do this. Kelly's melting down, she's hungry and upset, and him just standing there, shushing her is not getting the job done. The changing table is literally three steps away from the crib. Once there, he can get her cleaned up (he hopes) and get the snuggli in place (maybe) get her into the snuggli (err… yeah, this is sounding like a worse and worse idea by the moment) and then get them downstairs to where the bottles are and she can start breakfast.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods at that plan, rests the crutch on the side of the crib, shifting weight to try to pick her up, and then mentally slaps himself upside the back of the head for being an idiot. Kelly is yelling because she is hungry. Fix the main problem, hungry, and the smaller problems (still in crib, wet diaper) won't bug her so much.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I will be back in a minute." He grabs the crutch again, and she fusses even louder, appalled at the idea of him leaving her in her crib. He quick times it (just about normal walking speed) to the stairs, slides the crutch down, gets himself down, hobbles to the kitchen, makes up the bottle, tucks it between his cast arm and his stomach, and hobbles back up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly's yelling even louder, but she's rapidly mollified when she sees what he's got.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know we don't usually do it this way, but I don't want to drop you," he says, handing her the bottle so she can eat in bed.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She snatches the bottle and starts gulping quickly. Tim sees she's set, currently occupied, and heads back to his room in search of PJ pants, and more importantly, his phone.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sends off his first text to Gibbs: <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Help! Need an extra set of hands as soon as you can get here.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The next text goes to Jimmy: <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If I can find those anti-nausea pills you gave me, can I give one to Abby?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy gets back to him first. <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yes. Do you have them handy?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No idea. Don't know where anything besides my computer ended up.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The girls and I are already up. I'll get a script written and filled for Abby. I take it morning sickness came to visit?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">No fever, throwing up, wishing she's dead.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sounds like morning sickness. Got any saltines? Flat ginger ale?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I know the routine.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
There's a minute long pause while Tim struggles into his PJ pants and tells Abby what he's doing while she lies on her side on the bathroom floor.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">On my way.</span> Pops up on his phone from Gibbs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Thanks. Abby's feeling sick, and I shouldn't get Kelly out of her crib.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Stay put. I'll be there soon.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby pushes herself up, sways a little, but gets standing. "I think I'm done."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She heads toward Kelly's room, still looking shaky, and Tim follows behind, not sure what the hell <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">he's </span>going to be useful for, but going along anyway.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Apparently what he's going to be useful for is getting in the way. Abby gets in there, catches one whiff of the formula that Kelly starts her day with, and is sprinting out again, practically running him over, back to the bathroom and dry heaving.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim closes his eyes, sighs, and heads into the nursery. "I'm going to hang out here with you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly smiles at him, bottle in her hand, she's content to hang out in her crib.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs lives half an hour away. Even assuming he hopped directly out of bed and drove like a maniac, it'd still take at least eighteen minutes to get to Tim and Abby's.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And Tim can't just sit there, doing not much of anything useful for that long.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, he devises another plan. He needs the crutch to go from point A to point B. Once he's where he needs to be, he doesn't much need it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly's gotten awfully stinky. That diaper is in real need of a change, and he's not about to go and ask Abby to do it. She doesn't appear to be puking anymore (at least he's not hearing anything) but he's not calling her back in until he's got a squeaky clean and yummy smelling little girl in his hands.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It takes a few minutes, but he eventually gets all of the baby changing gear on the floor right next to the crib. He gets clothing for Kelly all set. He puts the diaper trash can next to the whole set up. Now, all he has to do is get Kelly from inside her crib to on the floor, and then hope she agrees to just let him clean her up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's looking up at him as he leans against the crib.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, Kelly, this is going to be a team effort."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Other than her name, none of those words mean anything to her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You need to come to me, okay. Stand up, right here, right against the crib." He pats the edge of the crib, saying things like, "Right here. Up, Kelly, up."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Eventually she decides to play along, scoots to the edge of the crib and stands up. He gets her against his side, one good arm wrapped around her, and manages to get her over the edge of the crib without catching her leg on the side too badly.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Shit." He did not expect to be nearly this wobbly. He shifts again, back against the crib, and just lets himself slide down it. Kelly makes an excited sound because he went down faster than he intended.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Never a dull moment at the McGee household." He'd rub his butt if he could. (He went down way faster than he intended to, and landed square on it.) Kelly's smiling at him. He gently puts her down and gets her onto the changing mat.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, baby, you've got to work with me on this. You try to go wandering off, and this isn't going to happen. So, I need you to just stay put."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
None of that means anything to her, either. But she's very interested in what's about to happen, because this is very much not her normal morning routine.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He rolls her onto her back, and starts fighting with the snaps on her onesie. Those little bastards are just not opening. At all. If he had a knife he'd be cutting her out of the damn thing, but he doesn't. The snaps are at the crotch of her onesie, and that's an awfully full diaper, so he's not about to try and use his teeth to get it open.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's muttering about how there is no possible way he's the only father with one functional hand, and that somehow other parents have to have figured out ways to get fucking snaps open (Kelly's being very good about staying still, just chilling on her back, watching her Dad in amazement.) when he realizes that if he worms two fingers between two snaps and then spreads them apart, they'll pop open.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Now we're getting somewhere. Up you go." He helps Kelly sit up and pulls the onesie off. Into the laundry hamper it goes. "And back down." Time to diaper wrestle.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
On the upside, those little paper Velcro-ish straps are a lot easier to get open one-handed than snaps. On the downside, he's now in charge of cleaning up a mess that would have made him mutter if he'd gone after it with two hands. One hand and he's shaking his head wondering why the hell he didn't just wait for Gibbs to get here.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, after only seven minutes, roughly 17,000 diaper wipes, and two false starts on the clean diaper, he does indeed have a cleaned up, dressed, and ready for the day baby sitting in his lap.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly's looking up at him, and he's probably reading his own feelings into her, but he feels like she's proud of him for having taken care of it. He know he's feeling more useful than he has in weeks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Now what?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Snoopy!"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, grabs his phone, gets Netflix up, finds the Peanuts section, and puts on Snoopy. They both sit there, watching the show until Gibbs shows up.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs missed morning sickness. Shannon had it, but it was over by the time he got back. So, until Breena got pregnant with Molly and was tossing her cookies every five minutes, he had an, at best, nebulous concept of how exactly this worked.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And then Breena did get sick. He knows there's a fancy term for really bad morning sickness, and he knows that Breena didn't have that. But he can't imagine how bad that stuff has to be, because what Breena had looked awful, and she was on medication to keep food and fluids inside of her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's really hoping, on numerous levels, that this isn't what's going on with Abby. Primarily on the level of he doesn't want anyone he loves feeling sick for months at a time, but on a more practical level, if she is that bad off, he's basically moving in for the next however long because Tim really shouldn't be trying to carry anything until he can actually walk again, which, if Gibbs remembers right, is still about three weeks off.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He debates getting there as fast as he can versus picking up some ginger ale and saltines on the way over.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Getting there fast wins out. He can't imagine that Tim didn't text Jimmy, too, in search of the medication that makes Breena feel, not exactly better, but lets her keep food down, and he's got way more practice in the care and feeding of a morning sick woman than Gibbs does.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, in twenty-seven minutes he's pulling into Tim and Abby's driveway, hoping Abby's just dealing with feeling a little green in the morning, and Tim was patient enough not to do something stupid in an effort to be helpful.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He finds Tim and Kelly first, in her bedroom, sitting on the floor, watching… "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown? Aren't you a few months off for that?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Pop!" Kelly says brightly as he sits next to them.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs a little, handing Kelly over. "She's got no idea what season it is." Once the transfer is complete and Kelly's hugging Gibbs, Tim says, "Thank you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs surveys the set up around him and nods a bit. "Looks like you did okay."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim rolls his eyes. "She's had her bottle but no solid food."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay." He kisses Kelly's head. "Come on, Kelly, let's get the rest of breakfast." Then he looks at Tim. "Can you get yourself off the floor?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods. "It'll take a while, but yeah. Then I'll go see if Abby's moved."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Want me to make her some tea and toast while I'm down there?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs. "If she feels like moving, I'm sure she'll come down."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Jimmy here soon?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Going to pack up the girls, get the meds, and come here. If you've got any idea what Abby did with my stuff when we got back, I had some of those pills on me when I got on the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Stennis.</span>"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Gibbs shakes his head. "Standard procedure, all medications are destroyed."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Great."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No way to tell what's really in them. We do it, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods; he remembers that. "Yeah, okay. I'll go catch up with Abby." He starts to pull himself up.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's laying on the bathroom floor again, so he's guessing, "How are you feeling?" is a stupid question.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Gibbs's here. Do you want him to make you some tea and toast?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Her eyes are closed, and she shakes her head.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Want a blanket or some pjs or something?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"PJs."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim hobbles off in search of her loosest, softest, most comfy PJs. It takes a moment, but he finds them, slings them over his shoulder, and hobbles back.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Here." He sits down near her, handing over the pjs.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She sits up, slowly pulling on the black flannel jammie pants with the pink skulls on them, and one of his gray t-shirts. "I've had Goldschlager hangovers that were more fun than this."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim winces. Like everyone else he did Goldschlager shots (okay, in his case <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">shot</span>) in college, and that stuff was wretched going down, coming back up isn't something he wants to imagine.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sorry."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She shrugs. "Could have the flu." Then she sighs and slumps onto the floor, her forehead resting on his outstretched leg.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He touches her forehead. "No fever. We had the same dinner. I'm not sick and neither is Kelly."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She pouts, and he pets her hair. "Don't tell me I've got six more weeks of this crap."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim doesn't say anything.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They hear another car pull into their driveway, along with the sound of car doors opening, and Gibbs and Jimmy's voices, along with Molly's much higher-pitched one.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
