Camp Chaos
- Day 2: Hell before breakfast -
Gibbs woke suddenly and looked around the cabin, everyone else was asleep and moonlight was flooding through the cracks between the thin curtains. He stood up quietly and crept to the door, he picked up his torch and slipped out of the cabin and into the wash cabin. He used the toilet and returned to the cabin a few minutes later, he sneaked back inside and looked around, everyone was still fast asleep.
He put his torch down and crept back towards his bunk, his eyes followed the beam of light cast by the moon. It shone across Jenny's t-shirt highlighting the bare flesh between it and her shorts, she was outside of the sleeping bag and her legs were curled on top. He stared at her sleeping form, his eyes travelling upwards to her long hair spread over the pillows and draped over her shoulder. She looked so peaceful, he lifted his hand and brushed her hair away from her face gently, she twitched and he touched her hand lightly. She lifted her hand and slipped her fingers between his; a smile lighting up her sleeping face. He removed his hand carefully and resisted the urge to kiss her forehead; he slipped back into his bunk and fell asleep, that night he dreamed for the first time in years.
When he woke in the morning he could picture the scene from his dream vividly, he smiled as the details repeated themselves. As he lay watching the events in his mind he failed to noticed the curious face watching him as he grinned and nodded to himself, 'watcha smiling about?' He looked around at the whisper to see a pair of green eyes watching him closely, her mouth twisted into a lopsided grin and her eyebrow raised. 'My dream, good dream,' he looked up into her inquisitive face.
'What?' She slipped onto the bunk, leaning forwards to get her head underneath her bunk, she settled herself on her stomach beside his legs, watching him. 'What was the dream, bet it wasn't as good as mine,' he pushed himself up a little and stared at her for a moment, he had never been able to say no to that face. 'Dreams are personal,' she raised both eyebrows at him, 'Positano, il mente della navale,' he grinned as he watched her cheeks flush slightly, she bit her lip as she grinned.
'What's il mente della navale?' A voice asked behind them, they both looked up to see Tony grinning from ear to ear from his bunk, 'the spirit of the sea?' A second voice translated, 'sounds like a boat,' a third jumped in, 'what about a boat?' the groggy voice of McGee complained as he peered out from inside his sleeping bag, 'Gibbs was just about to tell us the significance of il mente della navale,' Abby grinned from above him.
Gibbs frowned and looked at Jenny, she shrugged her shoulders, 'er why is the director on your bunk boss?' Tony asked scrutinising the way Jenny was laying on her front beside Gibbs, 'I dunno, why don't you ask her?' Tony turned to Jenny, 'il mente della navale? And why are you on his bunk?' Jenny climbed off the bunk and shrugged her shoulders, 'it was more comfortable than standing up,' she picked up her wash bag and a clean clothes and headed to the door, she was followed by the groaning of matressess and moans of the others getting up too.
'You still haven't told us about the boat?' Tony piped up as they stepped outside, Gibbs ignored him. Jenny looked behind at the group quickly before marching towards the showers before she could be interrogated. She slipped inside a toilet cubicle when she heard Tony's voice behind her, 'you know you're making it more and more suspicious the more you refuse to comment,' the sound of a shower being turned on seemed to be Gibb's reply.
She heard Tony whisper outside her door, 'I'm almost certain the boss was probing his probie,' 'Tony, that's so crass,' 'hey, it's a tongue twister, the bosses boss was being probed by her boss as a probie,' Jenny sighed as she flushed her toilet and appeared behind Tony. 'The bosses boss was not being probed by her boss as a probie,' Tony jumped and went white as a sheet as he turned to see her washing her hands, 'I um, ' 'nor was the boss probing his probie when she wasn't his boss but the bosses probie,' came the shout from within the shower. 'Woah, he's got like supersonic hearing,' 'nope, you have a mouth like the Mississippi,' Tony opened his mouth and closed it again like a goldfish. He looked around for the others and saw the shower doors close, he sighed and headed into the only free cubicle.
As Ziva was stood rinsing the shampoo from her hair an irritating sound reached her ears, a groan from the cubicle beside her and the other cubicles told her the others could her it too, 'Tony!' She shouted, 'I'm singing in the rain, Just singing in the rain, What a glorious feelin', I'm happy again,' she glared at the tiles in front of her, 'Tony, do you have to sing,' 'I'm laughing at clouds, So dark up above, The sun's in my heart, And I'm ready for love, of course I do Zee-vah, Let the stormy clouds chase, Everyone from the place.'
'Please stop singing Tony,' McGee asked from his shower cubicle, 'nope McGrouchy, Come on with the rain, I've a smile on my face, I walk down the lane, With a happy refrain, Just singin', Singin' in the rain,' 'finally, its over,' Abby sighed from her cubicle, but her sigh became a loud groan. 'Dancin' in the rain, Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah, Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah, I'm happy again! I'm singin' and dancin' in the rain! I'm dancin' and singin' in the rain…'
'Tony we're asking you nicely to at least turn the volume down a bit,' came the tactful input from Jenny, Tony shrugged his shoulders and continued to sing but quieter. 'Why am I smiling, And why do I sing?' 'Yeah why do you sing DiNozzo?' 'Why does September, Seem sunny as spring? Why do I get up, Each morning and start? Happy and head up, With joy in my heart, Why is each new task, A trifle to do? Because I am living, A life full of you.' 'Aww DiNozzo I didn't know you felt that way, I'm touched,' Gibbs called sarcastically from his shower. 'Now do us a favour and shut up with the singing.'
