"Dad..."
"What would your mother say if she could see you now?"
Don began, realizing that Alan knew the true reason of his visit. "She'd be glad..."
"That you don't trust my judgement?" Alan retorted.
"That I was looking out for you!" Don countered. He felt that what he did was for his father's good.
"Looking out for me?" Alan felt offended and it showed in his facial expression and tone. He found Don's behavior to be patronizing.
"Dad, you wouldn't believe half the stuff..."
"Coming out of your mouth?" Alan crossed his arms.
"Dad..."
"Come on Abby! Let's go!" Alan called his friend. He was rather annoyed at David as well.
"Dad! Wait!" Don exclaimed.
"Don't worry! I don't plan to elope with Abby nor give her my millions!" Alan told him sharply with a glare.
"Dad..."
"Look, I know that your mother asked you to look out for me when she was gone, but this is going too far!" Alan scolded him. Annoyed,he left, with Abby just behind him. After a good distance, Don and David began to follow them.
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The two friends went into the car.
"I'm sorry about Don..."
"It's okay" Abby shrugged as sheturned the key. Nothing happened. Shrugging, she turned the key again. Still nothing.
"Let me try it" Alan suggested, so they traded seats and the car still wouldn't start. So, he opened the hood to see what was wrong. After taking a good look, he had a couple of theories and acted on them. After about an hour, Abby suggested
"Let's call AAA"
"It's not necessary." Alan insisted. However, it became apparent after another half hour that whatever was wrong required a mechanic to fix it. They called AAA, who sent a tow truck, which took it to a mechanic who told them that it couldn't be fixed until the next day.
They took a taxi and checked into separate rooms in a hotel not to far from the strip.
"I'd like a room for tonight."Alan said.
"Would you like a double?" The clerk asked, as he saw Abby stand next the Alan.
"No! She's getting her own room!"
Both of them paid for their respective, neighboring rooms with their credit cards. Then, Alan called Charlie, but the professor wasn't home, so he left his youngest a message telling him about the car trouble and the need to stay overnight.
Meanwhile,Don and David waited for them in the latter's rental car. Since neither agent went in, this only confirmed their respective suspicions.
"I knew they were staying for more than a day!" David thought to himself.
In a taxi, the two friendswent to the Venetian for a dinner buffet, and some gambling.
After some time in the slots, Abby decided that she wanted to experiance some nightlife. So, she went to the receptionist and asked about local goth clubs.
"They have the best music and drinks!" he told her heartily andwrote down the address of a place.
"You can do that at home!" Alan, commented when Abby suggested it. He cringed at the thought of having to hear loud, 'so called music'.
"Let's just walk around the strip then?" Abby suggested.
"Sure!"
So, go around the strip they did, with Don and David following them. The latter wondered how late chapels in Vegas opened.
"It's so alive here!" Abby told Alan.
"Sure is. " They stopped walking for a bit to watch a mime.
"I'll pay you a million to spend the night with me!" Abby said in a sultry voice to distract said mime.
"Abby!" Alan protested.
"Fine, you can join us!"Abby told her friend in mock annoyance."But you'll have to pay half!"
Alan shook his head.
They walked a bit more and saw a street performer do a robotesque dance.
"Do you wanna proposition him too?" Alan asked wrly.
"I'm more of a mime girl" Abby told him, tongue in cheek.
Abby took out some kind of guide that she had gotten at the reception area and looked at it, Alan did so as well.
"Let's go to the volcano at the Mirage!" Abby suggested. It erupted on schuedule from seven in the evening until midnight.
"Okay" Alan agreed.
So they went and saw the eruption. Then the two friends went to the mini Eifel tower in the Paris hotel. Afterwards, they walked some more at the strip and talked.
"The strip is pretty cool!" Abby said, then asked"When was the last time you went to Vegas?"
"With Art, his wife,and my wife. It was just after I retired." Alan told her. "He's the one who set me up with that woman who had the pet ducks"
Abby chuckled and just then, the two saw someone singing the beatles song,"I want to hold your hand"in an operatic fashion, while accompanied by a flutist.
"Someone pop my eardrums!" Abby groaned with a gimace.
"This is enough to make John Lennon roll in his grave!" Alan said sardonically.
Meanwhile, Don, at least partly started to calm down. He noticed that the two didn't hold hands,nor do anything that would indicate them being a couple. However, his suspicious, F.B.I side still didn't trust Abby.
