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Jimmy hummed to himself as he cleaned and put away things in Autopsy. Dr. Mallard had a conference, so he was on his own. He used this to his advantage by playing his music and singing along to it. He couldn't normally do this, but with Dr. Mallard out and no bodies to process nobody could fault him for bringing a little fun to his work for the day.
He'd already completed the first list of tasks that Dr. Mallard left behind. He hadn't seen another agent all day. He couldn't help being a little lonely. He would be glad when Dr. Mallard returned.
His mind wandered to the weekend and his plans for it. He didn't know if Dr. Mallard had purposefully scheduled a conference to avoid it or not. He wouldn't blame him if he had. Abby was a lot to take at times.
Abby's holiday party would take place on Sunday and he needed to figure out what to bring. He wasn't looking forward to it. He still didn't feel like a part of the time in the slightest.
He always wanted to be included by the MCRT, but even with Dr. Mallard gone it was still like he didn't exist. He couldn't help feeling even more alone. The lights in Autopsy turned off after he'd stood still for too long and that only added to the loneliness.
Abby had pestered him until he'd agreed to provide some sort of baked goods for the party. What kind? He had no idea.
As he contemplated his options, he realized that he knew someone else who was always on the outside and looking in when it came to the MCRT. They weren't an NCIS Agent, which in this case might actually be preferable. He didn't know if he should actually reach out to them, however.
They hadn't exactly given him their contact info. Jimmy didn't want to come across as creepy, even though he probably had been a little bit. It's just that he'd really wanted to talk to this person for a long time.
He wondered if they liked baked goods. Jimmy took a picture of one of the recipes on his short list of possibilities and sent it off with a brief description of who he was. He'd wait and see what they thought of that before sending any additional messages.
He didn't want to cross a line in his excitement at finally taking the step to talk to this person. His nerves had gotten the better of him for a long time. After all, it wasn't like he wanted to date this guy.
"What's that for?"
"An option for the holiday treats I'm supposed to provide for the holiday potluck that Abby is doing for the MCRT," Jimmy replied.
"Do you need a taste tester?"
"Are you volunteering?" Jimmy didn't know what to make of this conversation so far. He hadn't expected Fornell to be so receptive to getting together, but maybe the man just liked eating food he didn't have to make himself.
"I could be. I haven't had homemade cookies in a long time."
Jimmy mused as he contemplated the idea of Tobias coming over. He didn't hate it. "Well you're welcome to come over after work today and help me pick what to make if you want."
"Sounds good," the FBI Agent responded.
Jimmy texted him his address and the full list of recipes with a suggestion of picking the one he'd most like to try. Jimmy still didn't know what he wanted to bring to the actual party. He hoped that tonight's taste test would help narrow down the list, even if they only had time for a few of the options.
After completing his tasks for the day, he headed home. He swung by the store to make sure he had supplies for his and Fornell's top picks. The one Tobias liked surprised Jimmy as it wasn't one of the more popular ones in his head.
He arrived to find that Fornell had already beaten him there. "Hey," he greeted Jimmy.
Jimmy nodded at him as he unlocked the door. "Hello. Come on in."
Jimmy set the groceries down on the counter before disappearing into his bedroom to drop his backpack.
"Make yourself at home," Jimmy offered as he washed his hands.
Fornell pulled up a stool and sat at the kitchen counter.
"You know I could be terrible at baking?" Jimmy prompted as he pulled out the other ingredients he needed to make the peppermint and white chocolate chip cookies that Tobias requested. "Are you sure you want to chance it?"
"Abby wanted you to bring something. You can't be terrible."
Jimmy rolled his eyes. "Abby has never tasted anything I made."
Fornell raised an eyebrow. "Well as I don't know why you'd be trying to poison me, I'll just have to take that chance."
Jimmy shook his head. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
"Are you really that bad?"
"Let's just say that my girlfriends prefer to do the baking."
Tobias chuckled. "I'm sure it's not that bad. You probably just don't skimp enough on the fat content or something."
Jimmy shrugged. "If you say so."
"Well I'm watching the process and don't see anything dangerous yet."
"Are you sure you know what to look for when it comes to dangerous cooking?"
"I'm sure it's fine."
Jimmy moved the peppermint and white chocolate chip cookies into the oven. He started the water and orange peels on the stove to bring to a boil.
"What's the water for?"
"Candied orange peels."
Tobias wrinkled his nose.
"Hey. Don't judge until you've tried them."
