Inscrutable

McGee gasped, eying Gibbs with an inscrutable expression as he realized that they were talking about the kitten like he was actually Tony DiNozzo. “You think the kitten is Tony and that’s why he’s missing?” McGee blurted.

Gibbs just grunted. He didn’t feel like explaining his reasoning to McGee.

McGee stared at Gibbs beyond confused now. As usual, he found Gibbs completely inscrutable to him. He didn’t know how Tony could read Gibbs so easily. Or at least, it had always seemed like Tony was able to read Gibbs easily to McGee.

“Was Gibbs seriously thinking that Tony was now a kitten? This wasn’t a sci-fi or fantasy novel. How would Tony being a kitten make any sense?” McGee couldn’t help thinking to himself and just barely managed to bite his tongue to stop from saying them aloud.

Gibbs ignored McGee and his confused stare, instead demanding, “What do we know so far?” Gibbs pointed to Abby and Balboa to find themselves a seat.

Abby tried to sit next to Gibbs, but he shook his head. Abby pouted, but Gibbs remained firm. Sulking, Abby settled into a chair by herself.

Balboa settled onto the loveseat between Abby and McGee’s chairs and explained, “In addition to the clue that you two were researching when you were captured, Abby found a bunch of cat hair in Tony’s apartment. She wants a sample from the kitten to match to the cat hair found there.”

Tony hissed at the idea of anyone purposefully taking his fur. Balboa ignored him, continuing with his sitrep, “She thought the kitten might somehow be related to this case or be able to provide a clue as to what is going on. Though there was more than one type of cat hair and we’re still not sure what that means.”

“The kitten is either Tony’s or is Tony himself. There is no other reason for it to come out when I called for DiNozzo. I don’t remember Tony ever having a cat, so I suspect it to be Tony, but I have no clue how or why he’d be a kitten.” Gibbs interjected. “The other cat hair is suspicious though and makes me think there may be more people besides Tony that can appear as human or as cats, so we need to be wary of all cats.”

McGee couldn’t take it anymore. This was all too crazy for him. “You guys are crazy! Tony can’t be a cat. Real life doesn’t work that way! This is not a science fiction movie or a fantasy movie where shape shifters are real.”

Gibbs glared at McGee, “You don’t have to stay. I thought you were worried about Tony and wanted to be a part of keeping him safe, but if it’s too much for you the door is right over there.” Gibbs gestured angrily to the door.

McGee sputtered, staring at Gibbs in shock.