A Secret Santa Story for No1bean (Rach)
From: Cristalweb (Lady Aracne)
McAbby/TIVA
Rating: PG
Words: 2745.
Title: Consequences
Merry Christmas Rach! I really hope you like your present!
Consequences
The pounding on the door made its way into her brain as she tried to wake up, totally against her will; she was far too comfortable cuddling next to Tim's warm body, his arm keeping her close to him, paradise!
But the door, someone was at the door.
Abby disentangled herself from Tim's hug and stood up from the bed.
"Coming!"
She zigzagged through the various pieces of computer equipment that cluttered Tim's apartment until she reached the offending door and opened it.
"Tim! Hurry Ton.. Abby?!"
Ziva David stood outside the door, her face transfixed with worry. Ziva froze and her eyes went wide as they swept Abby up and down. Abby was wearing a set of black pajamas covered with little purple and pink skulls, at three o'clock in the morning in McGee's apartment
"Ziva, are you okay?" Abby asked, trying to snap the Israeli from her trance
"Oh God, Tony! Abby, where's Tim? Something is wrong with Tony," Ziva said very fast, coming into the room.
"Tony? But what's..." Abby couldn't finish the sentence before a piercing scream came from the bedroom behind them, making both women jump.
"McGee!" Abby screamed as they ran towards the man she loved with all her heart.
Timothy McGee was curled up on his bed clutching his stomach, his forehead covered with sweat, screaming in pain.
"Tim, what's wrong?"
"Not him too!" Ziva thought, grabbing Abby by the shoulders. "Tony is in the same condition; he is in my car downstairs. That's why I cam here for help; we were just a block away."
"Come on, Abby, help me get Tim downstairs." "Come on, Timmy, we have to get you to a doctor. Come on, help us," Abby urged McGee as he tried to stand up. "Zi...va? What?" he muttered as another spasm hit him, bringing him down to his knees. "Oh God, what's happening?" Tim thought in agony. "McGee, please try to walk; Tony needs help too," Ziva said, pulling him up again with Abby's assistance. They "This is a nightmare," Ziva said, getting into the driver's seat while Abby pushed Tim next to Tony and closed the door.
"Oh Ziva, we have to get them to a hospital right now!"
"Step on it Ziva! This can't be a coincidence."
"Of course not, put on your seat belt Abby."
Less than ten minutes later, Abby was yelling for help at the emergency entrance of Washington's Memorial Hospital. In no time both Tony and Tim were rushed into the ER.
About half an hour later Gibbs arrived, followed closely by Ducky, who actually walked right past Abby and Ziva straight into the treatment room.
Abby jumped at the sight of Gibbs and almost strangled him with an Abby-crushing hug.
"Oh, Gibbs, Gibbs, something is very wrong with Timmy and Tony; they are screaming in pain, Gibbs!"
"Ziva?"
"I lost a bet with Tony, so he took me to watch a horrible horror movie: Halloween something. We were on our way to my house when he started clutching his stomach, screaming in pain; he was nauseous and delirious," the beautiful Mossad officer said, her eyes bright with tears. "I realized we were almost at McGee's apartment building so I decided to ask him for help and..."
"And when I opened the door and saw Ziva, McGee started screaming like crazy. It was horrible," Abby finished, pearly tears running down her pale face.
A heavy silence settled between the three of them, they turned at the same time to see Ducky walk out from the emergency wing.
"Talk to me, Ducky."
"They are running tests, Jethro; this is not an instant thing. What I can say for sure is that they both were poisoned. Timothy cannot stop throwing up; his doctor is worried about his esophagus starting to bleed." Abby gasped, but said nothing. "Anthony is in excruciating pain, but hasn't given up to nausea yet; but I am sure he will. Until we know exactly what it is they took, we cannot do much more. I can tell you it was not cyanide, no almond smell, but that's all." "Can we see them?" Abby asked, looking at Ziva, whose eyes mirrored how worried she was. "I am sorry, Abigail; no, you can't. The doctors are running tests that need privacy. "This is what we do. Ziva, you are coming with me to NCIS. We have to collect anything they might have eaten. It's pretty safe to say that whatever they took was ingested, right Doctor?"
Ducky nodded
"Abby, as soon as you have authorization, get in there and gather everything they had with them and head back to the lab. The instant you know anything about this poison, you call Ducky," Gibbs said very fast, looking from one to the other. As he did so, he noticed that Abby was wearing pajamas and smiled at the sight of all those little colored skulls, easing the tension a little.
