𝐑𝐔𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄 ━━ 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐳𝐳𝐨

TWENTY SEVEN | a kiss

warning: mentions eating disorders, blood, and the hospital setting

"Come on, Eva. Just. . ." I struggle to catch my breath, tightly clutching the handrails on either side of me. "Y-You've done this before."

Tears threaten to fall as I stare down at the water in front of me.

"Eva, you have to do this." My chest aches from heaving for so long. "He's not going to love you. None of them will if you don't do this." I feel my hands shake as I glance at my fingers.

But it's too late now. I hear the bathroom door open followed by a click of heels.

"Eva?" It's Kate. "Eva, are you in there?"

I flush the toilet, choking out a sob before standing to my feet. "Yeah, it's me."

She blows her nose into a tissue as I step out of the bathroom. Careful not to meet her eyes, I quickly wash and dry my hands.

"You alright?" The female agent flashes me a kind smile. "I could have sworn I heard someone puking their guts out in there."

Water sticks to my skin as I splash it against my face. "Yeah. I think it was someone else." She hands me another towel.

"Hey, you never showed up for breakfast the other day." Kate stands with her arms crossed over her chest. "Michael missed you."

Right. Michael.

"You didn't get my message? I wasn't feeling too well so I stayed home."

One of the perks of being an NCIS agent is you know how to lie. After all, you have to be able to catch lying criminals.

"We can reschedule. Once I get rid of this nasty cold."

The two of us walk back out to find Tony sorting through the mail.

"Ladies." He raises an envelope sealed with a kiss. "Which one of you sent this to me?"

Kate and I just laugh at the thought of one of us sending Tony a letter. Especially when we can yell at him whenever we want.

"Well, let me just open this bad boy then." He walks over to his desk, popping open the letter opener. "Let's see what pretty lady wants to get a piece of DiNozzo."

He leans forward and blows on the cut envelope, only for white powder to be distilled into the air.

To gather the rest of the floor's attention, Gibbs stands on top of his desk, whistling loudly. "We've opened a letter with white powder. Use the southeast corridor to the holding room. You all know the drill."

"Hey, Tony!" I throw an unopened water bottle in his direction.

Kate calls Emergency to inform them of the current situation. Tony rinses his hands and head to the best of his abilities.

"McGee, you up on procedures?" Gibbs points to the probie.

He nods his head profusely. "Yeah, we, uh, we shower, burn our clothes, get our blood tested. Nobody leaves the building until the substance is identified except. . ."

"Lucky me." Tony replies sarcastically. "I win a free trip to Bethesda to be pricked like a pincushion."

The five of us head down to the showers to scrub down. Tony, of course, tries to assure us and himself that the white powder is probably nothing dangerous.

And our conversation shifts to Honey Dust, which was once gifted to Gibbs.

"D-Do you really have to test the blood here?" I watch as the red liquid quickly fills the vial. "I think we should deliver to the, um, the hospital."