Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.

Hello again, everyone! It's been almost three months since I started this story and I finally figured out how I wanted to end it. It's been a long story and I owe so much of that to your encouragement and patience so THANK YOU. I hope you enjoy the last chapter.

After Tony was shrivelled like a prune and covered in calamine lotion, he had to admit he felt a bit better. Sitting on the edge of his bed, Ducky did a quick once over and was relieved to find Tony's temperature as low as it had been that first day.

"You're still not out of the woods yet," Ducky warned, pocketing the thermometer again. "But I think that the worst is over."

"But what am I supposed to do now?" Tony asked stretching out backwards over the bed.

Ducky smiled sympathetically.

"You already know the answer to that."

Tony rolled his eyes.

"Rest. Drink fluids. Got it, Duck."

Ducky chuckled and left the room.

"How is he?" Ziva was waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

"He is slightly better. I believe the bath helped tremendously. He's moving into the bored stage."

"Good."

Ziva and Ducky joined the others in the living room. Abby was sprawled out on the un-made bed and Tim and Jimmy were sitting on Ducky's cot, their backs against the wall. Ducky filled the others in and for the first time in four days, they simply sat in silence, each lost in his or her own thoughts.

After a couple of hours, not much had changed. Ziva and Ducky had unearthed their books, McGee was doing a crossword puzzle, and Abby and Palmer had fallen asleep in uncomfortable looking positions. Ziva checked her watch and saw that it was after one o'clock. She snapped her book closed and stood up, noting that Ducky had fallen asleep with his book still open.

"Where are you going?" McGee asked, looking up from the hand-held game.

"To make lunch. I'm sure Tony and Gibbs are getting hungry."

"I wouldn't count on it." McGee mumbled, going back to his game. Ziva shot him a look before continuing into the kitchen. Scouring through the cupboards, she racked her brain for something she could make on a gas stove and that wasn't soup. Opening the fridge, Ziva found a carton of eggs. Pulling them out, she had an idea. She set about chopping up tomatoes and green onion before mixing them in with the eggs. It didn't take long for McGee to come wandering into the kitchen, entranced by the delicious smelling omelettes.

"Those look good." he commented.

"I hope they taste okay. The last thing we need is for them to develop food poisoning from the eggs. However, I think they are still fine. The power has only been out for a couple of hours and they are cooked."

Ignoring the skeptical glance on Tim's face, Ziva handed him a carton of orange juice.

"Do you mind making up the trays?"

Without a word, McGee found the two well-used trays and got out plates, napkins, silverware, and glasses. Ziva put an omelette on each plate as well as small bowls of applesauce she had found in a jar.

"Are you sure that omelettes and applesauce go together?" McGee asked, watching her spoon the applesauce into smaller bowls.

"Why does it matter? It all goes to the same place, anyways."

McGee didn't feel like arguing her logic – after all, just because they go to the same place doesn't mean you'd mix milk with wine during one sitting. McGee simply picked up the tray and followed Ziva upstairs.

Much to her relief, both Gibbs and Tony looked excited at the prospect of food. Gibbs ate hungrily, complimenting her on her cooking. Ziva was still smiling proudly when she went to see how Tony was doing. McGee was sitting in the desk chair watching Tony eat slowly.

"How is it?" Ziva asked. Tony's mouth was full but he gave her the thumbs up sign.

"You will take his dishes down after?" Ziva asked McGee, who nodded.

Half an hour later, McGee descended the stairs holding the empty tray.

"He finished it all?" Ziva asked upon seeing the sparkling plate. McGee nodded.

"Took a while but he managed it all. And it's staying down."

"What is he doing now?"

"Sleeping."

Ziva nodded approvingly.

The afternoon was slow but relaxing for all involved. Tropical Storm Leroy was proving a force to be reckoned with and everyone was content with such a slow afternoon. Around three o'clock, Ziva looked up from her book and saw Tony coming down the stairs.

"What is wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm bored."

Ziva smiled.

"That means you're getting better."

"Where is everyone?" Tony asked, flopping down on Ducky's empty cot.

