**The Bone Yard**
All three of the agents watched as Fornell made his way to the elevator nonchalantly, smiling at them as if they hadn't thought he had killed himself in his jail cell.
"Quit staring. Get back down to the gym, we still have close combat training to finish." Gibbs snapped, turning and heading for the other elevator.
Tony and McGee both groaned as Kate grinned, anxious for the opportunity to kick McGee's ass again. "C'mon, boys. Not afraid of a little friendly competition, are you?"
"Of course not, Katie. I'm more than willing to bet that you can kick Probie's ass again. Say...20?"
Kate chuckled. "Sounds good. Abby's betting on you beating Gibbs, even though I told her he already beat you once."
"That's 'cause she's my girl." Smirking, the Italian stood up and leaned over the younger woman's desk, his voice dropping to a whisper. "She knows that I'm good at pinning."
"That's disgusting, DiNozzo." She chided, pushing his shoulder back.
He chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "I can't help that it's what I'm good at."
Rolling her eyes, Kate pushed herself up from her desk and headed for the elevator. Tony followed after her, clapping McGee on the shoulder as he passed. "C'mon, Probie. Time for a workout."
By the time they got changed and stepped out of the locker room, the only other person occupying the gym was Gibbs. It was late, and despite the long day they had, it was clear that their boss wasn't going to allow a reprieve on their 'training'.
Tony immediately started pulling on the boxing gloves, almost excited to get back in the ring despite getting laid out by the older man the day before. "Ready for round two, Boss?"
"No round two, DiNozzo. You're with Kate."
"But...but Gibbs..." He hesitated, watching her smirk at him as she stretched.
The older agent smirked at the Italian before he climbed into the ring, ignoring the stuttered protests.
Turning back to his female partner, Tony couldn't help but cringe at the almost feral grin on Kate's face.
"What's the matter, DiNozzo? You aren't afraid to wrestle with a girl, are you?"
"Girl? I don't see any girls in here."
Kate narrowed her eyes at Tony before she moved her hands to her hips. "That so, Tony?"
"I uh... I just... I didn't..."
"Save it. It'll just make kicking your ass all that more enjoyable."
Swallowing hard, Tony glanced back into the ring where Gibbs was quietly coaching McGee before he turned back to Kate, giving his most confident smile. "Let's do this then."
They barely made it to the mat before they started circling each other, looking for an opening to take advantage of. Tony let up first, getting cocky when he saw that Kate was getting frustrated.
"What's the matter, Katie? Can't..."
He was stopped mid sentence when Kate lunged for his leg, pulling it out from under him and watching as he fell flat on his back.
He groaned, his breath knocked out of him as he hit the mat. Recovering quickly, he hooked his leg behind her knee and flipped her onto her back, managing to grab one of her wrists as he pushed himself up.
The Italian rose to his knees before Kate's free arm flew up and hit him on the shoulder, knocking him back on his heels. Lunging forward, he grabbed her other wrist and pinned her to the ground, straddling her hips to prevent her from moving.
"Haha! Thought you were gonna get me. Looks like Abs is gonna get her money after all!" He taunted, his eyes going wide when his partner lifted her leg and kneed him.
Tony fell forward, releasing Kate's wrists just in time for her to push him away, accidentally scratching him right above his eye.
"Fuck!" He cried, reaching his hand up to cover the bleeding mark on his eyebrow. "Damn Kate, haven't you heard of nail clippers?"
She giggled, rolling her eyes as she knelt next to him and pulled his hand away from his face. "There's barely a mark, Tony. And it's already stopped bleeding."
The older man glared at her and pushed himself to his feet, pouting as he headed for the elevator. Once inside, he pressed the button for Abby's lab and leaned against the cool metal wall, hoping that she hadn't gone home yet.
"Hey Tony. Thought you guys would've gone home by now." Abby smiled, walking out of her office. As she got closer, she frowned, seeing the small cut above his eye. "What happened?"
"Oh, you know. Gibbs thought it'd be a good idea to finish our close combat training."
"Yeah, I heard." The Goth chuckled quietly, pulling him over to a stool and sitting him down on it. "How'd this happen? There's nothin' sharp in the ring."
He scoffed, reaching up to touch the cut on his forehead only to have Abby slap his hand away. "Yeah, well, it was apparently my turn to get the beat down from Kate."
