WARNING: Contains non-consensual spanking of adults.
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine. I just borrow them.
"Gaa!" Abby exclaimed suddenly.
"What?" Tony asked, slightly alarmed.
"This would be so much easier if I could see the FBI file on Nicholson," Abby explained as she helplessly held up a piece of bagged evidence in each hand.
"Gibbs said it was sealed. He said even Fornell couldn't get it."
"I could," Abby said with a grin.
Tony looked at her in surprise. "You could?"
"All I'd have to do is hack into the FBI's server," she answered.
"Think Gibbs would go for it?"
"Hard to say. He's told McGee to hack into things before, ya know?" Abby said.
Before Tony could answer, Gibbs walked into the lab. "How are you coming with that evidence?"
"Oh, um, well," Tony stammered, "we're still sorting through it."
"What the hell is taking so long?" Gibbs asked.
"Gibbs," Abby whined, "there's like a million pieces of evidence here. And no context. It's like trying to put together one of those 5,000 piece puzzles that have no edges without even the picture on the top of the box to look at, and then finding out that you're missing four pieces. It's like next to impossible!"
"And how do you know that? According to DiNozzo, you're still sorting pieces."
"Well, we are," she said, still whining a bit. "But seriously, we're doing this blind! And on top of that, we know nothing about this Nicholson guy. Ok, we know that he's a Marine and there's an FBI file on him. But that's it!"
"Hey, I have kind of a crazy idea," Tony said as if he suddenly had an idea. "Abby can hack into the FBI's server and download their case file on this guy. That way, we'll have the same information they have. All this evidence isn't going to get us anywhere if we don't have the full story on Nicholson."
Gibbs was already shaking his head before Tony had even finished. "Don't even think about it," he said.
"But Gibbs…"
"I said no, Abby, and I meant it," Gibbs growled with a warning look. "I want the two of you to process this evidence and do nothing else. Is that clear?"
Abby and Tony exchanged reluctant glances.
"Yes Boss," Tony answered.
"I guess so," Abby mumbled. The raised eyebrow made her reconsider her answer. "Yes Gibbs."
He gave them another warning look and then left the lab.
When he was gone, Tony turned to Abby. "How sure are you that you can get in?"
"Tony, he'll kill us!" she answered.
"Not if he doesn't find out," Tony said quietly. "Or at least, doesn't find out until the case is closed," he added with a shrug.
Abby grinned. "Oh, I can get in," she said confidently.
"Ok. Then you go do your computer thing, and I'll get to work on this evidence."
They worked in silence for about an hour – Tony sifting through and making notes on evidence, Abby typing furiously and occasionally cursing quietly when she ran into a dead end.
Suddenly, Tony heard her shout in victory: "Yes!! I'm in! Tony, I got it!"
But it wasn't Tony who answered her. "Got what?" Of course, Gibbs had materialized at just that moment.
"Gibbs!" Abby squeaked. "Oh, uh, I uh, found um, a thing he was looking for…" she trailed off slowly.
Tony stood frozen in place at the table he'd been using to sort and categorize. Busted!
Gibbs reached down and rolled her chair out of the way so that he was standing in front of her computer. On the screen was an FBI file on Gunnery Sergeant David Andrew Nicholson. He turned slowly to face a now cowering Abby and a stone-faced Tony.
"Shut that down," he said in a dangerously quiet voice.
"But Boss, now that we have it, shouldn't we just use it?" Tony asked defensively.
"I said shut it down!" Gibbs shouted.
Abby moved timidly past him, reached for her mouse and closed the file.
Without another word, Gibbs left the lab, leaving Tony and Abby staring at each other with a mix of confusion and fear.
After a few long moments of silence, Tony spoke slowly and quietly. "I think he knows something about this guy that he's not telling us."
"Yeah, I think so too," Abby agreed, just above a whisper. "What do you think it is?"
Tony shook his head slowly. "I have no idea. But I get the feeling that their paths may have crossed before."
They stood, still frozen in place, for a few more moments before Abby spoke again. "What's he going to do to us?" she asked.
Tony cocked his head. "What do you think?"
"Yeah," she said, "that's what I thought." They looked at each other nervously. "We'd better get back to that stuff," she finally said, indicating the evidence spread out in front of Tony.
"Did you happen to read anything in that file before Gibbs showed up?" Tony asked.
"Not much. Just his name, rank, birth date, last known residence at the time and the names of his wife and kids – twins, a boy and a girl. And that they're dead," Abby answered.
"His wife and kids are dead?" Tony asked.
"Yeah. The file is actually the investigation of their deaths. But I didn't get to the second page so I don't even know if he was a suspect or not."
"Well, why would the file be under his name if he wasn't. If that was actually the investigation of their deaths, the file would have his wife's name on it, not his," Tony explained.
"So he was a suspect," Abby concluded.
"I'm pretty sure he was. Man!" he suddenly exclaimed, "what I wouldn't give to get a look at that file!" He slumped for a moment. "You wouldn't want to…"
"No way!" Abby said quickly. "We're in enough trouble already. If he catches us doing it again, we may never sit down again!"
"Us?" Tony asked.
"It was your idea!" Abby yelled, moving quickly into his personal space.
"Ok, ok!" he said, holding up his hands before she could attack him. "Us."
"That's better," she said. "Now get back to work!" she ordered, in typical Abby-in-charge fashion.
* * * * *
"Well, Director," Gibbs said, as he stood in Morrow's office, "looks like Nicholson sails again."
"Gibbs," Morrow said patiently, "the evidence is clear. He didn't kill Petty Officer Banks."
"Yeah," Gibbs said morosely, "just like the evidence showed he didn't kill his wife and kids twelve years ago. That guy is a bastard! And I've never been so sure that he killed them as I am now."
Morrow sat back in his chair. "That was one of your first cases when you joined NIS, wasn't it?" Gibbs looked away. The director sighed. "Justice isn't always served, is it?" he asked, more to himself than to Gibbs.
Gibbs turned to leave, but Morrow stopped him. "Jethro, do you have any idea why the director of the FBI is calling me?" he asked knowingly, holding up a phone message. "It says, 'Urgent', 'Confidential' and 'ASAP'. And my secretary said that he sounded extremely unhappy."
Gibbs turned around. "You can assure him that it's being taken care of and that it will never happen again."
"Do I want to know?" Morrow asked.
Gibbs looked at him for a second then quickly left the room.
As he walked down the stairs, he saw Kate, McGee and Tony all sitting at their respective desks. Kate and McGee were working. Tony was staring off into space.
"McGee, Kate," he said as he walked around the corner, "go home."
"I'm just about finished here," Kate answered.
"Go home," he repeated, a little more forcefully this time.
She looked at him with her mouth open, ready to argue, but she wisely chose not to. A few minutes later, he and Tony were alone. Gibbs sat staring at his senior agent wordlessly for what felt to Tony like hours. For his part, Tony stared at the top of his desk, barely daring to breathe.
Finally, Gibbs spoke quietly. "Get your stuff together and meet me in the parking garage. I'm going to get Abby." He stood up and left, not bothering to wait for a response.
Tony sat at his desk for just a little longer before he slowly stood up, emptied his top drawer of his keys and wallet before locking it, and then picked up his bag and went to the elevator. Less than five minutes later, he and Abby were sitting in a tensely silent car as their boss drove to his house.
They pulled into the driveway and Gibbs turned off the engine. "Abby, upstairs. Tony, living room," he said then got out of the car and went into the house. Abby and Tony followed him slowly.