"They are playing a game in the basement."

"In the basement?" Tony repeated, raising an eyebrow. Ziva nodded.

"Do not ask me. How are you feeling?"

Tony rubbed his eyes with his fists.

"Okay. Still a little uncomfortable but nothing I can't deal with."

"Do you itch?"

In response, Tony viciously scratched his arm. At that precise moment, Abby came tearing up the stairs.

"Do you know where I can find a lint filter?" she asked Ziva breathlessly.

"A what?"

"A lint filter."

"Washing machine is in the mud-room." Tony answered.

"Thanks." Abby was about to leave but did a double take when she saw Tony.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm bored. And itchy." Obviously forgetting how Abby reacted to Gibbs' scratching, he picked at a large spot on his arm.

"Tony!" Abby shrieked.

"What?" Tony jumped at her shriek.

"That's it. You leave me no choice." Abby went into the kitchen and returned a moment later with a pair of oven mitts and a roll of duct tape.

"No way, Abbs." Tony stood up and backed away from her but she pointed to her and Ziva's bed.

"Sit."

Tony turned to Ziva for help but Ziva just smiled and shook her hand.

"I am staying out of this."

Tony, regretting his actions before they even happened, sat down and held out his hands. In less than a minute, he no longer could use his fingers. His hands were encased in oven mitts that were not going to budge thanks to Abby's duct tape job. Abby nodded in satisfaction at her handiwork.

"Abby? Are you up here?" Jimmy's voice called out from the basement door. He entered the living room.

"There you are. We were wondering what happened to you. You ran out of time."

Jimmy then saw Tony hanging his head in shame and trying unsuccessfully to hide his paws. To his credit, Palmer bit his lip and refrained from laughing.

"I have an idea!" Abby exclaimed, to break the silence. Tony looked at her gratefully. "Why don't we all gather around the fire and read a book! It'll be so cozy."

"I don't know, Abbs," Palmer began.

"Shush." Abby said, pointing a finger at him. "It'll be some good, old-fashioned bonding time. Gibbs and Tony aren't contagious anymore and they're probably as bored as we are."

Palmer, scared to face the wrath of Abby, went downstairs and herded the others upstairs while Abby ran upstairs to fetch Gibbs. While Gibbs wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea, he couldn't stand to disappoint Abby – she gave him her puppy dog eyes – and he followed her downstairs.

"Here, you and Tony take the fold out bed." Abby said to Gibbs in a very mother-hen sort of way. Gibbs sat next to a very defeated looking Tony.

"Nice gloves." he muttered, a smile on his face. The others had returned and no one looked especially thrilled to be up there besides Abby and Ducky. They sat themselves around the room – the cot now occupied Tim, Abby, and Palmer. Ziva sat in the armchair and Ducky settled himself into a dining room chair he had placed by the fire.

"Ducky, would you read to us, please?" Abby asked.

"It would be my pleasure. What should I read?"

"It's your choice." Abby said before anyone could say anything. Tony subtly groaned, sure Ducky would pick a boring novel the size of phonebook. Sure enough, Ducky pulled War and Peace from his bag, his bookmark halfway through. Ignoring the bookmark, he flipped to the first page.

"War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Volume One, Part One, Chapter One." Ducky began reading. Secretly, he knew that no one would last very long with his book choice. He had done this on purpose – everyone was tired and could use some sleep. Sure enough, after ten minutes of reading, Ducky looked up. Tony and Gibbs had slid down on the sofa bed, Ziva was cradling her head in one hand, and the three on the cot were all leaning on each other's shoulders. All of them were fast asleep.

Ducky smiled, flipped to his bookmark and continued reading by the fire.

And thus ends Rules of Engagement. Thank you for all your reads/reviews/follows/favourites … I'm touched by the enthusiasm you all had for the story! Thanks again and happy reading and writing =)

~StoryLover18

PS – the challenge given to Abby about the lint filter is actually something that happened to me at camp last month. It was one of the challenges in the game Quelf. Anyone ever played? It's a ton of fun =)