Some time passed and Abby decided to go to a place that sold deserts. Alan got a cheese cake, while Abby got a chocolate mouse one.
"This is delicious! Try some!" she said.
"I'm fine..." He loved how his desert had a thick layer of the special frosting used for cheesecakes. Savoring it, Alan joked "If my doctor could see me now!"
With a smile, Abby took a forkful of his desert and said "This cake rules!"
Just then, the pianist of the place started to play Karen Carpenter's "We've Only just Begun. Abby, Don, and David all noticed that Alan stopped eating his cake and seemed somber.
"What's wrong Alan?" Abby worried.
"My wife loved Karen Carpenter" Alan said.
"Really?" Abby asked softly.
"She bought every album and would play it on the big stereo I got for her , one Christmas." Alan remembered. "You know, to this day, Charlie still can't bring himself to listen to Carpenter songs."
"Wanna go outside?" Abby put a light hand on his shoulder, as a friend. This annoyed Don, who thought that she was trying to take advantage of Alans' vulnerability.
"I'll be fine."
"You're very lucky to have found someone like Margaret." Abby said wisely and gently ." Most people don't and end up with the wrong person."
"Like Gibbs?" Alan joked to lighten the mood.
"Yeah" Abby smiled. "It kinda hard to find the right person, when you spend all your free time in a basement"
Thankfully, after a bit, the pianist started to play, "Under my Skin", one of Alan's favorite songs.
"That's better!" he thought.
They finished their deserts, and explored the strip some more.
"Let's go to a bar!" Abby suggested.
"Okay"
They found a place with atmosphere, and good music.
"She is sooo checking you out!" Abby told him in a whisper and pointed to a woman in her eighties with purple hairas they sipped their drinks at a booth. .
"Oh..." Alan shrugged, and noticed some fellow bar patrons staring at them.
Eventually, they went to the hotel via taxi. Once it was seen, by Don that they would stay there the rest of the night, he insisted that David continue his vacation with Nina.
"I'll take it from here" he insisted.
Alan awoke around nine to a knock on the door.
"Delivery for Mr. Eppes!" Abby said with caffeine induced perkiness and two McDonald's bags on her hands.
"Thanks Abby!"
After eating, and finding out that the car was repaired,they were on their way back to Alan's home. It took Don a very short time to figure this out, so he decided to return by plane.
Charlie was home by the time they arrived at the house.
"How was Vegas?" the professor asked tenatively.
"We ran into Don!"Alan said evenly.
"See, we saw David and his girlfriendat some casino bar, after doing some karoake..." Abby started to explained.
"You guys did Karoake?" Charlie asked incredulously, and snickered at the thought of his father doing said activity.
"Anyway, he must have called Don." Abby continued.
"Don came into my office in a panic, telling me that you guys were in Vegas, and that he was gonna go there" Charlie laughed.
"Knowing him, he probably promised your mother that he'd take care of me" Alan said, though he was still annoyed at his eldest.
"I kinda doubt that following you was what she had in mind." Abby commented wisely.
Knowing that Margaret would have given Don a good scolding,Alan nodded in agreement.
"Did Edna call?" Alan asked.
"She left you a message to say that she had to stay another week."
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Some days passed, and Abby had to go back to Maryland. Her vacation had ended. Alan and Charlie found themselves missing her company. Abby found herself missing Alan.
"How was Los Angeles, Abby?" Ducky asked Abby during her first morning back..
"Great! Alan was a wonderful host!" Abby said."We went golfing, did some rollarblading, took a trip to Vegas, saw some movies, went to Universal studios,..."
"Sounds like quite a trip!" Ducky laughed.
"The only downside was that one of his sons was a total jerk!" Abby complained. "When we went to Vegas, he followed us there, like I was some criminal or something!"
"He obviously does not know you!" Ducky started to leave for the Morgue.
"Oh! Wait! I got you something" Abby stopped him.
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Later, she gave Gibbs the coffee the coffee thermos she had gotten him at Universal studios.
"Thanks Abbs!" he told her.
TBC
Author's Chapter Notes:
In this crossover, with Numbers, Abby and Alan become good friends via the internet.
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Part 9(aka chapters 32-35), Alan has a stern talk with Don, and the trip to Vegas continuues for the two friends.
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Part 9(aka chapters 32-35), Alan has a stern talk with Don, and the trip to Vegas continuues for the two friends.
Chapter End Notes:
I've got lots of chapters in this story, so I'll put a bunch at a time together.