Title: Past and Present
Author: Jo. R
Rating: Mild R for non-explicit sex and violence.
Category: Romance, Angst, Drama, Friendship
Pairing: Abby/Gibbs
Spoilers: Hiatus 1&2, Escaped, Ravenous, Bloodbath, Judgement Day 1&2, Agent Afloat, Cover Story
Summary: Fornell approaches Abby with a request that causes the past and present to collide unexpectedly.
Author's Notes: Takes a little something from my story 'Branded' and uses it but it's not necessary to read that story first as it's explained in this one, too. Taking liberties with the timelines, too – I tried following them the best I could but they get very confusing in this show of ours.

****

Almost as soon as the door closed and Abby Sciuto turned away from it to head back to her bedroom, a dreamy smile on her face, the telephone began to ring. She picked the receiver out of its cradle and pressed it against her ear as she sank down onto the couch, dragging the blanket she kept on the back of it around her bare legs.

"Abby speaking."

"Ms. Sciuto, it's Fornell." The voice on the other end was familiar but entirely unexpected. "I need you to come to the Bureau."

"It's Saturday." She kicked herself mentally for the response but she'd only been awake for a few hours and her mind was still in the happy-floaty space it usually occupied after a night spent with her lover and the promise of the rest of the weekend with him, too. "I don't work for the FBI, Fornell."

"You do for today," Agent Tobias Fornell told her in a tone that left no room for argument. "I'll be there to pick you up in ten minutes, Ms. Sciuto. Director Vance knows all about it if you want to call and confirm it with him but under no circumstances are you to involve Special Agent Gibbs."

Something cold settled in her stomach at the last part of his order. "Why can't I tell Gibbs?"

Fornell sighed over the phone. "You'll understand when you get briefed. Meet me outside, Ms. Sciuto. I don't want to be kept waiting."

He hung up just as she opened her mouth to ask another question. Abby stared at the receiver in her hand a for a few moments before making herself get to her feet and resuming her journey into her bedroom to dress.

*****

It was her first time inside the FBI Headquarters in DC and Abby couldn't help but look around like a stunned tourist when she first followed Fornell inside. It was huge, much bigger than NCIS, and there were dozens of people – both members of the public and men and women she recognised as being agents wandering around the foyer. The agents were easy to spot to her experienced eye, most of them in trademark suits and ties.

"This way." Fornell wasted no time by offering her a guided tour and strode across the floor to the bank of elevators at the far side. Abby had to quicken her pace to catch up with him, glaring at the back of his head at his impatience. He waited until she was inside – just – before pressing the button for the fifth floor before letting his arms fall to his sides, his eyes fixed on the display of numbers above the door as they lit up in turn.

"I deserve an explanation, Fornell," Abby reminded him as the silence stretched on. She wasn't a bit fan of silence, nor was she a fan of secrecy and cloak and dagger behaviour. "What's going on? Why am I here?"

Fornell glanced at her briefly before returning his gaze to the numbers. "You're here to help create a traceable paper-trail for a woman who I recently found in witness protection. I want you to make it look like she's living in another part of the world entirely, while at the same time creating a new identity for her so she can stay here in Washington."

Abby frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why me? You've got a load of people here who could do exactly the same thing."

"Gibbs maintains you're the best. Director Vance agrees." Fornell shrugged one-shoulder and gave her another side-long glance. "There's a reason the FBI has been wanting to recruit you for seven years," he admitted grudgingly. "You're good."

Flattered but trying not to show it or the fact that there were butterflies dancing in her stomach, Abby let her own arms drop to her sides. "Why did you take her out of witness protection? If she was safe there, why go to all of this trouble...?"

"She wasn't safe. We believe those after her have discovered her identity, which is why I was assigned the task of reinventing it." Fornell's expression tightened, his eyes once again fixed forward. "And had I known who or where she was earlier, I would have done this a long time ago."

"I don't understand." Abby followed him out of the elevator as the doors slid open, managing to keep up with him by increasing the length of her strides. "Why is it so important she stays in Washington DC? What kind of identity am I supposed to create?"

Fornell led her into an office just down the hall from the elevators and shut the door behind them. He walked over to the computer on the desk and hit a few buttons before turning the screen around so she could easily see the photograph of the smiling young woman on it.

"Meet Kelly Gibbs," Fornell told her grimly. "I need you to create an identity for her that would allow her to go home to her father."

Abby stared at the image on screen, at the familiar blue eyes and brownish-red hair of the young woman ten or more years her junior. She was unmistakably Gibbs' long-dead daughter, sharing her father's grin as well as his eyes.

"How...? Kelly's dead. She died thirteen years ago."

"Apparently not." Fornell turned the screen away again. "If I'd known sooner, I would've told him. You have to believe that. If anything happened to my Emily..."

She saw the anguish in his eyes, the empathy of one father for another. "I believe you, Tobias, and so will Gibbs." She clasped her hands in front of her and squared her shoulders. "I assume you've got an idea how to make it so she can go back to her father without alerting the guys after her?"

Fornell gave her a small nod, motioning for her to take the chair in front of the computer. "I want you to make her a relative of some kind. Someone no one would think twice about coming to stay with him. There's a list of his relatives in the file."

Abby flicked through the file he'd indicated for a few silent moments, her brow furrowed as she read the brief descriptions Fornell had provided on each one. She shrugged her shoulders after a while and flexed her fingers, poising them above the keys after loading the software she'd used time and time again at NCIS to create undercover identities for the team.

She worked in silence for a long time, conscious of Fornell watching over her shoulder, the weight of the task she was performing hanging heavily on her shoulders as she thought of Gibbs and Kelly being reunited – and their future together resting in her hands, relying on her ability to do a good job.

After a few hours of falsifying records, deleting old ones and creating new ones, with both of them making phone calls to associates, Abby leaned back in her chair and tilted the screen so Fornell could see the information on screen.

He gave her an approving nod and momentarily set a hand on her shoulder, both to congratulate and thank her.

"Welcome to the world, Melissa Gibbs."

*****