A few minutes later, Jimmy's back up in Tim's room, calling out, "You guys up here?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"In here," Abby says.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy heads into the bathroom and jiggles a Target prescription bottle. "Got some goodies for you."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby sits up, holding out her hand.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh, you look like you feel like shit," he says as he hands over the pills.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods slowly, getting the bottle open, peeling open the pill and putting it on her tongue. After thirty seconds, it's dissolved and she says, "At least, according to Breena, they work fast."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Jimmy nods. "They do. But for her all they do is let her keep food down. They don't actually touch the feeling sick part of it."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's leaning heavily against Tim. "I've thrown up five times already this morning. I'll take just keeps food in place."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay." Jimmy kisses her forehead. "I'm meeting Breena, Tony and Ziva, and Ducky and Penny, at the diner. Jetho's gonna take Kelly and join us. You come if you want, lay around otherwise, okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods, that sounds pretty good.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You want to come?" he says to Tim.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'll stick with Abby."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"All right. As of last night, Ed and Collin are talking again, so we're tentatively on for church and Sunday dinner, too." Jimmy's not in his usual church suit, but he's also talking about hitting the diner earlier than usual, too, so he'll probably get dressed up after breakfast.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Actually, given how many members of this group end up with food all over them each time they attempt to eat something, and then get it all over whichever adult is sitting next to them, casual breakfast first followed by getting dressed and then church is probably a good plan resulting in fewer outfits which have been hastily cleaned with diaper wipes.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We'll text if we change plans."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sits with Abby, both of them quiet, resting. She's on his good side, and he's got his hand around her shoulders, so he can't pet her tummy, but he'd like to.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He kisses her cheek.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I read somewhere morning sickness is worse with boys than girls."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She rolls her eyes at that.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, I know it's an old wives tale." Another quiet moment. "Supposed to mean lots of hair, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He's not going to have a lot of hair. We're both green-eyed blondes, this is going to be another green-eyed blond."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Kelly's eyes are still pretty blue."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby pokes him gently. "She's getting green-ish."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh huh." He says dryly, with a little smile. "It's a good thing I know your second-best-guy pretty well, and his kids."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh! You did not just say that!" She's shaking her head, and kneeling in front of him, mock appalled.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sticks out his tongue at her. "I think you're starting to feel better."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That stops her for a second, and he can see her self-assessing, then she stands up, and says, "Yeah. I am. Okay, whatever this stuff is, tears of angels and unicorn manes, it's amazing. Also, I'm now officially horrified at how bad Breena's hurting when she's pregnant, because I actually am feeling fairly decent. I don't want to run a mile or anything, but I might want to try eating something. You want to go to the diner?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You want to be in a room filled with food?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Eh. I know Elaine will hook me up, right."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim pushes himself off the floor. "Then let's go."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh, good Lord, look at you two. Sitting down first, then hugs!" Elaine says as they slowly make their way into the diner.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They do get seated, and Elaine does provide hugs, and though the official reason why Tim and Abby weren't there was 'Tim's not feeling good' (After all, they aren't out about Abby being pregnant, yet.) she takes one look at the two of them, snatches the cup of coffee Tim's about to take a sip of, saying, "You'll be wanting decaf, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods at that, and she's back a few seconds later with a cup of decaf coffee for him and a tall glass of cool, (not cold, there's no ice in it) flat ginger ale.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"When are you due?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles. "Beginning of February." She sips the ginger ale. "Thanks. This helps." Then she looks at Jimmy and Breena. "And those pills<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really</span> help. And Breena, next time you get pregnant, I'm filling your freezer with food Jimmy's just got to heat up, because I set one foot into Kelly's room, smelled a whiff of formula and almost died. I'm sorry. I didn't get how bad you're hurting when you're sick. I've got a hint now, and we're doing what we can to keep you out of the kitchen next time."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Breena smiles at that, kissing Abby's cheek. She and Abby and Elaine and Penny talk about the joys of morning sickness for a few minutes, then Elaine's son shows up with two more plates, very lightly buttered rye toast for Abby which she looks at curiously, but takes a nibble of and it seems to do the trick, and (Tim shakes his head when he sees it. He's eaten it here before, but not for years) a French toast and bacon sandwich for him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Once the food's down, Elaine looks them both over and says, "Gotta build you two back up if you're going to be ready to get chasing this little girl of yours around. She's gonna be walking any day now."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods at that, and Tim smiles.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Church?" Abby asks as she, Tim, and Kelly head home after breakfast.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"If you want to, sure. I'm good with skipping it though."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby thinks about that. She is good with going. She's been doing a lot of praying lately, and spending some time in a church feels good to her.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'd like to go."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Then we'll go. Probably not going to want to do Slater-family supper after."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods, she can easily see that being a bridge too far.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's staring at his closet as Abby meanders around the bedroom, getting dressed and made up, and Kelly plays on the floor.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's been wearing kilts a lot. Pretty much, with the exception of the morning he went into NCIS with Jimmy, he's been wearing kilts or the pj pants he works out in, because trying to get a broken and braced foot into a pair of non-stretchy trousers is a literal pain.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, he's staring at his suit, and thinking about how getting his foot into it will go. It's not like the legs are that tightly tailored, and it's not like he can't flex his foot into the right position to get the damn thing on, mostly it's just that he doesn't want to.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He grabs his plaid kilt and tosses it onto their bed, along with a white button down, the green tie, and the black vest. For a second, he eyeballs his black suit jacket, and yes, right now he prefers button downs, only has to drag his arm through one sleeve that way, but threading his arm through a jacket in addition to the shirt… No.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It's very much not what he wears to church normally, but it's dressier than usual, and it's July outside. It's hot as balls out there and an excuse to not wear a full suit strikes him as a good plan.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
After all, what's the worst thing Ed's going to do, stare and make a snide remark about the dragon tattoo and the skirt? Fuck that, Tim's done with it.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The correct answer is Ed will do precisely nothing beyond shrug slightly at his brothers while Jeannie fusses over him. Which is when Tim remembers that Ed's seen him in this before and that it's not new and shocking, on any level, for him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Said brothers will give him the big hairy eyeball, looking over the tattoo and kilt, but when you're literally 'walking wounded' from an unnamed, top secret 'war gaming activity' the hairy eyeballs tend to skitter off to the side pretty quickly. Especially since the Slater family is a crew of people who have never served but are very pro-military. So, 'classified mission aboard the <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">USS Stennis</span>' (with Breena adding, 'That's a nuclear aircraft carrier.') were the magic words that ended any uncomfortable scrutiny of his wardrobe choices.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And there is something deliciously satisfying about having the Pastor's husband come over to greet him as they are leaving, mention how they've all been praying for his quickly returned health, and then ask about the kilt, if it's comfortable, and suggest that it seemed like a very reasonable way to deal with the summertime heat.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
All in all, he was ready for a nap by the end of church, but it had been a very successful outing.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Monday afternoon, Abby looks up from his report and says… "So, do you really want this little bit here in the 'Troubleshooting For Future Tests' section where is says, 'For optimal test results, avoid testing ships run by murderous child-abusing psychopaths'?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He thought he had deleted that bit two drafts ago. "Too much?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods. "I mean, if you want to write that into a version that just Jarvis gets, fine, but for wider distribution, I'd probably just stick with your bit about how using your hack through the Norfolk computer hub allows the tester to avoid setting foot on the actual ship/ships in question, thus providing a completely blind test."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He had come to the conclusion that for optimal testing data and results it was probably much better to hack both the ship and the security feed from land and just keep watch from afar. Pretty much, it's not impossible that should someone get onto a ship and everything go haywire, especially if it's a small ship, that person might end up having a very bad day, and Tim's thinking that it's a good plan to make sure no other tester has to deal with that issue.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You really sure about this?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'll rewrite, but yeah, I'm sure."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good. I was actually asking about you wanting to go in tomorrow."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh. Yeah. I want to get back. I'm going crazy, and it looks like I've got enough of my brain back that I can at least read reports and maybe write some. I can supervise and problem solve. Friday's supposed to be my last day on the Tylenol 3, if I bite the bullet and stop on Thursday, maybe I'll be able to do some real work on Monday."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles at him. "You get sore or tired or start to feel off—"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'll have Jethro take me home."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay. Bright and early tomorrow morning, back to NCIS."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles at that, pulls out his phone, and sends out an email to his Minions and the wider NCIS Cybertechs. He's back in tomorrow morning, and he'll be providing a quick get up to date briefing once he gets there.</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, on Tuesday, July 5th, two full weeks before he's supposed to be doing anything other than taking an hour or so a day to log in and make sure the building didn't catch fire, Tim hobbles into work. Very, very many promises that if he gets tired or sore he'll call Gibbs and get an immediate ride home, in addition to the fact that he's only going in for a half day, were required to get Abby to take him in, but finally she agreed and only almost took him home again twice when the car bumped over different pot holes and he winced.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But, he limps into his office, where the ten of the techs who are in the office flood in to say hello, welcome him back, and gape openly at how beat up he still looks weeks after the fight. He gets his computer up and running, and gets the camera feed up, so he can talk to everyone.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
The ones in his office are milling around, staring, but trying not to. He can see another 90 of his team members are logged in, but because so many of them are online, they can see him, but he can't see them. He assumes they're staring, too. His bruises have faded, but his right arm's in a cast, he's got a brace on his left foot, a crutch leaning against his desk, and a newly split eyebrow. He smiles at them, says, "Just look all you want and get over it. And then I want you to understand that this is why you will have your gun and martial arts proficiencies. I didn't have my gun. I did have my fists, and I'm alive because of that. You're ever in my place, I want you to come out alive, too. Okay?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They all nod, really shocked.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I can't say what I was actually doing. I know you all have theories, and I know you've figured out it wasn't a 'conference,' and that I was not in a car accident, but that's all I'm saying about what I was actually doing. Though, if any of you <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">know</span> what I was doing, not have a theory, or feel like you figured it out from clues, but if you did the research and <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">know</span> drop by for a private chat or email me, and we'll arrange your paid day off."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You want us barging into your private life?" Manner asks.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles at that. "No. I'd prefer you didn't. But if any of you did track it down, that would have taken some persistence and out-of-the-box thinking, and I reward that. Which is not me saying, go find out. If you don't know by now, leave it alone. If you do know… well you know, don't spread it around, it's private. And likewise, if anything even remotely like this happens in the future, leave it alone! I do stuff you're all better off not knowing about, so don't find out. And if any of you go snooping in the future and I find out, you won't be getting cookies for it." He gives them all his <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">fear of Boss</span> look, and they stop staring at him, looking away, so he figures he's done well with it.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods at the target with the smiley face shot into it, then moves the camera so the rest of the crew can see it. "There's a reason why I want all of you to be able to do that. What I was doing was <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">supposed</span> to be safe. It was <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">supposed</span> to be routine. It <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">wasn't</span> safe. It <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">wasn't</span>routine. They almost killed me. They didn't. And they didn't because I knew how to fight. I want you to know, too."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shifts the camera back to him. "Not saying it's a guarantee of safety or anything, not saying you'll make it out or come back in one piece, but if you can't win, you can at least take as many of the bastards with you as you can. Someone lays hands on you, you make 'em pay for it, right?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They all nod at him.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, let's get back to work. I'm still really slow, and at noon they'll drag me out of here and make me get a nap, but it's a start."</div>
<hr style="background-color: white; border-style: solid; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Three hours later, when Gibbs comes in to get him, Tim is amazed at how tired he is. All he did was wade through more emails. Not like he actually used his brain for much, but he's exhausted. He's giving Abby a run for her money on tired right now. Gibbs smiles at him when he dozes off in the car on the way home, and gently gets him up when they get home.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim eyeballs the steps up to his bed, feels the ache deep in his foot and shoulder, and decides he's not going to try to get up the steps to finish his nap. He turns toward his office and Gibbs looks curious. "Everything aches," Tim says by way of explanation.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Orthopedic specialist again on Friday. See what he says."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods, easing onto his futon. "Rest, ice, take it easy, let yourself heal up, keep weight off of it. I know what he's going to say. You sticking around?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Little while at least. Play with Kelly some. Take her and Mona out for a run or something. Give Heather a break. Go get some rest. I'll still be here when you wake up."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay. Jethro, thanks. For all of this."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He sitting on the futon next to Tim. "No problem. Hit the pool when you wake up?"</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, if you want."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-407-lunch-with.html">Next</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-44456299582810879052015-02-20T12:31:00.002-08:002015-02-20T13:52:39.010-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 405: Guarded<br />
McGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
Chapter 405: Guarded<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim wakes the same way he's woken up every day for the last three weeks. Hurting. It's not too bad right now, which means he hasn't gotten to time for his next pill, but it's there, it's almost always there, and it's the first thing he notices.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