She barely managed to stifle her laughter as she cleaned the small cut with some antiseptic on a cotton ball. "Aww...you couldn't take her?"
"You know, I try to be a gentleman, and what do I get? A kick to the nuts."
"Poor baby." Abby cooed, cupping his cheek in her hand as she leaned in to kiss his forehead. "You know better than to hold back with Kate though. You were there when she kicked Timmy."
"I just wanna know what the hell her brothers did to her as a kid to make her so damn angry."
She cocked an eyebrow at him, leaning back against the counter. "You just don't understand, Tony 'Only Child' DiNozzo. Older brothers are a pain in the ass. There's plenty of times I wanted to kick BB in the nuts." She smirked, looking toward the ceiling thoughtfully. "Once when I actually went through with it too."
"Oh yeah? How'd that work out for you?"
"Not too well. He spray painted all my stuffed animals pink for payback. Mama made me throw 'em away. So I dressed his GI Joes in dresses I got from Britty's Barbies. Needless to say we both ended up gettin' spanked. It wasn't pretty."
"I bet." He chuckled, cringing when his head throbbed. "Got any aspirin, Abs?"
She nodded and reached behind her monitor to grab the small bottle of pills she kept there. Handing him two, she offered her Caf-Pow! to him, watching as he took a sip to wash the pills down, wincing at the strong taste.
"How the fuck do you drink that stuff?" He asked, trying to get the taste out of his mouth.
The Goth shrugged, taking a sip for herself before setting the large cup back on the counter next to her computer. "I don't think about it, really. My taste buds are probably burned out after all the years eating Cajun cooking at home."
"I won't contest that one. It's the only explanation as to why you still drink that crap. And you call Gibbs' coffee swill."
"Funny, DiNozzo." She teased, punching him playfully in the shoulder. "Very funny."
"Well, I'm a funny guy, Abby. You know that."
Abby rolled her eyes and reached up to put a small band-aid on his cut. "I plead the fifth. There. All better." She smiled, leaning forward to kiss the bandage.
"I've got another 'boo-boo' for you to kiss...if you're interested."
She reached out and smacked him on the chest. "Nice try, Tony."
"It was worth a shot." The Italian shrugged, accepting the compact she offered him and groaning when he saw the newly covered cut. "Damn. I was supposed to go out on a date tonight. What am I supposed to tell her?"
"The truth? That you let your *female* partner kick your ass in close combat training." She smirked, turning to her computer and powering it down.
"Cute. I'm sure she'll wanna sleep with me then."
She shrugged. "Well, you could always cancel and we could get takeout and watch a movie."
"See? I knew you'd be interested in kissing my other 'boo-boo'."
"Yeah, unless you're planning on takin' me out to Cafe Atlantico, there won't be any more 'boo-boo' kissing tonight."
He pretended to pout, sticking out his bottom lip and giving her his best puppy dog eyes.
"That never works on me, DiNozzo, and you know it." The Goth smirked again, walking over to her Mass Spectrometer and turning it off.
Pushing himself off of the stool, he walked over to her and rested his hands on her hips, pressing himself against her back. "Never say never, Abby-girl."
She turned around, allowing the older man to crowd her back against the machine as her voice dropped to a whisper. "You should be careful what you wish for, T."
"Oh really?"
"Hey Abs, I was hoping..." McGee stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of his girlfriend pinned against her Mass Spec, her face only inches away from Tony's as his hands rested on her hips. Turning around, he left just as quickly as he had entered, leaving the pair alone in the lab.
"Oops."
Abby reached up and pushed him away from her. "That's all you can say? 'Oops'?" She cried, taking off into the hallway, calling McGee's name.
Frowning deeply, he leaned against the prep table as he watched her follow after her boyfriend, trying to explain the situation to him. She would be successful, of course, reassuring the junior agent that there was no threat from the Italian, then they would go about their evening as if nothing had happened. He dropped his head back and released a heavy sigh as he stared at the ceiling.
It had been nearly a year since Abby hooked up with McGee, and he had been lucky to pry her away for one night a month so they could talk and watch a movie like they used to. He couldn't help but wonder if they were ever going to be able to get back to where they were before. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he pushed away from the prep table and headed for the elevator, intent on heading home for the night.
"I'll talk to her tomorrow." He told himself, taking one last look at the lab before the heavy metal doors blocked it from his sight. "Tomorrow."
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