"Ziva, with me!" he said, starting to walk for the entrance. Ziva started to follow Gibbs, but as she started to leave, Abby grabbed her in a tight hug. "I know you care for Tony and how worried you are. I am sure he feels the same about you," the Goth whispered into her ear
"David!"
"Coming, Gibbs," Ziva said, mouthing a silent "thank you" to Abby as she rushed after their boss.
Forty-five minutes later, Abby was allowed inside the private room where Tony and McGee each were occupying a hospital bed. Tim was unconscious; he looked very pale and his lips were cracked and bloody. The nurse standing next to him was busy working on his IV line and didn't turn around. Tony was agitated and curled into a fetal position while another nurse massaged his back. A short, olive-skinned man moved from one bed to the other, giving orders and writing on a clipboard. "Doctor Rasha?" Abby asked. "I am Abby Scuito, from NCIS' lab; I was asked to..." "Oh yes, Ducky told me you were coming. Everything they had on is in that bag," he said, pointing to a white plastic bag placed in a corner of the room. Tony tried to sit up at the sound of Abb
"Ziva? Ziva!" he almost screamed.
Abby ran to his side, forgetting the plastic bag. "It's Abby, Tony; stay still," she said sweetly, pushing him back down with the aid of his attending nurse. "Abs? What's going on?" Tony asked, clutching his stomach again. "Oh, God!" "We are sedating him right now!" Dr. Rasha said to the nurse. "Miss Scuito, you have to leave, please." "No, I can't leave. I need to be here for them. I need to He could see the young Goth woman before him was very upset. He was the head of Emergency Services and knew how hard it was for relatives to deal with the famous "not knowing." "Miss Scuito, calm down, please. We are doing everything we can to help Mr. McGee and Mr. DiNozzo. Ducky said you are the very best in what you do. That is how you can help them. Abby lowered her head, ashamed, and nodded.
"You are right, Doctor; it's just that I am so worried."
She turned to Tim's bed. He looked so sick; her heart ached inside her chest: she loved him so much. She slowly placed her hand on his forehead. "How is he, Doctor? I will leave in a moment, just please tell me." "He is in bad shape, loosing fluids very fast. We have to wait and see. The Elisa test shall be ready in a few minutes, and then we will know what to do," he said softly, handing Abby the plastic bag. "Thank you." Abby clutched her charge to her chest and exited the room. Ducky was waiting for her outside and two seconds later Dr. Rasha stepped out too, a yellow folder in hand. "We have the results. It's not good. Both agents were poisoned with Ricin; we can't tell how much."
Abby paled even more. Grabbing Ducky's cell phone from his waist in a swift movement, she quickly dialed Gibbs' cell number, and started to speak very fast as soon as the call was answered.
"Gibbs! It's Ricin; this poison starts showing effects six to eight hours after ingestion. It has to be something they ate right before we headed out. Look for something on Tony's desk; they were working together when I took Timmy from him." Both doctors were looking at her in awe while she explained
Gibbs and Ziva gathered everything they could find in the squad room that was edible and took it to Abby's lab. Ten minutes later she arrived and started working as fast as she could, taking prints, running samples, performing every test she could possibly think of.