From there, comes the slow realization that there's a body spooned up against his, which is nice.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And then the very startled sensation of uncertainty as to whose body is spooned up against his, because he's pretty certain Jimmy was in the room when he went to sleep, and he's pretty much hoping that Jimmy is not full body cuddling him, if for no other reason than because when he got into bed for his nap, he took his pants off.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's not exactly panicking at the idea, but it is somewhat uncomfortable. Eventually extra details filter through, like the legs pressed to the back of his are smooth, and so is the face that's pressed against his neck, plus, there's no way Jimmy's wearing that scent (Breena did get him a few colognes, but none of them have jasmine or almond as main notes), so… Okay, this can't be Jimmy, which means Abby's home and she's napping, and he's a lot happier having figured that out.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He stretches a bit, and looks over, seeing that it's a bit past three. So, Kelly's probably got another hour of naptime.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's arm is carefully threaded under his cast arm, low on his abs to avoid the broken ribs. Right now he wishes he could hold her hand. Hold it without thinking or shifting around. Just let the natural inclination to slide his hand into hers become real. His left arm doesn't easily bend to where her hand is, not when he's lying on it, but his right hand is only a few inches from her hand. Normally, he'd just thread his fingers in hers and give her a little squeeze. Not happening today.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He feels her kiss the back of his neck.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hi," he says, quiet and tentative. If she's petting him in her sleep, he doesn't want to wake her.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Mmmm…"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Just waking up, or still sleeping. He goes quiet and still. Not like he's got anything to leap out of bed for right now. Not like he could leap even if he did.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She kisses the back of his neck again, and her hand moves a few inches further down his abs. He smiles as she gently cups him. Maybe he's got something to do for the next hour.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Like all the sex they've been having lately (as opposed to the sex he's writing, and she's reading) this is slow and soft and gentle. It feels good. Her body on his always feels good. And right now, there's the extra layer of safe and warm and comfort and love. The sense that when they're together, like this, the rest of the world fades away and cannot touch them.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And that's so good. He needs that bubble of safe around him, and she does, too.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But right now he's missing holding her tight to him, missing the feel of her full body up against his. Even with her on top, his arm is in the way. Real sex, weeknight sex, morning sex, the kind that makes up probably ninety percent of the sex they have, usually begins with facing each other, on their sides, pressed up close, kissing and petting, rubbing against each other.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It starts with his right arm under her neck, and his left stroking back and butt and leg. It starts with kissing, lips to lips, belly to belly, her hand in his hair, the other one stroking his face, her leg over his hip. Soft words, soft kisses, face to face, skin to skin, bodies flush against each other.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Sometimes it ends there, both of them on their sides, rocking together. Sometimes he rolls onto her, or she rolls onto him, sometimes kisses travel down bodies, for different flavors of sex, but real sex almost always involves that close, face to face, body to body, kissing while making love aspect that's been stolen by the position of his arm.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's straddling him, rocking up and down, that vertical and horizontal grind that's so good for both of them. A lot of real sex shifts to this position for climax time, good view, easy clit access, easy movement. His left hand works just fine, so he's able to stroke her clit and ramp her up until she's flushed and shuddering over him, until her body clenching on his sends him twitching and gasping, and, for a moment, not hurting.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She rests over him, braced on her palms, kissing gently, the tips of her breast rubbing against his chest. That's good, too, but he misses the weight of her collapsed on his chest and hips, misses the feel of her butt under both of his hands as he kisses her forehead, feeling her hair against his neck and chest and shoulder.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
It must be showing in his eyes because she asks, "You okay?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles a little. "As well as I can be."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What's wrong?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Missing all of you on all of me. Wishing I didn't have this stupid dead arm strapped to the middle of my torso. Wishing my ribs could take your weight."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She kisses him, then reaches for the tissues, quickly cleaning both of them up, and then nudges him so he's on his side again and she's flush against his back, leg draped over his hips, arm around his waist.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Better?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Some." He shifts around a bit, until his left hand finds hers, and lifts it to his lips, kissing each finger. "Want to kiss you, too. Wanna be able to fuck like this."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She squeezes him very gently, snugging up tight to his back, slipping her leg along his, and kissing his neck. "Nothing I can do about kissing lip to lip, but if you feel up to doing the prep work, tonight we can definitely fuck like this."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
His eyebrows shoot up. That wasn't what he was thinking of for fucking. He's not sure why; he likes it and it's a pretty obvious fix, but it hasn't crossed his mind in a while. But… yeah, that'd do the trick. He's not sure if he can get himself prepped. He and Abby are beyond intimate, but the cleanup for anal is not something he wants help with.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"If I can get myself cleaned up, I will happily take you up on that."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He can feel her grin against his back. "You know, I bet I can wear the strap on and the butterfly at the same time. I'll do you, and you can control the vibrator."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim bites his lip and whimpers lightly, many good images flooding his mind. "That'll work."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Excellent!"</div>
<hr style="border-style: solid; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They mosey through getting up and dressed and are entirely ready for the real world outside of their bedroom by the time Kelly starts fussing.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim starts to get up and then stops. Abby smiles at him. "Soon enough."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shakes his head at her as she goes to get their daughter. "No, it won't be." And while he doesn't mind not having to change diapers, yesterday isn't soon enough to get that arm working again so he can pick his daughter up.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He can hold Kelly in carefully controlled circumstances. Like, if he's already on the floor, or on the bed, he can hold her because there's no danger of dropping her. At a year old, she's very squirmy, and will try to throw herself out of his arms, and with only one arm to hold her, he has lost his grip on her several times.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Likewise, with only one arm, he can't pick her up. Someone has to hand her to him, like Abby is, right now.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby does hand her over, and Kelly, who is still looking a little sleepy, lays in his lap, feet on his tummy, looking up at him. "Hi, baby, you have a good nap?" he asks as she's watching him.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes!"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Wonderful. Me, too."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Nap?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, Daddy got a nap, too."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's read somewhere that one-year-olds more or less think the entire universe ceases to exist when they sleep, or that their dreams are real, or… Honestly he's thinks the guy who wrote that was just making it up based on what looked plausible, because how could you tell what a one-year-old really thinks about anything less concrete than: cookies yay or nay?</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
But however it works, she does seem surprised that Daddy got a nap, too.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How was your morning?" he asks Abby as she sits down with them.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good. We went over to Pop's and played with Mona."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Mona!" Kelly's got that concept down pat. "Woof! Doggie!"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Mona is a doggie," Abby says.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Bwack doggie. BIG, bwack doggie!"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods at her on that. "Big, black doggie." He exaggerates the L sound, but Kelly doesn't seem to notice him doing it. He looks to Abby. "Working on describing things?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Kelly learned that she could sit in Gibbs' lap, throw a tennis ball, and Mona would bring it back to her."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim can imagine that, and then he doesn't need to. Abby pulls out her phone, and there's video of Kelly on Gibbs lap, her little hand trying to hold a tennis ball, his bigger hand holding hers and the tennis ball, moving her arm gently through an overhand toss, and then Mona gleefully tearing off to grab the ball and bring it back.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That's adorable." Tim says, grinning.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, besides fetch, what'd you guys do?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Mostly fetch." She doesn't say more.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's looking at her, wondering what she's not saying. His eyes ask, even though his lips don't. For him that's a halfway communication, a way of signaling, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I want to know, but if you don't want to talk, I won't press.</span></div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Talking with Gibbs some about how to deal with anger."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Now Tim's looking confused, and Abby sees it, so she explains more, "About John and Torri. You talk about it, and it make me so angry and…"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shakes his head. "I get that. I can feel you boiling under the surface when I talk, and… I appreciate you keeping control, makes it easier for me to keep control, too, but I know how hard it hits you." Abby nods at that. That's why she's doing it. He doesn't need to deal with this and her on top of it. "Just, Gibbs?" Gibbs is not the first, second, or probably tenth guy Tim would go to on how to handle being angry in a constructive and socially acceptable manner.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You know anyone angrier than him?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim inclines his head. That's a good point. He doesn't know anyone who ran as hot as long as Gibbs did.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thought he might have some ideas."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Beyond build boats and kill perps?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby rolls her eyes a little and shakes her head. "No!" Then she goes very serious, staring right at Tim. "I wanted permission to go kill John. Figured he'd be the guy to give it to me."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's not sure how to respond to that, though he can see how if what you want is external validation for murder, Gibbs would indeed be the guy to go to. "What'd he say?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby looks disappointed. "That I couldn't kill him for the same reason he couldn't. Too obvious and no one was better off with us in jail."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods at that. "What'd you do with that?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Played more fetch. Focused on the fact that my loves are alive and here and healing. Tried to put it in the past. Talked shop with Gibbs about rifles and bullets. Jimmy's going to be getting some custom made rounds."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Made by you."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smiles savagely. "Yes."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim can imagine that, and then, in what is probably a horribly inappropriate response, he starts to giggle.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What?" Abby really isn't expecting him to break out in giggles at the idea of her making sniper's rounds.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Just imagining you signing them. You know, the way they used to do bombs? Some sort of mark. Little skull or something. I know you'd make sure it'd vanish before anyone could dig it out of him, but, the image of you painting a little skull on them… World War II pinup style."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles at that, shaking her head a little. "You're feeling kind of goofy right now, aren't you?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods. "I guess."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She thinks about it. "I could put a tiny little version of the picture of you from the Abby's Lab For Dummies in the coating. Paint it on first with the moly coating, then coat the whole round. No one would ever see it, but we'd know it was there."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods at that. "So, you're building bullets, Gibbs is training, Jimmy's shooting, and I just, what-"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's about to say something like 'lay around being useless', but Abby cuts him off before he gets there with, "Heal."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You're not going to wait to see if Jarvis comes through?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby shrugs. "Not sure if waiting matters. It's going to take Jimmy a while to get the point where he's practicing with bullets, let alone firing them."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So… you don't think Jarvis will do it?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods. "We love you. He doesn't. I don't see him sticking his neck out for us. I can see him saying he will to kick it down the road, hoping it'll just go away, and then, when it doesn't go away, he'll leave it lying there, knowing we won't go against him if he doesn't go through with it. And by the time we know he didn't do it, the election is over and it won't matter so much if the whole thing blows up."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sighs. That's a very logical take on this. Still… "So, if Jimmy's not going to ready to go anytime soon, why am I still healing? I am not going to be gimping around on this crutch a second longer than I need to! And I am getting my arm back. By the time you've got Jimmy ready to do it, I'll be healed up and then some, and I actually <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">can </span>shoot."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"From how far away?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim thinks about it. He's never tried distance shooting, but… "Got to be faster to pick it up after you've already mastered rifles and hand guns than going at it cold."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods at that. "And you can do the math in your head."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"If I needed to. Or I can have my phone do it and cover my tracks on the phone so no one can find them. That's just detail work. That comes into play once we've got the target set."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, are we waiting for you to heal?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm waiting for Burley and Tony and Ziva. If they can't pin anything on him, then I'm waiting for Jarvis. If he doesn't move… It's not just about me. I need it, but, it's also…" Tim stops, trying to think of how to put this concretely. He's a cop. Most of his loves are cops, soldiers, and one assassin. He voluntarily shares his life with people who kill other people for a living. He's personally killed more than ten people himself. So, no, he doesn't ascribe to the idea that there's some sort of special malice that leaves eternal blackness upon your soul if you kill someone. But he also knows that it's not easy. Sorting that out, let alone in a way for Abby takes him a few seconds, but eventually he's got words for it. "Okay, look, I'm not JK Rowling, I don't think there's some sort of extra-special ultra-evil that goes with killing people. Sometimes you've got to do it. Some people need to be killed. The Admiral is one of them. But it's still hard, and Jimmy's had enough hard. He doesn't need this on his conscience."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby gives him a skeptical look. "You're saving Jimmy from himself?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs some, winces, and hopes he can count that toward his shoulder exercises for today. "Some. I want to do it. I need to do it. If it saves him some sleepless nights, why not?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods, stroking the back of his hand. "Your right and wrong about needing this. Just like me, he needs something to do with his anger, so does Gibbs, and training for it is good. So, don't take that away, not yet. I mean, he's flat out said he's cool with you killing John if that's your preference, so he doesn't need it like that, but…"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. He completely gets that. "I don't need him to stop practicing. It's a good skill to have. Maybe we can both set up for it. See who's got the better shot when the time comes. Or both shoot. That'd screw with the investigation, double-teamed by snipers. Get in and out completely clean, two angles, two trajectories, two shooters, do it right and they'd never know which bullet was the kill shot."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You've got the plot for your next Tibbs novel, don't you?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles a little at that. "I might have to write that down. Except, I can't publish it if I use it."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good point. Better point, don't write it down."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. Last thing he needs is someone subpoenaing his notes and finding his kill scene set up.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Kelly's really starting to wake up, trying to squirm away from him, wanting to work on her crawling. Abby sees it, and says to their daughter, "Okay, let's get you onto the floor." She takes Kelly from Tim, and he stands up, grabbing for the crutch, getting ready to head downstairs. "Talk about bizarre conversations to have in front of our child."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods. "Once she can repeat what she hears, conversations like that, and probably a bunch of the work ones are going to be signed."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Though, with any luck, this is the last topic where we don't want the kids repeating what they hear."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sniggers at that, looking Abby up and down, absolutely certain he is going to say things to her about what he wants to do with her in the future that might possibly make them blush should they be repeated to the neighbors or the other pre-school moms.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, conversations we <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">can't</span> have them repeating, as opposed to it'd be embarrassing."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods at that, and they begin the trek downstairs.</div>
