Peas In A Pod

Post – Revelle

TITLE – The Two Bears

Summary – With Papa Bear downed… The two bears decide it's time for Papa Bear got some Papa bear treatment from his children.

References – Maniac Cop, Goldilocks & The Three Bears

Everybody knew that Gibbs was in a real bad mood when he left NCIS that night. People weren't sure what to do or how to react. Two people in NCIS knew what to do and they were the only ones brave enough to approach the older man when he was like this. Abby and Tony always knew that the door to Gibbs' house was unlocked. But they still entered with some trepidation.

"Boss?" Tony asked. He knew there had to be a reasonable amount of caution and it was obvious that Gibbs was down in the basement.

"Boss-man," Abby called out from above the stairs.

There was along amount of silence before Gibbs responded. "Down here," he said it in an annoyed tone. He didn't want to be disturbed. All Gibbs wanted to do was stay in his basement and work the hell out of his boat.

"We brought Bourbon," Abby said cheerfully.

They all looked down at the workbench to see that the bourbon bottle was almost empty. "Looks like we're just in time boss," Tony shrugged his shoulders as they descended the stairs.

"We just wanted to come down and see if you're alright," Abby interjected.

"If you're going to get drunk and pass out on me like before… You best forget about it," Gibbs snapped at them. It was a bout of misdirected anger. He was thankful that the two didn't flinch at his outburst.

"Drink Boss," Tony lifted up the bottle and shook to get Gibbs' attention.

"You know where the glasses are," Gibbs didn't turn around. He had given up working on the boat and instead just wanted to be alone and reminisce about lost hopes. That seemed to be the order of his life.

Tony handed glasses around. "You want to talk about it Boss," Tony's query seemed more like a statement. He grinned at the thought. Of all the times Gibbs had done this to him it almost felt weird to have this role reversal.

Gibbs shook his head. "Nah," he said before taking a sip. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about his feelings.

"Come on Boss," Tony prodded. "How many times have I tried to use that with you… And how many times have you tried to talk me into talking?" Tony asked seriously. It was obvious that it wasn't going to be easy.

"Hundred-hundred," Gibbs answered with a shrug. "But really I am fine… Why don't you and Abby here take this over to Kate? I'm sure she needs you two more," Gibbs stated.

"That would be done tomorrow night," Abby filled Gibbs glass again. "Oh and we brought around take away food," She produced a large plastic bag of Chinese take away. "So there's no excuse and you better not say you're not hungry and you better not tell us you're not in the mood for talking," Abby warned him.

"Yeah… You always got to get us to talk," Tony chimed in. "So looks like the upper hand is on the other foot," that saying got curious looks from Abby and Gibbs. "Oh man we have to get you lot educated on movies," he dug into his chicken box. He'd forgotten what the hell he ordered.

Gibbs shook his head. The food tasted as good as Chinese takeaway could taste like and that wasn't too good. "So you ever had something that just got away Tony?" Abby asked to kick start the conversation.

This was what Tony was expecting, exactly this conversation. "Back when I was in Baltimore we chased down this rookie cop for ages… The young guy turned vigilante and began going after cops that he thought was on the take," Tony said. "Unfortunately the suspect did get away," Tony shrugged his shoulders. "Some people took it hard but we had to learn to get on with it," he said.

"Not exactly the same DiNozzo," Gibbs responded. Inwardly he winced. "Every case is different… Ari Haswari is a terrorist he doesn't care who he kills," he explained.

"I'm sure he wasn't comparing the two," Abby interjected.

"What are you two doing here anyway?" Gibbs asked. They still hadn't given him a valid reason to why they were here.

"Well you see Boss-man," Abby answered before Tony could even think of a response. "You're our papa bear and you're hurting… So, me-bear, baby-bear over there came over here to see if our papa was alright," Abby had been practicing that sentence over and over.

Gibbs looked over at Tony who shrugged. "Yeah… What she said?" He laughed and Gibbs just shook his head.

There conversation was interrupted by a voice coming from the stairs. "Gibbs… It's me," Kate's voice travelled down the stairs.

"I guess that'd be Goldilocks," Tony smiled. There were times when things seemed to just fall into place.

"Goldilocks?" Kate raised her eyebrows. "I see you've already got company," she said.

"Got room for one more," Abby said as she saw the pizza and beer under Kate's arms. "Especially if you brought enough to share," she said cheerfully.

"What you guys talking about?" Kate asked as she sat on part of the boat.

"The one that has got away," Abby said. "You know, when I was going through my training there was just this DNA match that wouldn't match… To this day I swear the instructor swapped samples when I wasn't looking to make me look like a fool," Abby said with a grim smile. "Nobody makes a fool out of Abby. Think that's rule number six or something like that," she added to make light of it.

Tony laughed and looked in Kate's direction. "Kate?" Tony asked.

"I think I'll wait to hear more of your stories," Kate answered eating some of the pizza.

"Don't think they want to hear my maniac cop story again," Tony shrugged. "So spill it Katie," Tony stated.

"Gibbs?" Kate looked at her boss who was sitting quietly in the corner. "I'm sure this isn't the first person that slipped through the fingers," she said.

Gibbs studied the empty glass intently for a second before Tony filled it up. "I know it's hard to believe but no… Nobody else has slipped through my fingers," Gibbs' eyes narrowed as he took another drink.

"I'm afraid that Ari is the only person I let get away," Kate pulled a face as she drunk some of the bourbon.

"You know… It is widely believed that there is no such thing as the one that got away," Another voice entered the basement. "It's only a matter of time before the paths cross again."

"Welcome to the party Duckman," Abby said.

"I'm glad we brought enough to go around," Tony said and they were soon running out of food to. They hadn't counted on everybody joining in.

"Thank you Anthony," Ducky said as he took the mug. "You know I was coming to see if you were alright… But it looks like I've been beaten to the punch," he said. "You know, slipping through the fingers was first thought of when a young fisherman off the coast of Italy commented on dropping a fish into the water… He promptly commented, 'It slipped through my fingers,' it soon spread around that letting one slip through the fingers is the one that got away," Ducky explained.

"Welcome to the party Duck," Tony cheerily responded. "We came to see if our boss was alright," Tony laughed.

"Yeah, we have papa-bear, mama-bear and baby-bear," Abby pointed to Gibbs herself and Tony.

"Hey… Easy on the baby bear," Tony said. "Kate here's Goldilocks," he said with a smile and got a bad look from Kate in response.

"Then what about Ducky… Ducky's here to," Abby responded.

"He could be the officer who arrests Goldilocks for thievery and trespassing," Tony laughed when an empty takeaway box struck him. "Hey Kate," he said in between bouts of laughter. "Seriously though," Tony raised his glass to make a toast. "Here's to ones that won't get away and to the ones where it's a matter of time before they get caught," everybody let out a cheer. "You know," Tony laughed once again. "This reminds me so much of a series finale. All the characters getting together to get through hard times," Tony said with a smile.

A/N: Ok, I didn't realize that writing one shots like this for a whole series would be this tough. Who wants me to do series two the same way? Oh and I never thought it'd be possible to reference Maniac Cop and Goldilocks in the same story and still keep the one shot flowing. Anyone up for series 2?