"As soon as you get the source of the Ricin, call me," Gibbs growled before disappearing through the door. "Abby, how are they?" Ziva asked, letting down her usual strong demeanor. "Not well; this is a nasty one Ziva. Tony is hurting "Abby I …" It was so difficult for the Mossad officer to let her guard down and open up anyway, but this time she was really worried. Roy, the man she had come to love in a really short time, had died and now Tony was in the same danger. She needed to talk to someone and Abby had reached for her. "I know, Ziva; you have feelings for Tony, isn't it?" Abby asked without taking her eyes from her computer screen where dozens of finger prints flashed one after the other. "Yes, I do. I don't know how it happened, or when, but I can't deal with losing Tony. I love him Abby, I really love him," Ziva said, almost in tears, sinking herself in Abby's opened arms. They remained like that for a few seconds sharing the pain they both felt, until… Bling! "This can't be right," Abby said, looking at the name flashing on her screen. A match had been found for one of many sets of prints collected from an empty Krispy Kreme cardboard box. "Karen Bright? That's not possible, Abby; she is in jail." "I know, we have to tell Gibbs." "Tell me what?" Gibbs had walked back into the lab carrying a Caf-Pow and a paper coffee cup which he handed to Ziva. "Look, Boss All mighty." Gibbs followed Abby's gaze on to the screen and he rushed out from the lab so fast that they thought he had vanished into thin air. Morning found Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Ziva David waiting outside the Krispy Kreme store closest to NCIS headquarters. As the employees started to arrive, they both checked them out against a Polaroid picture of a very thin woman with small but ice cold blue eyes. The State Correctional had faxed it in very early that same morning. Karen Bright looked quite different now than she did when she was arrested for more than twenty-five murders, including that of her husband, Charles Bright, two years previous. Ziva pointed at a woman walking calmly towards them; it was her! "I knew you'd find me soon enough," Karen Bright said in a poisonous voice. "I don't care Agent Gibbs; I did what I intended to do." "Take her in, Ziva." Ziva David took out her handcuffs and placed them tightly around the woman's hands. Ziva had to use all her self restraint not to take out her beloved knife and kill the serial killer smiling before her in the interrogation room. Gibbs remained standing, trying very hard to remain calm himself. Ducky had called minutes before; both Tony and Tim were in pretty bad shape. "Oh, don't look so intrigued, Agent Gibbs. My escape was well planned. For almost one and a half years I thought of nothing more than to make you pay. Thanks to you and your people I lost my kids and my freedom; so I decided to take your kids, that is your team. I know I am going back to a Maximum security and I don't care. I made all of you suffer and that's what I wanted," she said before retreating into a stone silence. Fornell was waiting outside with an armed escort to take Karen Bright to a special facility for highly dangerous criminals. Gibbs couldn't stop thinking that whatever happened in the next hours, the insane woman had hurt his team more than she will ever know. "Come on, Ziva, we are needed else where," Gibbs said, stepping out of the room while his friend and rival Tobias Fornell took charge of their prisoner. "I can't understand how she did it, Gibbs. She is no ordinary criminal, and security must have been tight," Ziva said while they walked toward NCIS parking lot. Abby was already there waiting for them. "I will find out, Officer David, that is a promise; but now we are going to see Tony and Tim. They are going to make it, and that's a fact!" When they arrived to the hospital, Ducky was waiting for them outside the Intermediate Unit. "Timmy? Tony?" Abby asked, looking at his somber expression; Ziva just stared at him not trusting her voice. "Timothy has been moved into the ICU, he is losing fluids faster than we can replace them. His esophagus is bleeding due to the violent vomiting he endures every minute he is awake my dear; I am so sorry," Ducky answered, reaching to hug the scared Goth. "Oh no, no, no, no," Abby cried into Ducky's neck. "What about Tony?" Ziva managed to ask from behind Gibbs, who was looking devastated. "Anthony is in better shape. His nausea is less violent and his pain has subsided a bit; thankfully his stomach is used to junk food," Ducky continued as he read from a chart, still holding a crying Abby at the same time. Gibbs stepped forward and managed to remove Abby from the good doctor. "McGee is tough, Abs; he will make it," Gibbs said in his best Gibbs-tone. Abby stopped crying at once and turned to face her boss. "You are right oh great one. Timmy is a strong man and he would never leave me alone." "Abby?" Gibbs looked at her intrigued. He thought McGee and Abby were no longer an item; not for a long time. "It's no use to deny it Gibbs. I broke rule 12 in every possible way, and I love Timmy with all my heart." Gibbs smiled at the pale young woman he loved as the daughter he no longer had. "You tell him that, Abs. I am sure that's all McGee needs to get better." Ziva turned to face Ducky, not wanting to wait any longer. "Ducky, may I see Tony?" "Of course, my dear; he was sleeping when I last checked on him. Dr. Rasha has been kind enough to let me be involved." "Go on, Ziva, tell him," Abby whispered as the beautiful Mossad officer walked past her towards Tony's room. Ziva acknowledged her with a tiny smile. "Not them too!" muttered Gibbs, slightly annoyed. "Not yet, but soon, my Master," Abby said, smiling to her boss. "There goes rule 12 again," Gibbs added, throwing his hands up in surrender. "Well, Jethro, there are things that can not be helped," Ducky finished, taking Abby's arm. "Come on, Abigail, let us go and see our young Timothy."
TBC