<hr style="border-style: solid; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They have two hours before getting dinner ready. Nice afternoon like today and normally they'd strap Kelly into the snugli or stroller go for a walk or something.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Obviously, that's out. At least, assuming they want to get further than the end of the driveway in less than half an hour.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby puts Kelly on the floor, and stacks a bunch of her toys around. Some are in reach, some require her to get those little legs moving and crawl toward. They'll see if she can get to them. She pulls the coffee table over, too. Kelly's not crawling, but she does like to stand up, grab something, and lift her legs up like she's about to take a step. Hasn't mastered it yet, but she's trying.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Think she's going to skip crawling and go straight to walking?" he asks Abby as she sits next to him on the sofa, and Kelly starts to eyeball the coffee table.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That'd be our kid. 'Gotta crawl before you walk.' Oh no. Not for Kelly McGee."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She looks at them as she hears her name, watches for a second, sees that nothing interesting is going on, and goes back to trying to get up to grab the coffee table.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby kisses Tim and heads off for a moment. Then she's back, flicking on the TV and the PlayStation. Call of Duty comes up, and she's got a controller.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's looking pouty. Yeah, sometimes he likes to watch her game, but not right now, not when all he can do is watch. "I can't game."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You can't shoot. But you can be a spotter for me." She grins, handing him a laser pointer. "Killing everything that moved last night was a good thing. Do it with me?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods and clicks on the pointer. Snipers have spotters. Might be good to work on that skill, too. Especially if it turns out that Jimmy's actually better with a rifle than he is. "So, what?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Point out what I need to be shooting at next."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby tells him about doing this with Tony last night. Tim keeps his eyes moving across the screen, flicking the pointer at targets, enjoying seeing Abby blow them away. It helps. Tim's pleased that Tony thought of this, because, sure he can't fight in the game, but as you get into it, it does bring up your adrenaline and fight or flight chemicals in a way just writing doesn't, and getting to shoot things, clear the board, kill the bad guys, helps banish some of that need to fight sensation.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
No, it's not as good as going to Bootcamp, but he's got nothing in the way of options for that for probably months, so he'll take what he can get.</div>
<hr style="border-style: solid; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So, was Jimmy here when you got home?" Tim asks as Abby comes into the kitchen with the delivery Chinese they're having for dinner.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah." She's grinning again. "That was really cute."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's eyebrows go up. "Cute how?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He fell asleep, too, and was laying there, bed hogging away, taking up like three quarters of the mattress. Breena talks about that; how it doesn't matter how big the bed is, he just expands to take over all of it. He was cupping the back of your neck. I got pictures if you want to see."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shakes his head. "I'm good."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It's really cute."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And I'm sure Breena appreciates the fact you got pictures." He wrestles the box of chicken and broccoli open one-handed, and then gives it to Abby, who spoons it out while he starts on the mixed veggies.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby laughs at that. "Why are you asking?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He closes his eyes and opens them and she can feel <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I think this is kind of dumb, but it's real, so I'll tell you about it</span> radiating off of him. "I fell asleep with one person and woke up with another. Literally. That was just weird."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Did you think Jimmy was snuggling you and freak out?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I did not freak out," he says, defensively.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She stares at him.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I was a bit concerned that may have been happening. I did not freak out."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh huh." She takes the mixed veggies from him, and adds them to each plate, too, and he starts on the sweet and sour shrimp.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Swimp!" Kelly loves the sweet and sour shrimp and knows them by sight and smell.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Of course Mama got you shrimp. And look!" Abby grabs the bag with the spring rolls and pulls one out.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Wowls!" Kelly loves spring rolls even more than sweet and sour shrimp. Her little hands are reaching out, tiny fingers extended. Abby hands over a spring roll and a huge smile spreads across Kelly's face as she snatches it close and starts to gnaw on the end.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"That sounded like it had some l sound in it," Tim says. "Good job, Kelly. Rolls." He pronounces the word carefully. But by that point Kelly was eating the roll and had no interest in talking about it.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So what does concerned mean?" Abby asks.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Mostly that I wasn't wearing pants and didn't necessarily want him rubbing against my ass."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby sniggers a bit at that. "Necessarily?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's got an expression on his face that Abby considers the physical equivalent of "Eh."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Wouldn't have been terrible or anything. More comfortable than waking up with Diane, which I did freak out about, but getting spooned by Jimmy isn't exactly on my bucket list, you know?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"He's good at it."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm sure he is." Tim's about to say something like <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I don't need him humping my ass</span> when it hits him that, not only was no one suggesting that, it also wasn't even being hinted at, and, in fact, if the body he woke up against had been Jimmy, and not Abby, all that was happening was cuddling, there was no <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">rubbing </span>or <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">humping </span>or anything else involving his ass going on. So whatever's causing this is coming from him, but not from whatever happened or may happen with Jimmy.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Since it's not actually a concern that's anything other than in his head, Tim doesn't mention it, and fortunately, Abby's cutting up the shrimp into littler pieces for Kelly, so she doesn't see that pause in Tim's train of thought.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Still a little startling to fall asleep with one person and wake up with another one. Took way longer to figure out what was going on than it should have."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods at that. "Yeah, I can see that being disconcerting. So, why was he sleeping with you in the first place?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim sighs. "Both of us being stupid, and the bad consequences thereof…" And he tells her about adventures in Autopsy, and why it's a bad idea to get x-rays there if you don't have to.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby winces along at his story, but she's pleased to see that as he's telling it, he's got some distance between now and what happened.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Of course, having Kelly up and active and constantly breaking into the conversation to make little statements like "Mowr swimp!" does wonders for keeping you pinned into the present.</div>
<hr style="border-style: solid; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Clean up for anal, is, by its very nature, messy. No two ways about it. There's no refined or dainty way to take care of that chore.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Or, put more concisely, Tim is well aware of the fact that his shit does indeed smell.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That's the majority of why Tim doesn't like having an audience for it. After all, it's not like he and Abby are still in that relationship phase where they're under the impression that the other one doesn't have biological functions. Hell, they're long past the phase of being embarrassed about it, too. Still, there's a difference between debating buying a dog so you can pretend all nasty smells come from it, and wanting to show off exactly how long and loud you can fart.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Not wanting an audience doesn't mean he doesn't like what he gets out of it, though. He likes that just fine. Just some things Abby doesn't need to see him do.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, even though it's messy, and a bit on the uncomfortable side… Okay, fuck, a lot on the uncomfortable side. In fact, way more on the uncomfortable side than an enema's ever been.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim takes a moment to try and figure out what's going on here. He's gotten through step one: get naked, with minimal issues, and had moved to step two: enema, (traditionally followed by step three: wash off thoroughly) and stopped dead because this does not feel the way he expects it to feel. He doesn't think he sustained anything that would be an injury to his anus. He knows they got him in the balls and thighs and, no… he's poking himself gently, and that doesn't hurt, so no way he's got a chipped tailbone, and all the other bruises are cleared up, so even if he got bruised up, they'd be healed by now.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
All systems have been functioning normally since he started eating again. If it was an injury, out should have been just as uncomfortable as in…</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So, what the hell is going on? He's on medication that relaxes muscles. This should be easier than it's ever been, not harder. First time he did this, when he didn't have a clue, this part wasn't this difficult. The little tube bit's smaller than a pencil and lubricated; anyone can take this. Something is really wrong.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He puts everything aside and hunts down one of Abby's compacts. Blush with a mirror will do the job. He checks himself, definitely not injured. Everything looks (as well as he knows, not like he's spent long gazing at his own ass) normal.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's snapping shut the compact when what the problem is finally decides to go wandering out of his subconscious and hit his functional mind, and why he's been edgy about Jimmy getting too close to his rear is also bugging him.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
This… anal sex on the receiving side... was part of the Admiral's torture plans. This was a huge part of the 'fate worse than death' scenario he used to terrify Tim. His body is scared. It doesn't want to get anything anywhere near his anus. It's fighting.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No." It comes out low and savage. "No!" The Admiral does not get to touch this. He's stolen weeks of Tim's life, the use of his arm and his leg, weeks of his job, the ability to pick up his little girl and make love to his wife however he likes. His bloody fingerprints are all over Tim's life and body. Not this, too. <span style="font-style: oblique;">This</span> he doesn't get to touch.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim grabs the enema, bears down hard, gives it a shove, and takes care of business.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And yes, it burns, and hurts, but he's not going to let The Admiral win. Not on this.</div>
<hr style="border-style: solid; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby knows something is wrong by about two seconds after she's walked into the room.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim's naked and in bed. That's a good sign. He's not looking happy. Not a good sign. He's also so tense she can see it from the other side of the room.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Obviously something happened between now and dinner, but she's got no clue what it might be. She heads over to their bed, sits next to him, and says, "So… we get bad news?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Huh?" He looks surprised, but still tense and angry, so whatever it is isn't coming from the outside world.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You're so angry and tense I could see it from the doorway."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm fine."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She nods slowly, and gets up to brush her teeth. After a few seconds, he grabs his crutch and follows her into the bathroom.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You're just going to let it go?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"If it's so touchy you're going to lie about it, I'll let it be."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thanks." He sighs. He knows better than to try to lie about stuff like this to her. At least she's not pissed about it.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"But I don't want to. And I don't think much of anything else is happening until we talk."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
His shoulder slumps and he leans harder into the crutch. "Don't want to talk. Don't want to think about it. Just want to be done."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby smiles gently. "I want that, too. But it doesn't work that way."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He licks his lips and is looking at the wall behind her. "Every minute I spend on this is another minute he's stolen from me."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's eyebrow rises and she puts the toothbrush down. "Tim?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm here fucking with all of this shit, which means I'm not living my life, being me, enjoying my loves and doing the things I meant to be doing. All of this is time he's stolen. I don't get it back. I'm stuck dealing with all this crap instead of moving on."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You deal with it, and take the time, because otherwise it comes back to bite you later. Neither of us want to be dealing with this when we're in our fifties."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
That's true but doesn't help. "That doesn't make it any better! It's still things I want to do, gone. It's my physical body, weeks of my life, my… gone. So, I don't want to talk about it, and I don't want to waste time on this, and…"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby knows something hit a red hot nerve on him, and she's starting to get an idea of what, because she knows what he was supposed to be doing, and she remembers what he said about sexuality abuse, and she knows the 'fate worse than death' scenario, and she's not stupid, so she's got a clue, but she doesn't know how to salvage tonight or make this any better without talking about it.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She picks her toothbrush back up, and starts on her teeth again.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I don't know what that means," he says, unsure what she's doing. He expects some sort of, 'we've got to keep talking' sort of response, but she's not saying anything.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I don't, either. Just… let's get done, and go to bed, and maybe we'll talk, but not about whatever this is." Not directly, she thinks. She's starting to get a plan together. "Or maybe we won't. But we'll touch and be with each other."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay." He steps closer and kisses her shoulder. She can still feel how tense and defensive he's feeling, but there's also some relief because she's backed off a bit from the main issue.</div>