'Ever the diplomat Jethro,' a female voice sounded outside the cubicles, everyone fell silent as the voice continued, 'I saw you last night at dinner Jethro, you and your latest bimbo that's too quick to drop her panties, she reminds me of that woman you were training in '97, pretty, probably slept her way to the stop by now, after she'd finished with you of course,' 'what makes you so sure she even started with me?' Gibbs asked impatiently, he'd seen her the previous night but had ignored her and decided to keep it quiet.
'She was all over you like a rash and you loved every minute of it,' Gibbs rolled his eyes, 'I told her to do it,' 'why do I find that so hard to believe Jethro,' 'You were sleeping with the postman, of all people in DC and it had to be the postman, and I wanted you to know I didn't, and for the record don't, give a damn who you sleep with,' 'right, what was her name, Jemma, Jenna, Jessie?' 'Jenny,' Gibbs answered irritably as he pulled on his clothes. 'Ah yes, Jenny,' she sneered.
He stepped out of the shower cubicle fully dressed and tapped on the next door, 'you ready sweetheart,' 'one minute,' came the reply. McGee, Abby, Ziva and Tony all appeared from their showers eager to watch the show. Jenny slipped out of her cubicle and smiled widely at Gibbs, she turned her attention to the redhead glaring at her, 'Diane? What a small world, how um, nice, to see you again,' Ziva hid her amusement as the older woman frowned at her hand being shaken vigorously by the chirpy woman she had just been bitching about.
'And who's this handsome gentleman, he's very quiet, what's wrong talking not covered by your fees?' Gibbs saw the anger flash in the eyes of his former flame, 'let's put our things back in our cabin and then go to breakfast,' he jumped in dragging Jenny out of the cabin with the rest of his team bursting to laugh behind him. When they reached the cabin Gibbs closed the door behind him, 'do not provoke her, we need to stay on her good side so she doesn't blow our cover.'
'We could always use her suspicions to our advantage, you had the badge made up by a friend so you could pretend that's where you worked, and use the long hours to escape your overbearing wife, seeking solitude in the health spa owned by the charming and beautiful Jenny, with whom you started a relationship after you caught your wife against the stairs with the postman,' Gibbs glared at Jenny who was smiling innocently as she brushed her wet hair, 'thank you for telling them the details of my marriage breakdown,' 'any time,' she replied.
'By the way, how did we all meet? I want no um er um er uming if someone asks,' Gibbs looked around at the others for ideas, 'Tony, you're the one with all the movie trivia and an overactive imagination,' Tony grinned, 'thanks boss, er me and Ziva are personal trainers working at the health spa? Abby is head of the aromatherapy and massage stuff and McGee does the bookings and website and stuff?' 'For once you are useful Tony, everyone got that,' the other nodded in assent, 'Tony you forgot one thing,' 'what would that be Jenny?' 'What does Gibbs do?'
Tony frowned, 'um, retired?' he barely whispered when he spoke expecting to be slapped around the back of the head, 'ex-marine, carpenter by trade, does the maintenance around the spa,' Ziva suggested, 'sounds good, now breakfast, and don't go near Diane,' he added looking directly at Jenny, 'why would I want to go near that stuck up, bitter and twisted, jealous ex of yours?' Gibbs stared at her and she stared back, 'it won't work on me Jethro,' 'just promise me you won't start any arguments,' 'I promise I won't start any arguments, now I thought you wanted breakfast,' she led him out of the cabin and they headed towards the mess hall.
Tony turned to Ziva as they watched their bosses walking in front of them, 'Diane is so Catherine Zeta Jones,' 'what?' Ziva asked, prepared for his first move reference of the week, 'Catherine Zeta-Jones, America's sweethearts 2001 romcom, see Gibbs is John Cusack, wound up by his jealous diva of an ex-wife, he cheated on her and he still loves her, they argue and she's jealous because her sister, Julia Roberts, is in love with Catherine's ex-husband and he cares about her, she tries to get him back but in the end he realises he doesn't still love his ex he's in love with the sister.'
Ziva rolled her eyes, 'Do not let them hear you comparing them to a romantic comedy,' she warned glancing at the backs of their bosses, 'they will find hundreds of ways to make your life miserable.' 'She's right Tony,' McGee added passing them with Abby, 'Julia and John get together at the end right?' Abby asks Tony, 'er yeah, that's why it's a romcom, with the soppy cheesy grins at the end with the sunset over the desert,' 'maybe we should make sure our little romcom has a happy ending too,' McGee stopped and looked at Abby, 'no, no, no,' 'what,? Ziva asked looking from Tony to Abby to McGee, 'Abby wants to play matchmaker,' 'they'll kill us.' Ziva stated simply as she headed into the mess hall, she spotted Jenny and Gibbs looking at the food.
When they had all sat down with their choice of breakfast the woman who had greeted them the previous day called for quiet, 'We'll be heading to the high ropes course in just under and hour, we've divided you into three teams of four, in these teams you will tackle the three sections of the course, okay?'
Murmurings of assent filled the room for a moment, 'I'll read out the teams, when your name is called can you wave so everyone knows who you are, okay, team one, Anthony and Ziva DiNozzo with Andrew and Rachel Sherman, team two Timothy and Abigail McGee with Steve and Michelle O'Connor, and finally team three, Jethro and Jenny Gibbs with Alan and Diane Butler.'
Gibbs set his fork on his plate and glared at the remains of his eggs, Jenny stabbed her pancakes ferociously and the other four looked at their food nervously. Tony turned to Ziva, 'Train wreck the sequel, did I mention how much I hate sequels?'