𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄 ━━ 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐳𝐳𝐨

FOURTEEN | your ass

"Good morning, ladies." I walk in with my usual cup of chai tea in my hand. Tony responds with a raised brow. "I stand by what I said." He rolls his eyes.

"Eva, we have a question for you." Kate approaches me abruptly.

I just drop my things at my desk. "I'm all yours."

"When you're dating," Tony grabs me by the shoulders, "isn't there always a phony breakup that precedes the real breakup?"

"Uh. . ." I look between the two, completely confused as to where this conversation is going. "Sure?"

Tony laughs triumphantly while Kate pinches the bridge of her nose.

"That is why I like you much more." He boops me on the nose.

"Yeah, got it. Thanks." Gibbs pushes past Kate. "Grab your gear. Kate, get Ducky. Tony, gas the truck. Eva, drink up." He leaves just as quickly as he enters.

"Where we going?"

"With Gibbs, you never know."

The crime scene is under a full lockdown with intense security. They wouldn't let me, Kate, and Tony in even after clearing Gibbs.

"Oh, what an awful way to die." Kate stares up at the top of the cliff where our dead Marine fell from.

Tony and I stare up as well. "I can think of worse ways to go."

"Other than falling to your death?" I shoot him a glance.

"Getting eaten by a shark, being buried alive, falling into a wood chipper." Tony lists out.

"You've clearly given this some thought."

"Well, yeah. So?"

"Nothing, Tony. Absolutely nothing."

"DiNozzo, Eva!" Gibbs calls out aggressively. "Top of the cliff. Shoot and sketch."

"Gee, boss. It's a long way up." Tony responds, trying to tone down his anxiety.

"DiNozzo, was there something in my tone of voice that made that sound like a suggestion?" Looks like there's no getting out of this one.

I trek forward, Tony trailing behind me quickly. "We just had to talk about falling off a cliff, didn't we?"

As we go up, some of the debris starts falling off the edges of the cliff. Tony and I stay close to the inner part of the cliff, not in the mood to die.

"It's okay. Everything's going to be fine." I don't know if Tony's talking to me or himself.

One particular step leads to a lot more rocks toppling over, startling both of us. I stop in my step, but Tony accidentally bumps into me and knocks me forward.

But he catches by my waist, pulling me back quickly. "I've got you."

My back is pressed flush against his chest. Breathing heavily, we pause for a few moments.

"Thanks." I gulp nervously, peering down at what could have been my last view.

Soon, once we're done with the whole cliff sketch, we head back to headquarters. Kate, Abby, and I talk about pushy men, and Tony and Gibbs visit Autopsy.

"This never ceases to amaze me." Abby and I watch the vapor fill the locked cabinet where the two pieces of the D-link sit.

"Care to take a look?" She hands me a second pair of red glasses.

Nodding my head excitedly, I slip them on. "Obviously."

When she turns on the blacklight, we watch fingerprints magically glow on the D-link.