<hr style="border-style: solid; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 15.555456161499px; margin: 0.875em auto 1.2525em; width: 333.024993896484px;" />
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They head into the bedroom, and she sees he's got the butterfly, the strap on, lube, and the dilators out, as well as towels on the bed. He did get everything set for tonight.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I want you sitting on the bed."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods and settles himself on the bed.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby heads over to their toy box and takes one other thing out of it, his collar. He can't kneel with his foot in the cast. It still doesn't want to extend that far, and she doesn't want him putting that sort of weight on it, and, of course, he can't clasp his hands behind his back. But he's still hers, and that's not ever changing. Time to remind his body of it.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Head down."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He bows his head. They don't do this a lot. Not this level of subbing. Usually it's a game. Usually it's her setting the rules for the night and him living up to it or vice versa. But there's another level of it, one she thinks he'll respond well to. The part they usually don't play is opening the sub up, breaking down his walls, taking him out of his head, and making sure that he knows he is utterly owned, completely protected, cherished, and totally safe.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tonight she's doing that. She fastens the collar around his neck and sees some of the tension bleed off of him. He wants to play tonight, wants to forget, and that collar means playing.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She glances at the dilators and notices the smallest one is missing. "You wearing one?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Take it out."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim does, shifting around a bit, slipping it out, and holding it. He knows how this game works, and above and beyond anything else, when he subs, he is a <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">very</span> good sub. He hasn't been told what to do with the dilator beyond take it out, so he just holds it.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby takes it from him, places it next to the others, and then cups his chin, lifting his face so he's looking her in the eyes. "My fingers, my hands, my body. You're mine, and it'll be <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">me,</span> not some cold piece of glass, that gets you ready."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods at that, holding her gaze.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby kisses him, and then asks, pulling back, "You remember the first time we did this?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim nods as she sits behind him on the bed.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tell me about it. Tell me how it felt to you."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim thinks for a second. "First time I did it to myself for you to watch, or the first time you did it to me?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Good point, they do have two first times for this. Abby pets along his back and down his sides, feeling the tension in his hips, thighs, glutes. She knows this isn't going anywhere anytime soon; they've got time for lots of stories. "Both. Start with the first time you showed me."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's watching in the mirror and sees he's closed his eyes, bringing the memory, the images and sensations to mind. She keeps petting him, hands gentle, stroking over his hips and thighs, stomach and chest. She's not touching his butt. (Yes, he's sitting on most of it, but the top bit would be in easy reach.) It's hitting her that reclaiming him is probably going to be a job with layers. Probably going to happen again and again. Time will shift, things will happen, memories and images will come back, and he'll move back to hurting, back to scared.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
And it's his job to pull himself out, because it won't work if anyone else tries. It's her job to help him get himself out. Her job to keep his conscious mind aware of their home and his safety. He's got to run the race, but she can keep cheering and be the reward at the end.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He takes a quick breath and says, "It was a Sunday. After Jimmy and Breena's wedding, before we were out in the open. Long week, two cases back to back, and we got back to my place late on Friday and pretty much slept straight through Saturday."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She strokes his hair, gently rubbing the back of his neck. "You made me French toast."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods, remembering that, snorts a little. "Barely ever cooked then. Had the stove too hot and the outside scorched and the inside was still wet."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah." She kisses his shoulder. Still moving her hands slow and gentle. "Still tasted good."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Stick enough bacon on it, and everything tastes good." That was his special breakfast treat for himself back then. Usually he'd order it out, and then put it together himself once it showed up. But they were tired, didn't much feel like getting dressed or going out. He had eggs, milk, bread, bacon, and sugar. He figured he could make it himself. "Used to get that when we'd go out for breakfast."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I remember that. French toast and bacon sandwich. Easier to eat." She'd asked about it the first time she saw him do it, years and years ago, first time they were dating.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods. "Flip the sides with the powdered sugar into the insides, pile on the bacon, pour the syrup over top, next piece of toast on top, and eat."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tomorrow morning, you tell Elaine about that, and I bet she'll make it for you."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, she would." He doesn't mention that he's not sure he wants to eat it. Yes, he <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">wants</span> it. But he's not getting any exercise and piles of carbs, no matter how yummy, isn't a good plan right now. He hasn't had that breakfast in years now. Maybe when he can actually work out again…</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tim, what happened after breakfast?" Abby gets him back on track. She knows talking about the food is part of getting him settled and comfy, but she doesn't want him stalling here forever.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Mmmm…" Verbal placeholder, letting her know he's thinking. "TV. Then we got a nap?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Lazy day." She doesn't say more, just keeps up the gentle petting.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Woke up with you pressed up tight to me. Liked that, a lot." He squeezes her hand. "Still do. Always will."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby kisses the back of his neck, just above his collar.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I was kissing your neck and shoulder, rubbing against you. You woke up with a smile, rubbing back against me. We still wore pajamas then, and you had on those fleece drawstring pants. I remember the way they felt, soft and fuzzy against my hand when I slid it under them. You arched into my hand, rubbing your butt against my dick."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Mmmm…" Abby murmurs, remembering that sensation, just waking up, horny Tim wrapped tight around her, finger slipping between her lips.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You woke up a little more, and then asked if I was thinking of this as snack sex or if this was the main course for the day. Then we got into a conversation about what snack sex was."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She can feel some of the tension sliding away from him, so on the next stroke over his hips, her fingertips graze the side of his butt, and he doesn't seem to notice.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"We decided this was main course sex. And by then you had rolled over and out of those pants, and I wasn't wearing my t-shirt anymore, but I still had my boxers on. Then you sat up, and straddled me, holding my hands to the bed, and you kissed me on the tip of the nose, and I could feel you warm and wet through my boxers, and I could see you had something in mind, wanted to play, so I grinned up at you, and you grinned back, and said to me, 'I know you've got some toys, so let's play with them.'"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby can hear the pleasure in his voice at that memory, and she smiles, too.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How did that feel?" She tugs very gently on his collar, reminding him of the instructions she's given him. They're not just reminiscing. She's taking him back to when this was just about safe and love and playing and pleasure.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Um…" He's thinking about that. "Good. Liked the idea of playing with the toys. Little nervous, wondering if you'd be cool with what I had. Little unsure, kind of playing with the idea of not showing you all of them. Horny. Thinking that I'd get to tie you up. Then even more turned on, maybe you'd tie me up.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I got up and grabbed the box, and I remember you looking surprised that I had them there."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Didn't think you'd have them on your dresser, where Tony might just walk on in and rifle through them. Or Sarah. Didn't notice the special catch on the bottom until you showed me."</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31DfCtT1Y%2BL._SY450_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31DfCtT1Y%2BL._SY450_.jpg" height="320" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Aneros-HE101-MGX-Prostate-Stimulator/dp/B001AQTVIK">You like this?</a> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yep." They don't use that toy box anymore, too small. It just looked like a nice wood box on his dresser. Hinges on the back of the lid, little lock looking thing on the front. Tiny little catch on the underside popped the lid and showed that the hinges and lock were just for show and the top lifted off. "I took it to bed, showed you how to open it, and held my breath while you rifled through. You approved of the ropes, scarves, and the cock ring, giggled at the fleshlight, didn't much like my choice of lube, and then saw the butt plug, picked it up, looked at me and said, 'You like this?' like you'd never even dreamed I might go for that."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I thought I'd get you there eventually. Didn't think you'd gotten there on your own. How did that feel?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Weird. Relieved because you didn't think it was gross. Little apprehensive because your next question was, 'Are you bi?' but you believed me when I said no, and you held it in your hand, sort of weighing it, playing with the base, and then said, 'You've got to show me what you do with this.' And that felt good because you were really cool with it. And again, a little nervous and apprehensive and really turned on."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Worried about letting me see?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Never had someone watch me do that before. Never had someone watch me jerk-off period before that. Wanted you to, but I was kind of afraid you'd laugh or freak out or… or whatever."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's still stroking him, but a firmer touch now, focusing more on his low back and hips, still grazing his butt from time to time.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I think I said something like, 'Right now?' when you said I had to show you what I did with it. You asked if I had what I needed to use it, which was also good, because that meant you knew how it worked, and that it wasn't the sort of thing you just did with no prep. I think I blushed a little, but said yes, and you said, 'Well, get to it. I'll order some food for dinner. Couple hours from now, we'll be tired and hungry and the magic food fairy will come and bring us sushi.'" She giggles a little at that, not having remembered that part, but it seems in character.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I was nervous about cleaning up. Wanted to do it fast. Wanted to get <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really</span> clean. I was way more turned on than I usually was when I did that, so I was playing with myself a bit more than I usually do when I clean up."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You play with yourself when you do that?" She didn't know that about him.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Usually. Not always. But if we're having sex right after clean up, yeah." He stops there. "Didn't do it tonight. Need two hands for that."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods against his shoulder. Probably didn't hit his front brain, but just another reason why his body knew things weren't right.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Got cleaned up, feeling… really sexy and really nervous."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I remember how hard you were when you got out of the bathroom, and your skin was already starting to pink up."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. I think I just stood there for a few seconds, watching you, and you were watching me, and I finally said, 'So, you just want to watch?' You grinned at me. 'That's where I'm going to start. Might touch later. Right now, I want to see what you do with it.'" Tim laughs quickly, remembering the next bit. "I picked it up and rubbed my shoulder with it, said how good it was for getting the knots out, and you pouted and slapped me in the chest."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby laughs at that, too, her hand straying from its soothing mission to see how the story's effecting his dick. Good memories are helping, he's half-hard, and she gives him a few gentle strokes to add to it.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles at her touch, enjoying that. "I grabbed the fleshlight and you looked like I'd given you a bait and switch, and I remember feeling a little sheepish, but saying that I liked some distraction while I got the plug set. You said you'd handle it, looked me dead in the eyes, and licked your lips."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smiles at that, too.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Then you said something about how that'd give you a pretty good view, and I think I blushed because I hadn't realized you were going to be watching that closely."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What did you think I was going to do?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I didn't know. Didn't expect you'd have your face four inches away from the action. I just about jumped back into the bathroom to clean up again."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She laughs at little at that. "Didn't realize you were that nervous."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He shrugs again, and she kisses his shoulders, hands on each hip, fingers rippling against the sides of his glutes.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'd been planning on kneeling on the bed, because that was how I usually did it, but then all you'd have was a view of was my pubic bone, so I laid down on my side."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She breaks in, shifting back from him. "Want you to do that."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
