SquidgeWorld Archive

"Morgue, Dr. Mallard speaking."

"Ducky? It's Catherine. Catherine Willows, from the Vegas Crime Lab?"

"Catherine? Catherine?"

"You know, we met at the conference in Reno, last year. Blonde, blue eyes, long legs up to my ..."

"Ah yes, the dancer turned investigator, my crime fighting ballerina."

Catherine blushed. "It wasn't that kind of dancing, Ducky."

"If I recall correctly, my sweet Catherine, that both performers utilized a pole in their dance. Doesn't matter that yours was vertical, my dear."

"You are ever a true gentleman, Dr. mallard."

"And you ever a beautiful lady, my darling Catherine. To what do I owe the honor of this call? Have you and that handsome young man finally gotten together?"

"You mean Warrick?" Catherine blushes slightly. "Well, we've gotten a lot closer recently. You never know..."

"But that isn't why you called is it. I detect a note of distress in your tone."

"Yes, well, I meant to call you after we read the homeland security warning about the Y. Pestis incident you had. How is Tony?"

"He's doing better now. Sill in the hospital, I'm afraid. recovery, full recovery is weeks away."

"He was a random target right, I mean they weren't trying to get at him explicitly, right?"

"That's correct, my dear. He just happened to be the wrong person at the wrong time."

"Yeah, I'm all too familiar with that. a couple of days ago one of our agents, Nick Stokes, was abducted and buried alive with only 12 hours of air."

"My god, Catherine, was he killed?"

"No, fortunately, we were ale to rescue him, but just barely in time. The perp, the lousy bastard, blew himself up, and tried to do the same to us as well."

"Well I am grateful that you all are okay."

"Yeah, thanks Ducky. That's kinda why I'm calling. All of us are not okay."

"Go on."

"You remember Gil? Dr. Grissom?"

"Ah yes, the entomologist...yes, what about him?"

"He used to be Nick's supervisor until Nick started working for me."

"Yes/"

"Well he and Nick are very close. Very close."

"You mean they are lovers."

"Yes, but they've never shared their relationship with ay of us, but we all kinda know, you know?"

"Yeah, a similar situation here as well, as I told you before."

"Yeah, that's why I think it might be a good idea for Gil and Jethro to talk. They have a lot in common."

"Yes, I understand. Why don't you give me a number where Dr. Grissom can be reached?"

Katherine gives Ducky Gil's number. "Thanks Ducky. I think it will be good for the two of them to talk."

"I can't make any promises, my dear child, but I will do my best."

"Take care, Ducky."

"You too, Catherine."

***************

"Gil I really think you should give him a call."

"Catherine, why would I do that?"

"You have a lot in common."

"He's an entomologist and I'm a former gunny. What could we possibly have in common, Ducky?"

"Well for one thing Jethro, you're both crime scene investigators."

"And..."

"And recently an agent was the victim of an attack against the department."

"What happened, Catherine?"

"He opened an envelope with Y. Pestis bacteria."

"Did he..."

"...die? Ah, no, Jethro. They were able to rescue him just in time."

"This agent that was buried, he worked for Grissom?"

"Yes, I'm told that he and Nick were very close friends. Like you and Tony."

"How is Agent ???"

"DiNozzo. Tony. He's still in recovery, but they think he will be able to return to work after a while."

"And Special Agent Gibbs, he's down an investigator."

"Well Tony is a little more than just his investigator, Gil. Tony is Jethro's friend. Just like you and Nick, you know."

Gil eyed Catherine warily, but she made no further comment on the unspoken subject of he and Nick's relationship.

"Give him a call Gil. Talk. It might do you both some..."

"...good time to call him Jethro would be in the evenings, I suspect."

"I'm not making any promises Ducky. I don't know that I'll have time anytime soon..."

"Just take the number Gil. If you feel up to talking, call."

*******************

"Hello, Gil Grissom speaking."

"Mr. Grissom, this is NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. I hope I'm not disturbing you."

"No. No, I was just ... just... feeding my bugs." Gil replies quickly. In fact he had been sitting there staring into space, the phone jarring him back to the present.

"Ah, yes, you're an entomologist..."

"Yeah. The bug man."

"The bug man."

"And you?"

"I'm building a boat in my basement."

Gil smiles. "So did you hear the one about when the bug man and the boat man walked into a bar..."

Gibbs laughs lightly. Then there is a long silence on the phone as neither man speaks, lost in their own thoughts.

Jethro says, "How is CSI Stokes?"

Gil's voice hitches slightly as he responds, "Nick's ... He's hanging in there. It's is a, was a, very traumatic experience. He's trying to learn to cope."

"I... aah, yeah. I read the file."

"What about Agent DiNozzo."

"Tony? He's got some diminished lung capacity, will need therapy for months, but he's doing better. They moved him from ICU yesterday."

Another silence reigns for a moment.

"At least you have the satisfaction of knowing that the bastard who did this is dead," Jethro says quietly.

Gil lost the last shred of control he had at that moment. All that he had held in, from the moment he found out Nick was taken, came pouring out.

"Satisfaction? Satisfaction? The sick fuck blew himself up in front of me!" Gil yells into the phone. "My man, my Nicky, was still out there and I had this fucker's guts on me! Do you know how that made me feel? DO YOU!" Gil's voice cracks as he tries to suppress a sob.

"Yeah I do." Gibbs yells back. "In full, fucking Technicolor. Tony's lungs were filling with liquid and he was going to drown in it. And this 'FUCKING BITCH', with her fucking brain tumor, was lying about an antidote. I wanted to put a bullet in her head, Gil. I wanted to shoot her and let her fucking bleed out as I watched. She was killing Tony. Killing my lover. All because her fucked up spoiled brat offspring cried rape. Yeah you should be happy that the bastard's dead. Because you can bet the moment this bitch falls over, I'm going to dance on her fucking grave."

Jethro is pulling in lungs full of air as the tears stream down his face. Quietly he says "I would have shot and killed anyone who got in my way, Gil. Anyone."

Gil's voice is hoarse in reply. "Yeah. Yeah. Sitting there, watching Nicky... Yeah, you know how I feel, don't you?"

"Damn straight. Yeah, I know."

Gil takes another breath, willing his breathing to go back to normal. "Well, I need to get ready to go to work."

Gibbs nods his head. "I understand."

"Perhaps I can give you a call some other time?" Grissom asks hesitantly.

"Yeah," Jethro replies.

As they hung up, both men thought about the fact that they did have a lot in common.

******************

"Catherine Willows speaking."

"..."

"Oh, Horatio. Hi."

"..."

"Yes, yes. They did talk."

"..."

"Yeah, it was a good idea."

"..."

"You knew from experience, I know. Well it's a good thing Mac Taylor was there for you, too."

"..."

"Love you too, Horatio."

"..."

"Yeah, I'll talk with you later."