One Man's Coffee is Another Man's Poison

"Hey, Abs," Tony greeted entering the lab.

"Hey there yourself, Tony," she replied. "What brings you to my humble surroundings?"

"I'm hiding from Gibbs," Tony looked over his shoulder to ensure that his boss wasn't fast on his heels.

"What did you do now?" she asked shaking her head.

"Nothing," he answered indignantly.

At her doubtful expression he amended, "Well, technically I didn't do anything."

"Sit," she pulled out a stool for him, "and tell me what happened."

"It was turn to go for coffee," he began. "Well you'd think the coffee shop would know our standing order, but I asked for everyone's usual all the same."

"Uh-huh," she encouraged waiting for him to get to the dilemma that had him seeking refuge.

"I spotted a gorgeous woman," his eyes glazed ever slightly recalling her beauty.

Knowing he was going to start on a tangent, Abby quickly pulled him back, "And what does she have to do with the coffees?"

"I'm not certain, but clearly the order got messed up," he shook his head in disbelief. "All I know is when I got back and handed everyone's cups out Gibbs took one sip from his cup and before he could glare at me he took off for the men's room."

"Really?" Abby couldn't believe a coffee could have that effect on their fearless leader.

"Yeah! I can't even begin to think what could've happened."

"Everyone else's drinks were okay?" Abby asked wishing she could get her hands on Gibbs' drink and run an analysis on it.

"Just like always," Tony assured her.

"Hmm…," Abby had to get her hands on that cup. Knowing Gibbs though, he probably dumped the contents down the sink.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs barked behind the senior field agent before either Abby or Tony realized he'd entered the lab.

"Yes, Boss," Tony quivered.

"What the hell was in it that?" he asked wiping his mouth with a handkerchief.

"I don't know, Boss. I ordered the same thing I've always ordered," Tony defended himself.

"Tell me," Gibbs demanded.

"Well," Tony reflected. "I saved yours for last being the most simple to order," he smirked. Seeing his boss wasn't going to see the humor he continued, "I asked for a large black coffee. Simple."

"Uh-huh," Gibbs had a hint of doubt that's exactly what he'd ordered. "Were you distracted in anyway at the time?" he asked.

Tony smiled remembering the brunette that had caught his eye. "Well," he shrugged. Suddenly he recalled what he'd actually said when he ordered Gibbs' coffee. "Honestly Boss I had no idea I'd said it out loud."

"What did you order?" Gibbs repeated.

"I did order a large black coffee, sweet as honey and dark as chocolate," Tony replied. "I didn't think I'd said the last bit, I was just appreciating a woman standing next to me."

Gibbs nodded, "That explains it." He handed his cup to Abby before giving Tony one last glare and leaving the lab.

Abby began to prepare a specimen for her mass spec, already pretty sure what the results would be.

Tony lamented, "I didn't even get her name."

Abby reached out and slapped him on the back of the head.

"Hey, you're not supposed to do that," he rubbed where her hand had landed.

"Someone needed to," she stared at him. "Poor Gibbs. You could've killed him with that concoction!"

"It was an accident," Tony whined.

The mass spectrometer dinged and Abby looked at the results. Yep, coffee with chocolate and honey! She showed it to Tony who wasn't any more surprised than she was.

He left and returned to the squad room to find Gibbs with a coffee in hand.

"Glad to see you got a coffee to drink," Tony eased to his desk hoping to put the incident behind him.

"Yes, a nice looking brunette came up to deliver it. She and I are going out for dinner after work," Gibbs smirked and sat down behind his desk as Tony's jaw dropped in disbelief.