"Gibbs was right, I should never have given up the Caf Pows," Abby muttered, taking McGee by the arm and leading him through the lab.

"Why?"

Abby stopped short and stared at him as though he was an idiot. "Because caffeine blocks the transmission of thought," she said matter-of-factly.

"What?"

Abby took a deep breath. "After I put your block on, Gibbs said he didn't trust it. He made sure I drank plenty of Caf Pows everyday, just in case you were starting to read me. I was in a high risk situation after all – alone with you in the lab all the time, you programming and me being a vampire. Vampires transmit thought really well, you know."

"Of course," said McGee rather unconvincingly.

"Caf Pows are targeted at the vampire market," Abby informed him. "Haven't you ever wondered why a basically caffeinated soda is red?"

"Not really."

"They make it that way with blood. The caffeine blocks the thought transmissions and the blood gives it that extra zing."

"Blood 'zing'?"

"Oh, yeah," Abby licked her lips wistfully for a moment.

"So," McGee went out on a limb, trying to comprehend the situation, "is that why Gibbs' drinks coffee all the time."

"Yeah, sort of: he's not like a vampire or anything but he got so paranoid after a while that he just started blocking everyone. Gibbs is a man who values his privacy."

Abby spun on her heels and continued leading him through to the ballistics lab.

"In order to put this memory block on, you have to be completely relaxed," she explained, rolling her futon out on the floor. "You think you can do that for me?"

McGee eyed the futon doubtfully. "Ahh, sure, I suppose."

"Oh don't worry," Abby assured him, "I can help you relax."

"You can?"

"Oh yeah," she smiled suggestively. "Just hold on, I have to put up my sign."

"Your sign?

"Yeah, the one that says: 'Experiment in progress – do not enter', ah ha!" She pulled out the appropriate sign from a drawer. "I'll just pop this on the door and we can get started."

McGee followed her back to the lab door. "Does that actually work?" he asked as she hung the sign outside the lab.

"Sure," she smiled. "No one knows if it's THEIR forensics that will be destroyed if they come in so everyone stays away."

Happy with her sign placement she turned to him again. "Why are you out here? You should be back in there preparing to have your world rocked."

McGee's jaw dropped a little as his processed her sentiments in stunned silence.

"Go, go, go," Abby chanted, pushing him roughly towards the ballistics room.

"You never said anything about THAT," he protested in a daze, yielding to her urgings.

"How else am I going to get you relaxed enough?"

McGee suddenly wondered what he was worried about. "Well, OK then, if you think it's completely necessary."

Abby shut the door to the ballistics lab firmly behind her. "Oh, it is. Now – this is important, so pay attention."

She grabbed her black skull motif T-shirt and tugged it over her head, revealing a sight that literally took McGee's breath away. He stood transfixed as his mind ran through the almost endless possibilities the situation offered.

"Did you get all that?" Abby was saying.

"What?" he murmured, distractedly.

Abby grabbed McGee's chin and brought his eyes up to hers. "Hold that thought for one minute, Casanova," she said. "I was saying that this only works if you are completely self-absorbed. I think you've got that covered. Most importantly, no waiting for me – just go for it."

McGee frowned at her, perplexed at her instructions.

"It's simple, McGee," she said cheerily. "It's every guy's fantasy: I need you to make wild passionate love to me with no regard for my personal wellbeing until you have absolutely exhausted yourself. Only then will the mind block work."

"I couldn't do that," he said awkwardly, though not very convincingly.

"You've done it before," she smiled wickedly. "Believe me."

McGee scanned his memory banks and a strong passionate memory reared up at him: now he understood.

In moments Abby was flat on her back.

Abby was typing happily at her lab bench when the door swished open and Gibbs walked in.

He stopped short. "Have you seen McGee?"

"Sure: tall guy, variable hair length, used to wear ties…."

"Abs!"

She spun on her chair to face him. "McGee's memory block broke down today so I took him into the ballistics lab and had, quite literally, mind blowing sex with him until he was relaxed enough for me to insert a new block. He's passed out on the floor of the ballistics lab."

Gibbs blanched, not a common response for him. "That was way too much information."

"Really? Because that was just the expedited version: I didn't even mention the new stains on the…."

Gibbs clamped one hand over her mouth and brought his face up very close to hers. "Next time I ask," he said slowly and steadily, trying to keep the malevolence from his tone, "just say: 'McGee was feeling a little under the weather today and I let him lie down.' "

Abby stared at him mutely, her eyes wide in surprise.

"OK?" he prompted.

Abby nodded her head vigorously, taking Gibbs' hand with it.

"OK, then." Gibbs removed his hand and strode over to the ballistics lab door. Through the window he saw McGee lying stark naked, flat on his back, out cold. He momentarily entertained the thought of waking him.

"Oh, forget it," he growled, turning on his heels. "I'll get DiNozzo. Call me when he wakes up."

"Ahh, Gibbs," Abby started.

"Yeah."

"Tony was feeling a little under the weather today…."