"I have. They're always slimy." Fornell shuddered.
"You've only ever had the store bought ones then. Actual homemade orange peels have no comparison to anything you can get in stores."
Tobias narrowed his eyes and Jimmy just smiled at him. He knew he was right.
"How often do you make treats like this?"
"Every year."
"Really? Isn't that a lot of work?"
"No. It's something I enjoy," Jimmy admitted.
"Do you ever give treats to other people?"
"Outside of events like the MCRT holiday party you mean?"
"Yeah."
"Why?" Jimmy asked. "Do you want to get on my treat delivery list?"
Jimmy laughed as Fornell's expression shifted to an eager look.
"Could I?" he asked.
Jimmy snarked, "I see how it is. You're just here for the treats."
Tobias shrugged. "The opportunity seemed too good to pass up. Though I meant to ask... Exactly, how did you get my number?"
"Oh that." Jimmy blushed.
"Oh. That looks like there's a story there." Fornell raised an eyebrow.
"It's not that big of a deal. You handed your card out to the MCRT and I fished it out of the recycle bin they tossed it in."
"Why?"
"I wanted to get to know you better."
"Why?"
"You always strove to find the truth and didn't just railroad people when all of the evidence piled up against them due to a setup."
"That doesn't seem like a good enough reason for that blush."
"I just wanted to be your friend."
"I don't think that's all."
Jimmy huffed. "Fine. You wear my favorite designer shoes too."
Jimmy drained the orange peels, rinsed them, and then drained them again. In the pot, he added sugar and water and brought it to a boil. Once the water started boiling he added the orange peels and reduced it to a simmer.
"Is that so?" Tobias wondered, his eyes on Jimmy.
Jimmy pulled the peppermint and white chocolate chip cookies out of the oven and set them on the cooling racks. He started mixing the ingredients for Russian Tea Cakes. For Abby's actual party, he'd need to make more of each type, but for taste testing a single serving of a dozen should be fine.
"Yep."
He watched Fornell reach for one of the cookies and didn't even try to swat his hand away. After all, these batches were just for the two of them. They wouldn't be fresh enough to take to the holiday party.
Tobias coughed and waved ineffectively at his mouth. Jimmy smirked and grabbed a glass from the cupboard. He filled it with cool water before setting it in front of Fornell.
The older man quickly drank it and muttered, "Thanks."
Jimmy just shook his head. "I invited you over for a taste test. I'm not going to stop you from eating them. You don't need to hurt yourself just to make sure you get one."
"Ahahahahaha." Tobias scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. I'm used to hanging out with Gibbs who doesn't share much."
"No problem." Jimmy smiled at Fornell and returned to making the Russian Tea Cakes.
"You explained why you contacted me, but why did you invite me over tonight?"
"I figured you wouldn't be at the MCRT holiday party and thought you could use a friend."
"Huh. Are you looking forward to the party?"
"Not really."
"Why not?"
"I'm just not close to them. They don't really include me."
"You know associating with me is likely to just make that worse, right?"
Jimmy shrugged. "That's their problem. I don't report to Gibbs. So it shouldn't be an issue."
Jimmy popped the Russian Tea Cakes into the oven and took the orange peels off the stove. He tossed the peels in sugar and laid them out to dry.
"Now we just have to wait for the Russian Tea Cakes to come out and the candied orange peel to dry. They're really better if you let them dry for a couple of days, but are still better than store bought after you let them dry for about thirty minutes."
"These are really good," Tobias mumbled around a cookie that he'd shoved in his mouth.
Jimmy chuckled. "You can take the rest of those home if you want." There were only a few left, so it wasn't much of a loss anyway. Jimmy pulled out the Russian Tea Cakes as well and turned off the oven.
Fornell looked a little ashamed. "Thanks."
"Don't worry about it. Thanks for keeping me company tonight." Jimmy grabbed bags, so that Tobias could easily take home whatever he wanted.
"Yeah. It was good to get to know you." Tobias waved as he carried his bounty out the door.
He hadn't admitted that the candied orange peels were good, but Jimmy had watched him take over half of them home after trying one, so he knew he'd won Tobias over. He looked forward to talking with Fornell more in the future. He'd enjoyed spending time with him today.
Tomorrow, he would need to make the batches of cookies for the actual party. For now, he was going to head to bed. He drifted off into a peaceful sleep, feeling content with the knowledge that he'd bridged the gap between them and friendship teetered on the horizon.