So he does, but he can't lie on his right, the way he did the first time. "Wrong side."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I remember. But this will work. Touch yourself, slow and easy. Don't want you getting off, yet." She cuddles up close to his back, spooning him, still stroking his hips and thighs. He begins a long, slow stroke, up and down his dick. She sees him doing it, and then stops cuddling him to reach back and grab the lube off the bedside table. He knows what she's doing and holds out his hand to take the drizzle of it and warm it before stroking it over himself. "Good?" she asks as she snugs up again, and goes back to stroking his hips and low back, slowly inching toward his butt.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods at that while taking himself back to the memory. "You took the pillows, put them under your head and shoulder, then slid my balls down, so they weren't blocking your view, and began to suck on just the tip of my dick."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I remember. Feel good?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"God, yeah. Felt great! I was well and truly distracted."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smiles. "That wasn't the only thing distracting you."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No. Your pussy, right in my face. Wet and smelling so good. I started kissing you." He's rubbing the tip of his dick the same way she was sucking him, or as close as he can get with a hand. "Took me a few seconds to remember what we were doing. I got the lube and slicked up my fingers, got started, just shoving it in. Hadn't really figured out the 'in' part of it yet. I liked how it felt once it was in place, but tended to see getting it there as something to just get through. Got the finger in, and just waited to sort of relax around it, until it stopped hurting."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You were rushing."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah, too excited to go slow. Granted, never really bothered much with slow at that point. And like I said, I was <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">really</span> distracted."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How'd it feel?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Hurt. It always hurt back then. Okay, not always, sometimes it was just sort of there, but getting ready wasn't the good part. Not until after our honeymoon was getting ready the good part."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smiles at that. If they take this slow enough, they'll get there, too. She hadn't figured out until after she was the one on the catching side of anal what level of ouch Tim might have been going through to get to his prostate. Because she knew how careful he was with her, and she knew how that felt, and she knew how careful they were with him, and she could guess how that felt. And, until she was on the receiving side, he hadn't bothered to do the research to see if there was a way to do it that was more comfortable. He was willing to take that level of pain for that level of good orgasm. He wasn't willing to put her through it.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Once she had a better idea of how that worked, she started taking more care with him, and by their honeymoon she had a plan that really worked, that had him all but begging through the getting ready part. By the time he finally got talking about The Admiral, and, as she thinks of it, 'stopped guarding the area so intensely,' things got a whole lot easier, and it stopped taking so much slow and gentle prep to get him ready.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
They're back to square two. At least they know what to do. She kisses his neck. "It's all supposed to be good."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He lets go of himself and squeezes the hand that's rubbing his hip, digging into tight muscles, trying to relax him. "It is."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What happened next?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Sliding it in and out some, trying to stretch muscles that were pretty firmly convinced that closed tight was the right idea. Stuck between sore, burn, feeling like I was going to come any second, kind of embarrassed to have you watching me that close, kind of thrilled to have you watching me that close, never been that naked before, and you kept making those little happy noises each time I'd move, and the idea that this was turning you on, 'cause I could taste and feel how wet you were, all of it was blowing my mind.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Pain helped with control. Toned down the need to come. Usually did two fingers to stretch but I didn't think I'd last that long. I grabbed for the plug way too soon, and decided if I just went really slow it'd be okay, and… It was, sort of. Hurt, more than I was expecting, but it did walk me back from the edge, and you moaned as I slid it in, easing your mouth all the way down my dick the same speed I was slipping it in and my brain melted.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Once it's in, it's all good. The handle is small, no problem, and then there's just that sensation of fullness, and how it'd rub against my prostate and… fuck. You pulled your mouth off, and I wasn't on board with that plan, and then you rolled away, and I think I pouted at that, but you just sat there on your knees, looking at me, and said, 'So…'"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby begins to really stroke his butt, touching all of it, with her whole hand, palm cupping, squeezing gently, working tight muscles. It's sensual, but not sexual; she's staying away from the cleft and focusing on tense muscles.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And, of course, I'd never played with it with another person around, so, no idea what all it could really do with a partner. I think I blushed a little, but I headed over to my arm chair and straddled the arm, and you looked surprised at that."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I was. Didn't think that's what you'd do with it."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It worked. You were wondering why I'd done that, so I told you how if I straddled the arm, I could rock back and forth a bit, and that kept the plug pulsing over my prostate and left both hands free for whatever else I might want to do."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And I asked what else you usually did with them."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And I looked at the remote for my tv and the Fleshlight and you decided that you might want to see what I did with it, but that'd be kind of boring." Using his hands is a lot more visually interesting than the Fleshlight. The Fleshlight feels better, more real, warm it up, put on a condom, and close his eyes, and by feel alone, Tim can't tell the difference between it and a real woman. (Without a condom, it's<span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">distinctly</span> different. Which is why he usually used a condom with it. After all, at that point he'd never had sex without one, and it made clean up a hell of a lot easier, so, why not?)</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Did that bother you?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh… no!" Even lying on his side, he can see her in the mirrors, and he flashes her his <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">are you kidding me</span> look. "Have sex with you? Have sex with whatever the hell that's made of? You win. Made me really happy when you grabbed a condom, put it on me, and then wrapped your legs around my hips and slid onto me. For a few seconds, I was a little afraid the chair was going to topple over, but it didn't, and it turned out that rocking back and forth was good, thrusting was better—"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"How? What was different about it? How did it feel?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He swallows and thinks, trying to translate those sensations into words, trying to sort them out. "Okay, you clench your ass and it presses really nicely. Some guys can get off from just that, I'm not one of them. Rocking back and forth, that's better. It's got that handle so it doesn't get lost inside you, and that's not just so it's easy to get a hold of with lubed hands. The curved bit can get your prostate from the outside, pressure on the perineum, and of course, the plug gets it from the inside. So, if I was rocking back and forth, when I'd rock forward the plug would move back and the handle would press from the outside, rock back and the handle backs off the plug presses from the inside. And… it feels like cumming. Each press feels like the pulsing part of getting off. That and a Fleshlight is really nice. That and you, rocking back and forth… and to thrust I've got to tense back and hips and butt which shifts everything around even more, and that's amazing. More tension, more build, more sensation… I came so hard I thought I was going to pass out."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Came hard enough I could feel it even with you wearing a condom. Don't think that ever happened again."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Didn't use condoms all that much longer. But, yeah, play with the prostate, produce more fluid, and I end up giving myself a facial, and you giggle about it."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby does giggle about that, and it segues nicely into the next bit. "Tell me about the first time I did it to you." She adds some lube to her own hand, and begins to stroke it over the cleft of his ass, not between yet, just getting the edges. She feels him tense a little, and then force it down, breathe deep, and make himself relax.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She hates that moment of tension, that second where his body's not happy, and retreats back to his buttocks. She's not rushing this, at all. He's her man, and he's here in their home, their bed, and if she's got to spend all night and tomorrow night and the next and as long as it takes to convince his body of that, she'll do it.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She bites gently on his collar, pulling it tight for a second, and letting go. "First time I did you."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles at her, presses back against her, and does wiggle his ass against her, which she appreciates. "First time you nailed my ass."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She kisses his ear, sucking the lobe, and pulling off with a soft pop. "When I popped your cherry."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Does it count as cherry-popping when I'd already done it myself?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You got yourself off, what, a million times before you had sex?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"In just the month before alone."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She laughs at that, too. "Yeah, you've got to do it with someone else for it to count."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It was the next weekend or the one after. Before Christmas, I know that because we still weren't out yet, and after Tony caught us, I told us he'd wet his pants if he ever walked in on us when we really got going, and the image I had in my head when I said that was you doing me."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She licks his neck, stroking both hands, now very slick, over his hips and glutes, long, deep slide. He moans at that, and she jerks back afraid she's pressed too hard on a sore spot or nicked a broken rib, but he pushes back, letting her know that it feels good, not that she was doing it too hard. She repeats the stroke and says, "Bent over on my bed, that gorgeous ass of yours in the air, hands tied in front of you to the headboard, whimpering as I thrust."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Exactly." His eyes close, and she knows he's feeling it again, and his ass does press back against her again, and she goes back to kneading it. "Night time. We're tired, another long week. We're having a very late dinner, and you said not much was going to be happening that night, but in the morning you had some surprises for me. I asked what they were, and you told me they wouldn't be surprises if you told, and not to even try peeking because you'd know if I looked ahead of time."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And did you peek?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Thought you said you'd know," his voice is sassy as he says that.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I may have been bluffing," she says, nipping his shoulder.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No. I couldn't find them while you brushed your teeth and was too tired to really look."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smirks at that. "What were they?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He stops jerking himself to touch the collar. "This is one of them. The other was the strap-on. We hadn't been through your toys at that point. Did you already have it, or did you get it for me?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Do you really want to know?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah." She can feel that's real. He's comfortable enough right now, in her and her devotion to him that her past, unlike his own, isn't going to intrude unwelcomely here.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It pre-dates you."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Use it on another guy?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Nope. Always hoped to, never found anyone else who was game. Most guys act like you've mortally insulted them if you even suggest it."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim smiles at that. He's spent more than enough time hearing other guys going on and on about trying to get their wives/girlfriends to let them have anal sex, but they're never talking about being on the receiving end of it. Then he's feeling really turned on, because if she never used the strap-on with another guy, that means it got used with girls and he's all over that. He moans quietly at that image.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You like that, do you?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. A lot."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She kisses his shoulder. "Be good and maybe one day I'll let you watch me do Breena with it."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He moans at that idea. And she gently nips his shoulder reminding him what "good" means for right now.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Late morning. We'd slept in, eaten something, and I was being a little bit bratty because I didn't want to wait to see what you'd gotten me, but you said we had to eat first, and you used that voice that let me know you were in charge, so I got into it as a game and let you Domme me through breakfast. You kept grinning at that, really enjoying it." They'd played like that before, but not a whole lot. Probably the second time she'd run the game, and he'd done it once. "Then we finished and you took me back to bed, told me to kneel on it, bow my head, and close my eyes, and I did, feeling very excited wondering what the surprise was going to be. I heard you opening drawers, and the sound of clothing rustling. That apartment had hardwood floors, and I remember the sound of two long zippers zipping, then boots on wood, more rustling, the sound of leather moving through buckles, and then you said look up, so I did, and you were standing in front of me in knee high boots, the strap on, black gloves, a black collar, and holding another collar in your hand, offering it to me. You didn't say anything, because that wasn't part of the game, that was outside the game, setting play but not part of it, and I remember my mouth went dry because that was almost too much at once, and I stood up, and took the collar from you, kissed you, and then gave it back and bowed my head."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I buckled it on you, and told you I loved you, and that I wanted to make you feel so good if you'd let me."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I remember." He sighs and shivers a bit. "I remember how that felt, too. So good. Home. Felt like home's supposed to feel. Then you patted me on the butt, told me to get cleaned up and be out on the bed in ten minutes."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Spent all night waiting and dreaming, I was getting impatient."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I know. I think I was done in seven, and then stood there waiting by the bathroom door for the final three so I'd hit the bed at exactly ten minutes."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You always are good about that."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I try to be." He thinks for a moment. "You asked me what my safeword was, which made all my blood go rushing to my dick and made me worry a little, too. Really turned on, little nervous. We'd already set the hard rules, no pain, no humiliation, but never played hard enough to have safewords, and I was a little worried about where you were going to go."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Really excited by it, too, right?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Like creeping up to the top of the rollercoaster. Or, I guess that's how it feels to people who like rollercoasters." Tim doesn't. "I know we messed around some, but I don't really remember it. Just remember the anticipation. My next clear memory is you telling me to get on the bed, kneel, and then tying my hands to the headboard."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I asked how you wanted it. You picked elbows and knees."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim shrugs. He certainly may have, but he doesn't remember that part. He does remember, very clearly, what came next. "On all fours, knees and elbows, Ass in the air, legs wide, hands tied to each other and the base of the headboard over my head, never, ever been that naked or open or vulnerable. Felt crazy, so turned on, so nervous, almost safeworded because I could see in my mind what I looked like from your point of view and that was kind of uncomfortable." Tim has always thought he's got a fairly nice butt, and Ziva's four out of five (even if he did probably get a point just to annoy Tony) helped to boost his ego on that, still, there's fills out a pair of pants nicely, which is one thing, and naked, spread wide, <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">everything </span>on display, and wondering exactly how fuzzy you really are back there and if your asshole looks as dumb as you think it does, which is something else all-together.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Delicious. You looked delicious from my point of view. I was so wet the harness was soaked, and my mouth had gone dry, and you were all spread out for me, tied down, opening yourself to anything I might want to do, and that felt amazing."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods. "Liked that. Being able to relax into it. I felt the shift in my mind, you were walking around the bed, looking, and I was getting more tense about it, and then I just… surrendered, that moment where I knew I was out of control and that it wasn't up to me anymore and nervous bled off because you were running things and you'd take care of me. I relaxed my head, resting it on my forearms, and felt the mattress shift as you got up behind me, and your fingers trailed up my leg. You were still wearing the gloves, and I remember the feel of silk over your fingers slowly dragging up my calf."