Disclaimer: NCIS is copyrighted material belonging to DPB, Don McGill, et al. I'm just a poor boy with my nose pressed up against the glass.

Author's Note: I'm having a major case of writer's block with my next Mike Franks story. This story came to me in the WaWa while I was waiting for the 100% Columbian to brew up. I'm hoping it will unblock me.

Technical Notes- Jargon and slang ahead:

SOI- School of Infantry. After Boot Camp, where new Marines with an Infantry MOS go to learn their trade. The SOI is at Camp Lejuene.

MOS- Military Occupational Specialty. Your job in the Corps.

Float- At sea deployment. Usually lasts six to eight months.

USS Trenton (LPD-14)- Austin class amphibious transport dock. Carried 1436 Marines. Sold to the Indian Navy, January 2007.

Sea daddy- Older experienced Marine or Sailor who mentors his younger subordinates.

Bug juice- Sweet Kool Aid type drink served in Navy and Marine mess halls. Comes in red, blue and green with no taste difference between the three.

Gibbs' kitchen Saturday 0600 hrs.

The coffee maker hissed and popped signaling it had finished brewing. Leroy Jethro Gibbs got up from the kitchen table and poured his first cup of the day. The taste of the Jamaican blend made him smile.

"Lifer juice."

It was what Staff Sergeant Francis X. Moran had called coffee. When Gibbs had been a young Marine fresh out of SOI, Moran had been his platoon sergeant. It was Jethro's first "float" as a Marine. A six month deployment to the Med aboard the USS Trenton (LPD-14). Sgt. Moran had taken Gibbs under his wing, becoming his "sea daddy".

The platoon sergeant had mentored many Marines in his career. Showing them what they needed to know to function in the Fleet. Some of his advice needed to be taken with a grain of salt however. Moran's advice about how to conduct yourself on shore leave for example. If you looked closely at his uniform sleeve you'd see the faint shadow of where the extra rocker of a Gunnery Sergeant's chevron used to be.

Gibbs moved towards the basement. He wanted to get a good days work in on the boat. Later he would be going over to Ziva's for dinner. Abby had organized a "team bonding" event and got Ziva to cook. Abby got Gibbs to come by using her status as his "favorite", knowing he wouldn't refuse her.

As the day went by, the first pot of coffee disappeared. The second pot was brewing as Gibbs idly looked out his kitchen window.

"Lifer juice."

Staff Sergeant Moran used to drink his coffee black, no sugar.

"Out in the boonies lad, sugar and milk can be hard to come by."

Jethro had never really been a coffee drinker before joining the Corps. Even during boot camp, he drank either milk or "bug juice". After boot camp, during infantry training at Camp Lejuene, he had the occasional cup.

That all changed when he started serving with Sgt. Moran. In the two years he knew him, Gibbs rarely saw his mentor without a coffee cup in his hand. Jethro had held out the longest of any of the good sergeant's protégés. He lasted three months. Ever since that time he has been well and truly hooked.

Even in the field, Moran at the earliest opportunity would dig a small coffee pot out of his ruck. He would brew up a pot from grounds he had gotten a cook aboard ship to make. Gibbs had always ragged Moran about his "custom coffee".

"Just because I'm sleeping in a hole in the ground, doesn't mean I can't have a decent cup of coffee lad."

By 1700, Gibbs called it a day. His hands, arms and shoulders were sore. He was ready for a shower and dinner. Before heading upstairs he cleaned the coffee maker. Readying it for tomorrow's round of "lifer juice".

A/N: While my addiction to coffee is not as profound as Gibbs', I still have to have at least 32 ounces of coffee a day or I can be a bit grumpy. As has been pointed out by my muse's assistant, this really isn't a story per se. It's more like background. I'm thinking about doing a story about bourbon next. What do you guys think? The green button's below. Give it a push.