Title: Necessary Alternatives

Disclaimer: The characters belong to Donald Bellisario, and I hope he won't mind that I've borrowed them for awhile. The story is not connected to any particular episode or storyline from NCIS.

Warning: This story contains the non-sexual spanking of an adult. If that's not your thing, it would be best if you didn't read it.

Abby was warming up the crowd for her big number. At least, that's the way she always liked to view it. She drew them in, teasing them with shiny facts that were ultimately red herrings, slowly building up their anticipation until she could reveal her true findings with a dramatic flourish. It was an art form, and she got nearly as much of a thrill from the performance as she did from figuring out the evidence in the first place.

It really didn't seem to matter that much to her that her "audience" wasn't always sufficiently appreciative. Gibbs alternated between being stoic and impatient, and Tony mostly just liked the fact that Abby's long, drawn out presentations kept him from having to do any real work. Only Kate ever seemed to be intrigued by the whole process. Kate was always fascinated by the different angles Abby had taken to reach the answer, amused by Abby's theatrical flair, and impressed by the ultimate triumph of her brilliant scientific mind. Or at least that's how Kate usually reacted. For the past few weeks Kate had seemed off, and today in the lab her distraction was evident as Abby regaled the three agents with her newest findings.

"The top markings were so symmetrical and precise, I was convinced they had to have been made by a tool of some sort, possibly a screwdriver." Abby drew their attention over to a table full of carpentry tools, waving her hands over the screwdrivers, awls, and drill bits neatly lined up for show. She picked one up for their inspection. "As you can clearly see, this one has a Phillips-head, which has four points, just like our mystery wound.

"So does the size match?" Gibbs prompted.

"Patience is a virtue, my young friend." Abby quipped. She relished the fact that she was the only one who could get away with mocking Gibbs like that. "In actual fact, this could not have been our murder weapon, since a screwdriver would have made a significantly deeper hole, assuming the person wielding it used any force at all." She playfully lunged at Tony with the pointy tool, stopping her arm in midair as Tony pretended to duck in fear and Gibbs called out her name sharply.

Abby reluctantly replaced the screwdriver on the table. She noticed that Kate didn't seem to be paying attention to the antics and had looked up startled at the sound of Gibbs' voice, almost as if she'd heard him bark her own name, instead of Abby's. Maybe Kate was just tired, Abby considered. Gibbs had certainly been working them hard lately on several cases, with many work days starting at dawn and ending late into the night. Anyone would have trouble focusing under those conditions. She decided to ignore it and continue with her demonstration.

"It wasn't just that the hole wasn't deep enough for a screwdriver. There was also the shallow groove marked below the main wound. I couldn't think of anything that would cause such an indentation. And then it came to me." Abby paused for effect, then displayed her hands dramatically in front of her face.

"Rings." She pronounced solemnly.

"Rings?" Gibbs replied quizzically.

"Yes, rings," Abby was pleased to be able to draw out the revelation of her discovery. "Well, not rings like this," she looked at the assortment of sterling silver skulls, spikes and baubles around nearly all of her ten fingers. "Something more traditional. Like an engagement ring with a large stone, sitting above a wedding band."

"No wonder Kate didn't recognize it!" Tony grinned absurdly at his own joke.

"Hunh?" Kate glanced around to see everyone watching her for a reply. "Oh, very funny Tony," she muttered. Realizing that everyone was still staring, she made a fake smirk at Tony that seemed to satisfy his need to get a rise out of her.

Now Abby knew something was wrong. Kate always gave back to Tony as good as she got. She should have had a sharp-witted retort that cut Tony down to size, not an off-handed comment.

Gibbs broke into her thoughts. "An engagement ring implies that our assailant was a woman."

"Exactly!" Abby was pleased that she had gained Gibbs' attention, despite her concerns about Kate. "And one with a rather uninspired taste in jewelry, if I do say so myself."

Gibbs ignored her last remark. "DiNozzo, I want you doing follow-up interviews on the base with this new information in mind. Kate, you go back through the records we pulled and narrow down the list to married women. Nice work, Abs. You'll let me know when you've processed the rest of the samples?"

"You got it, boss!" Abby chirped. She was suddenly alone again in her lab, and she hadn't had a chance to catch Kate. Abby turned up the volume on her music and shifted her focus back to the world of science.