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She can't reach his calf from where she is, but she can trail her hand up the back of his thigh, and she does.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He smiles.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You kissed the back of my knee, which I wasn't expecting."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What were you expecting?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I don't remember. Just the sensation of anticipation and the feeling of, 'Oh, that's nice.'"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Only nice?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. It was a nice kiss, but I've got places that rev me up a lot more than the backs of my knees."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Her hand snakes to the front of him and she gives his dick a long, gentle pull. "Like that."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh, yeah." He swallows as her hand goes back to his butt, still kneading his glutes. Speaking of nice… He can feel his hips starting to relax, feel himself shifting into sub mode, letting her take over, putting himself into her hands. "You kissed up the back of my leg, biting a little, and then patted the inside of my knee, letting me know to spread my legs wider, God, I was so hard then, shifting stance, expecting to feel your hands or the dildo or lube, but you didn't do that, you sucked my balls, each one, and I shuddered all over because that feels amazing, and then you licked from the back of them to my tailbone, and I think I just about jumped off the bed I jerked so hard at that, because I really didn't expect it and it was one of those things I'd read about but didn't know anyone ever <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">did.</span>"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You made this really adorable startled sound, and then on the second lick started to groan."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"It felt amazing. It's just… God. Hot and wet and squirmy, but in a really good way, and everything there is so sensitive, and fuck, that position, so open, so on display, the whole thing was just so damn taboo, just… <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">wicked. </span>Dark and dirty and wrong and it felt…" He shakes his head. "No words. Felt… Felt like all those fantasies you're ashamed of all coming true at once with someone who loves them, too."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She stops stroking his butt and hugs him as tight as she can without hurting him. Then she shifts up, reaches over, and kisses him on the lips. They smile at each other for a heartbeat, and she goes back to lying behind him. This time she starts to rub gently over the cleft of his butt, and he doesn't flinch or tense. She stays with a gentle up and down, just touching all of him, stroking between his glutes, very light pressure.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He makes a pleased sound and wriggles in a happy sort of way.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good, Tim, good," she coos at him. "Keep relaxing into me, baby."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He purrs a little.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I didn't just lick you that night, did I?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"No. Though I would have thought I died and went to heaven if that's all you had done."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What happened next?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"God, I was rocking into you, and you were tonguing me all over, and eventually you pulled back, and I whimpered and pouted—"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Cursed like a pissed off sailor."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim raises an eyebrow at that. He doesn't remember it that way. Abby grins at him in the mirror. "'Goddamn it to hell woman, get back there and fuck me with your tongue!'"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim laughs. "I said that?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. And I gave you a quick slap on the ass and told you to hush up."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods. "That I remember. You came around so I could see you, slowly took the gloves off, and I felt like I was going to die, in a bad way. I was so hard and so turned on and you were messing with your <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">gloves</span> and I did <span style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; font-style: oblique; font-weight: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">not </span>want to sit there and watch you mess with gloves."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You were cursing at that, too. Growled a little." She strokes his hair. "But you were good and held position and waited for me."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I really don't remember that at all. I remember you finally got the gloves off, and reached for the lube, drizzling a lot of it into your palm. And then you were pumping that cock, slipping it through your fist over and over and I almost died, in a good way, watching that, never thought something like that might get to me, but it did. I could feel my pulse in my eyes and ears and dick and felt like I had three extra guys' worth of blood pumping around in me, watching you jerk that cock.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You tilted my face up, licked your lips, blew me a kiss, and then headed back to my ass, and I was kneeling there, bowstring tight, waiting to feel you touch, not sure what you'd do, and then it was your whole, slick hand sliding over me, rubbing everywhere, stroking my ass and my perineum and balls and dick and if I could have figured out how to thrust my cock and ass at you at the same time I would have.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Then I felt the mattress shift, and you were kneeling between my legs, sliding the cock between my butt cheeks, over and over." Her fingers start to mimic that motion, slipping over and over, up and down between his cheeks; this time deep enough to touch his asshole and perineum and the back of his balls. Tim's voice stutters at that touch, but he doesn't tense, so she doesn't stop. "It was cool," short, sharp inhale as she nudges his leg so he rests it on her hip, spreading himself a bit, "smooth, slick, uh" another slightly panted exhale as her fingers start to circle his anus, slipping a little further down to press his perineum every few circles, "good. It felt really good. I was rocking against you, wanted more, wanted you fucking me. You were circling my anus with it, just pressing a bit, not in, but on, and then you angled down a little, so it was rubbing my perineum and nudging the back of my balls, and you slipped one finger in." He pauses, waiting for a breath, wondering if she's going to do it in real life, but she doesn't, just keeps up firm, slick circles with the pads of her fingers. "Burned, less than usual, but the burn and stretch was still there, and you were rubbing me all over, your other hand, and it was wet and slick, stroking my cock, dildo rubbing me. I have no idea what I was doing. Just feeling it, all over. So good and so much pleasure, and more burn and stretch and some sort of twisting, and everything was so slick, fingers, ass, cock, everything slippery and sliding against more slippery. Dull ache, wanted to cum, you weren't quite getting it, but my cock was so hard. Frustrated, almost there but not there. Could see there, couldn't touch it, trying to shift my hips to get you there. Wasn't helping. More burn, too much, long slide, realized that was the dick, felt like it was a yard wide and a mile long, went on forever, but then you hit my prostate on the way in, and I almost lost it. So keyed up and turned on I didn't care how much it hurt as long as you got it again. Rocking back and forth on my hands and knees, fast, dick in your hand, feeling it slide through your fist each time I moved, burning, but every time I slide forward you bump over it, that first few inches of sliding back out gets it again. Trying to get a shallow rhythm, keep you in the right spot, takes a few strokes before you get it, but you do, and then there's just white hot pleasure and burn and full and so, so full, dick leaking, so hard, balls tight and full and falling into a climax that burns and pulses and rips through me. Sky high, purring, twitching, wondering why my face was wet, you cuddling me, giggling when I asked. Thought I might have been crying toward the end, got off so hard. Not being able to stop twitching. Endorphins crashed and you pulled out slow, but it still really hurt, for like, a day, but so worth it. Knew I'd do that again as often as you were willing."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby can tell he's slipped full into subspace. He's relaxed, right with her, here, and everything else is gone. She's just starting to edge the tip of her index finger into him, and he's soft and happy in her arms. She wishes she had had a better idea of how that felt to him when she was doing it the first time, but she knows now, and it's different now.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Tell me about our honeymoon."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So soft and relaxed. I felt loose and calm all over." Two-hour long four-handed massage will do that. She's thinking that as soon as he's all healed up, they're doing that again. "We were in the hotel with the four post bed, and you wanted me all loose and bendy so you could tie me up and fuck me blind."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And I did, didn't?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"God, yes. New tattoos so you couldn't tie my wrist, told me I had to keep my hand on the headboard. You had me laying across the bed, and tied my ankle up high on the post, few pillows under my hip, so my ass was right at your waist level. You went really slow."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Like I am now?" She's just about one knuckle deep and is very gently twisting her finger around, wiggling it a little, with short, little in out motions.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Blowing or tea-bagging me while you did it. And you were wearing that corset and your breasts were trying to spill out of it, every few strokes you'd sit up some and rub them over my cock. Love the way that looks. Mouth feels better, but boobs looks amazing."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She smiles and kisses him, easing her finger a bit deeper in. He moans at it.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"So slow. No burn. Little stretch, but not bad. Like holding a pose a bit deeper than is easy. Better lube, really slick, very slippery, no drag." One of the downsides of doing this with a dildo is that what feels really slick from the doing side doesn't necessarily feel as slick from the receiving side. They figured that out the first time they used the lube he got for anal with her on him. It made a huge difference. Basically the water-based stuff got a bit tacky around the same time that Tim was so turned on he couldn't feel the difference anymore. "Took forever doing it. Then you were lubing the dildo up, making sure I was watching, lubing your hands too, and lined up and slide in slow and shallow while fisting the top two inches of my cock."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
One finger all the way in, and she spends a few strokes gently rubbing over his prostate, soft, wide circles. A half-whimpered moan slips out of Tim. "That's it baby. Gonna make you feel so good. Love on you all over."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He's quiet, rocking gently against her, lightly, just the tips of his fingers, stroking over his dick. She knows that move, she hasn't told him to stop touching himself, but if he does it any faster or harder, he'll ramp up too fast and get off before she's told him to.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"What did I do next?" She slowly begins working the second finger in, steady, gentle pressure, letting his body open and take it.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
His hips are starting to roll against her, encouraging her to get back to playing with his prostate.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"My ankle was tied high. You weren't sure I could keep my leg up that high that long on my own. You stepped close, all the way in, grinding your pelvis against my balls, making the dildo circle. Used a shorter one that night, getting me just right over and over." Tim's not a woman, so as Abby got better at figuring out how to do him, she realized that a dildo for him didn't need to be long or thick. His prostate's slightly smaller than a walnut and only two inches in, and while she can get close, he's still got legs and butt cheeks so there'll be some bits of the dildo outside of him, but still, anything much longer than five inches is just wasted length. She's not doing him any good with a mile long dick. So, after she got more experience with him, she downsized, shorter, less girth. The results have been good.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She's gotten the second finger in, and rubs over his prostate with both of them. He's biting his lip, and his eyes have dropped into that three-quarters closed droop they slip into when they want to shut but they don't want to stop watching.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"You started to thrust, up and in. Getting your knees into it."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She keeps pressing his prostate as he's talking.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Wouldn't let me touch myself. So hard, and so desperate, and you wouldn't let me come. Cockring. You got that slipped over me. Felt like my dick was the size of a baseball bat, so full. Precum dripping off it. Little puddle on my tummy, and you kept nailing me, over and over, up and in and each stroke another little drip easing down my dick."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She sucks his earlobe, breath warm and moist on his neck, fingers twisting and stroking him. "You loved it, didn't you?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh, God, fuckyes!"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She slips the pads of both fingers over his prostate, up and down. "You love this, too, don't you?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He thrusts back against her. "Yes!"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Want more?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Please!" All moan on that word.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby starts working her third finger in. "Keep telling me what I did next."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Uh." He's biting his lip, and she can see what the issue is. He's just barely touching his dick, because she told him to touch himself, but he can't keep doing it and not get off.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Okay, we're going to shift around some. You stay put for right now, okay?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods, and whimpers a little when her fingers slip out of him. Then she moves so she's standing in front of him, first slipping the butterfly on, and his eyes devour the sight of her making sure it's properly in place, nestled between her lips and right over her clit. Next comes the strap-on. Little short, not very thick, dark purple and sparkly, it doesn't look much like a dick at all, but it does exactly what it's supposed to, and it does it very well. Abby props the pillows up on the side of the bed, then she shifts the supplies over to Tim's night table. She sits up, so she's back against the headboard and pillows, spreads her legs a bit, and then pats her lap. "Straddle my lap. I'm close enough to the side your foot can be off the bed so it doesn't have to flex too far."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim scampers into place, and is about to lower himself onto the dildo when Abby shakes her head.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She touches her thighs. "Here. You rest right here. Not ready for this," she strokes the dildo, "yet." She hands him the remote on the butterfly. "You get to play, too."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He grins at that, staying steady on her lap, snugging up to her as close as he can. She's not touching his dick, but it's right next to the dildo, rubbing against it when he shifts. Her arms wrap around him, one on his waist below his arm, mostly just hugging, the other one snakes around his left glute to get back to what she was doing. She starts again with one finger, and then quickly two, she takes a moment easing into three, because they hadn't been there long, but he's rocking on her lap, bent over enough for them to kiss easily.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Good?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He moans.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Talk to me, Tim. Feel good? Arm and foot are okay?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yes."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Back okay?" Two of the broken ribs are on his back, and he's a little hunched to get his lips to hers without his arm flush against her.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"I'm good, really good." He turns on the butterfly, and Abby closes her eyes briefly as the gentle buzz of level one caresses her. "You good?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah. Keep talking. What'd I do next?" She's reaching for the lube.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Scooted me back some. 'Bout a foot. Far enough you could get on the bed, too."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby nods, dribbling the lube down her dildo. "Get it all slick, okay?"</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Oh yeah." He swallows hard while he strokes the lube all over the plastic dick. "You got on the bed, between my legs."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She rocks all three fingers in him, making sure to get his prostate firmly, and watches as a drop of precum meanders down his dick. "So pretty, Tim, you all pink and hard and wet for me. You were all wet and hard on our honeymoon, too."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah." He pants it, rocking back on her hand, moaning as another drop slips out of him.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"And then what? What did I do once I was on the bed?" Her hand on his hip lets him know to shift up, and she pulls her fingers out, getting the dildo in place.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim hovers, waiting for permission to slide down. Abby waits, and then he knows what he has to do to get it. "You were between my legs," he's talking fast, rushing between words, "and took the cock ring off, and you were on top of me, kissing and thrusting," she tugs on his hips letting him know he can slip down, and he does, groaning, eyes almost closed, head back. Abby rolls her hips slightly, and pulls him lip to lip on her for a long deep kiss.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
She breaks the kiss for a second, saying, "Ride me however you like. Don't hold back unless you want to," then her lips are back on his, kissing him deep, one hand stroking his face, the other on his hip.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He hasn't done a lot of this sort of up down motion lately, but his body still knows how it likes it, and it doesn't take him long to get back to it. He's rocking on her, not breaking their kiss, left arm stroking her face and hair. On each stroke, his dick rubs against her stomach, and he knows he's not going to last long if he keeps moving, and right now he wants to stay here, in this moment.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He stops rocking, nudging the speed on the butterfly up (he can feel a very slight vibration from the inside, and his balls are buzzing). Abby's kissing him, harder and deeper. She's close, too. Can't spend an hour listening to that, doing that, and not get turned on by it, add that delicious buzz in exactly the right place, and she knows she's good to go for this.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Tim can feel her rocking against the butterfly. "Faster?" he asks between kisses, still not moving on her.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
"Yeah."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He kicks the speed up again, kissing her deep. "This," he says, breaking the kiss for a second, then raising and lowering on her, making sure to rock the dildo in exactly the right spot, feeling that cumming pulse as the pressure slips over his prostate. "Our honeymoon. We did this. Kissing. You on me, in me." He lets himself slide down her, dick trailing over her stomach. "Face to face." Another kiss, wet, deep, sloppy. He's breathing hard, each time he shifts, his dick rubs against her, and he's so sensitive right now; it won't take much.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Her eyes are staring into his, and her face is flushed, beautiful pink slipping down her throat to her breasts. Very close now. He nudges the speed up one more notch, full force, and starts to ride her, fast, shallows thrusts, getting his prostate over and over as his dick rubs against her belly and his lips and tongue strokes hers.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He doesn't feel her first shudder, but he sees it in her face, that exultant look of climax, and he does feel her crushing against him, lips and tongue hard, hand clenched in his hair as he slams down onto her once more, pulling up fast, rubbing into her as hard as he can and then feeling his whole body spasm as his vision goes white and he tingles all over from his climax.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He feels completely drained and limp when he comes back to himself. His lips are pressed to her forehead, his chest and tummy is wet and so are hers, and he's got to be getting heavy on her lap, so he gently pulls off and rolls onto his back next to her, flicking off the butterfly, hoping it wasn't on too long, too fast.</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Abby's feeling very pleased with herself as she grabs for the tissues. He's lying on his back, blissed out, relaxed. She takes a moment, getting out of her gear, cleans them both up, and then snuggles in against his left side, kissing the top of his shoulder. She tugs very lightly on his collar. "Mine."</div>
<div style="border: 0px; font-size: 15.1199998855591px; line-height: 1.5; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
He nods, eyes closed, drifting toward sleep. "Yours, always yours."<br />
<br />
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-406-sick.html">Next</a></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478666120443106279.post-52437452668016381242015-01-25T13:12:00.000-08:002015-02-20T12:39:00.151-08:00Shards To A Whole: Chapter 404: WordsMcGee-centric character study/romance. Want to start at the beginning? Click<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2013/01/shards-to-whole-ncis-fanfiction.html" target="_blank"> here</a>.<br />
<br />
Chapter 404: Words<br />
<br />
<br />
"So this is what you two do when I'm out?" wakes Jimmy out of his doze.<br />
<br />
He looks up and sees Abby grinning at him, and promptly realizes he's in bed, in <em>her</em> bed, with Tim, and apparently was asleep.<br />
<br />
He stretches a little, sees that Tim's still asleep, and notices his phone on the bed next to him. What happened starts to slide back into his mind: bed, comfy, boring reading, somewhat dim light, sound of rain, and off to sleep he went.<br />
<br />
He rubs his eyes, sees Abby still grinning. She gets (gently, Tim's still asleep) into the bed, between them, and quietly says, while poking Jimmy, and still grinning. "So…" She's enjoying this way too much. "What sort of fun did you two get up to that got you so tired out?"<br />
<br />
Jimmy rolls his eyes, but notices that Tim settles in against Abby. He doesn't appear to have woken up, but he knows she's near and has snuggled in closer. He smiles a little at that. Breena does that when he comes home late and slips into bed without waking her.<br />
<br />
"Kelly?" Jimmy asks.<br />
<br />
"Naptime for her, too. I was just going to crash. You want to hang out here, you're welcome."<br />
Jimmy checks the clock, little before two. He shakes his head. "Nah. Gotta eat." He sits up and stretches. "MOPs'll be done by the time I get home. Play with my girls some, and do some more studying."<br />
<br />
Abby kisses his cheek. "Have fun."<br />
<br />
Jimmy smiles, tucking his phone back into his pocket and slipping his feet into his shoes. "I will."<br />
<br />
<hr />
<br />
Breena's in an exceptionally good mood when he gets home.<br />
<br />
"Hi." He kisses her before heading through the living room to the coat closet by the front door. The <em>trashed</em> living room. He gets the point of the MOPs group. How they alternate between each other's houses, so seven weeks out of eight, Breena gets some time to socialize with other adult women with kids, have a good cup of coffee, yummy snacks, and what she refers to as 'girl talk', the kids can run around and wreck someone else's house, and having eight sets of adult eyes to watch fourteen kids is a hell of a lot easier than one set of eyes and two kids.<br />
<br />
So he gets it, but, Lord, his living room looks like a tornado went through it. They're gonna need Federal disaster relief to get this cleaned up.<br />
<br />
"I take it, it was a good meet?" He tosses his shoes into the closet and heads back to where she is, at the kitchen table, looking over the PL statements for the last quarter for Slaters'.<br />
<br />
She smiles up at him, and he kisses her again.<br />
<br />
"Good meeting, and Abby just sent me the cutest photo ever." There's a massive grin on her face.<br />
<br />
Jimmy rolls his eyes again, and heads to the fridge. "She took pictures?" It's possible he sounds a tad whiny at that.<br />
<br />
"Of course!"<br />
<br />
He opens the door. "You want anything?"<br />
<br />
"Nah. Everyone brings food, and Elise made it this week…" He knows Elise is the baker, and when she comes she always brings some sort of amazing, high calorie, chocolate-intensive thing that the girls regret eating but usually snarf down in about ten seconds. Elise runs a bakery that handles catering a lot of the post-viewing/post-funeral wakes that Slaters' throws.<br />
<br />
Actually, he thinks about it more, a lot of those women run businesses that work with Slaters'.<br />
Ed and his brothers are part of a bunch of businessmen's groups, where they get together and do whatever it is they do over golf and beer or whatever. Jimmy's fuzzy on the details what with never having attended any of those meetings. He's heard the extended Slater clan talking about it at Sunday dinner, though, and it sounds very nineteenth century.<br />
<br />
Breena and her friends are doing the same thing, at home, while watching kids. Pulling this tradition into the twenty-first century and multi-tasking it.<br />
<br />
Jimmy closes the fridge door, and heads over to Breena. He hugs her from behind, and she absently tilts her head, the way she usually does when she's expecting a kiss, but paying attention to something else. He shifts over a step, tilts her head toward him so she's looking into his eyes and says, "I don't tell you how amazing you are nearly often enough."<br />
<br />
She smiles at that. "What's bringing this on?"<br />
<br />
"You." He kisses her again.<br />
<br />
"I'm really not bugged by you catching a nap with Tim."<br />
<br />
"Huh?" He pulls back, confused.<br />
<br />
"I'm cool with it, you don't have to get extra sweet with me because of it."<br />
<br />
"Uh… Okay." His eyebrows furrow. He doesn't think that's what he's doing. He thinks for another second. "No. That's not happening. I was thinking about how you're handling the girls and your business all at once, and how you're just on top of everything."<br />
<br />
She looks very pleased by that. "Oh! In that case, yes, I'm awesome." She grins at him again, and he gently shoves her shoulder, heading back to the fridge and locate lunch.<br />
<br />
"I saved the lettuce wraps Chloe brought to the meeting."<br />
<br />
"Mmmm…" He sees them and grabs them. "You really are awesome." He doesn't know how she makes them, some sort of secret recipe that shall not be divulged, but they're hummus and red peppers and black olives and pine nuts all mixed into some sort of paste with a bunch of yummy herbs wrapped up in romaine lettuce and if he ever had leftovers he'd take them to Abby and ask her to analyze them so he could make them for himself. But he's never had the self-control to have leftovers.<br />
<br />
He sits down next to her, happily chewing. "So, you think I'm being extra sweet to you for catching a nap with Tim?"<br />
<br />
She shrugs. "Wasn't sure entirely what that eye roll was. Hoping you're not feeling guilty."<br />
<br />
Now he's slightly alarmed. "What the hell do you think we did?"<br />
<br />
"Slept."<br />
<br />
Okay, that's right. "Then why would I be guilty?"<br />
<br />
"I don't know? You shouldn't be. It's not a big deal."<br />
<br />
"I'm not. And you're acting like it's a big deal."<br />
<br />
"There was some edge in the way you shrugged at me."<br />
<br />
Jimmy thinks about that. Some edge with Abby, too. Okay, why? "Irked," he says after a few seconds. "You and Abby are petting and praising me like I'm a toddler who successfully peed in the potty."<br />
<br />
Breena lights up. "Not to derail this, because this is important, but I might forget to tell you otherwise…" Jimmy nods. They have a lot of conversations where they start on one topic, flip over to another one, and eventually get back to the original one. Just part of busy lives, two full-time jobs, parenting, friending, and all the rest of it. "Molly did successfully notice she had to go, stopped playing with her toys, and got to the potty in time."<br />
<br />
He smiles at that. "Way to go, little girl!" Molly, if asked, will make it to the potty in time, but if she's doing something she finds interesting, she usually doesn't notice that she has to go until she's sitting in a puddle. "Have to do something special for that."<br />
<br />
"Already in place. Rented a new episodes of the Hoobs. When she wakes up…"<br />
<br />
"She gets to see the new episode as a reward, and we've got a quiet twenty minutes to get the living room tidied up."<br />
<br />
Breena nods. "That's the plan."<br />
<br />
"Okay, good. I can do that." Jimmy waits for a beat, sees Breena's done with that, and shifts gears from dad and back to lover. "However, the point I was making… comforting someone you love when they're hurting shouldn't get you a medal."<br />
<br />
"Yeah. It's… I don't know, kind of related to that, but not that. It's not you taking care of him, though that's good, too. It's… Okay, if wherever we go next involves sex, it'd be a lot easier if you and Tim are physically comfortable with each other. I know you don't want to fuck each other. And, I'm not talking about that, or you guys ever going there, but if you can be close and touch without freaking out, that makes everything easier."<br />
<br />
Jimmy hadn't thought about that. In fact, any of the physical mechanics of the four of them that involve him with Tim, he hasn't been thinking about. "And that's why you and Abby think me snoozing next to him is cool?"<br />
<br />
"You haven't seen the picture, have you?"<br />
<br />
"I was there."<br />
<br />
"Uh huh." Breena knows how Jimmy wakes up from naps. He's usually out of it enough he doesn't know his name. She pulls out her phone, opens the shot and shows it to Jimmy. It's exactly what he's expecting. He drifted off reading, sitting against the headboard, but apparently he slumped down, so he's back on the bed, in his usual arms and legs akimbo sleeping position, one hand on Tim's neck.<br />
<br />
He looks up at her. "Uh, yeah. He was having a hard time." Jimmy sighs. "Look, I'm the fucking moron who put him in the morgue to take x-rays. Understandably enough, that freaked him out. We spent some time with him in his office working, once he got tired, I got him home for a nap, he was still a little freaked out so I sat next to him, and, I can't put my hand on his shoulder. He's got it in a cast, and the damn thing still hurts, so yes, I'm holding his neck."<br />
<br />
Breena smiles. "It's sweet."<br />
<br />
He rolls his eyes again. "It's not a big deal."<br />
<br />
"Yes and no. No, comforting a friend isn't a big deal. Allowing yourself to be comforted by a friend isn't a big deal. It's normal. People do it all the time. But, come on, could you touch Tony like that, in his bed?"<br />
<br />
Jimmy shrugs. "Not right now." They're better, but there's also still an edge between them from the Jeanne thing. "I like to think that if he needed it, I could, but I'm fairly sure he'd never let me see that he needed it."<br />
<br />
"What'd you do when things were going bad with Ziva? I know you were willing to hug her." Because last summer Ziva had stayed with them when she and Tony were in the weeds, and Jimmy had been willing and able to listen and offer hugs as needed, they both were.<br />
<br />
Jimmy sighs, remembering. "Hand on his shoulder, or holding his hand. We were getting along as well as we ever had, and he was hurting worse than he ever had, and I didn't hug him."<br />
<br />
Breena looks at him, smiles a little, and he nods. "Thinking about that some when Tim was sleeping. You're right, we're not friends. Tony's my friend, and I couldn't offer him that sort of comfort."<br />
<br />
Breena nods.<br />
<br />
"But I don't know what Tim and I are. I've got words for you and me. And, whatever happens with Abby, between us, or you two, there are words for that, too. Lover, girlfriend, wife, mistress, whatever. But I don't have words for Tim. I love him more than anyone who isn't you or the girls, but…I don't want to have sex with him. If it'd have been Abby or Ziva, or any other reasonably in shape woman in bed with me, that little lizard part of the brain would have thought about it. Wouldn't have done anything, but I would have at least fantasized about it."<br />
<br />
Breena smiles at that, too. She knows Jimmy inside and out, and they are long past pretending they only find each other sexually interesting.<br />
<br />
"So, what were you thinking about, if not hot Tim fantasies?"<br />
<br />
"First off, I do not have hot Tim fantasies. Ever. I have hot you fantasies. And I have hot Abby fantasies. And I have scorching hot you and Abby and me fantasies. And when you tell me your foursome fantasies, I like them just fine, and I think they're hot, but if we're just in my head, and I'm thinking about sex, Tim more or less ceases to exist."<br />
<br />
Breena laughs while shaking her head. "So, what were you thinking about?"<br />
<br />
"How you kissing him didn't freak me out." She nods; she knows that. "And how I do think you're amazing because you can love so deep and sweet. And because you are who you are, you can kiss him, and I still feel secure and adored because I know you've got more than enough love for all of us. Because it's not an either or thing. Because we went home after, and you're still my wife." He's smiling gently at her. "You're my world, and because it's you, I get the chance of a bigger, grander, richer world, but no matter what, you're the center of it."<br />
<br />
She leans over and kisses him deep and slow.<br />
<br />
"I love you so much."<br />
<br />
She cups his face in her hands. "Love you, too."<br />
<br />
He smiles at her, eyes sparkling, and then says, "Also, I was thinking that Tim really knows how to put up mirrors, and when he can stand without a crutch, I'm getting him up to our room, and we're doing a little redecorating."<br />
<br />
Breena laughs at that. "Uh huh. Got something in our room you want to see more of?"<br />
<br />
His hand drops lightly to her breast and his eyes follow, then jump back up to hers. "Oh yeah!"<br />
<br />
<a href="http://charactersaremyheroin.blogspot.com/2015/02/shards-to-whole-chapter-405-guarded.html">Next</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02044409274474794091noreply@blogger.com0