Title: Accusations and Traitors
Summery: Post 11.06. Abby is determined to find out who messed with her lab, so she does what she does best… She looks for answers. But where will her investigation lead?
Rating: K
Warnings: A very mad Abby. Other than that, nada.
Spoilers: Oil and Water, obviously.
Pairings: None. Gabby if you choose, but really just friendship.
A/N: At the end of the episode, I realized how badly I wanted Abby to find out, just to see the confrontation between her and Gibbs. So, I decided to write it.
Disclaimer: No, I don't own NCIS. Yes, I wish I did. But that's what Fan Fiction is for.
Abby was furious. She had assumed that Tony was the culprit, and now, it was quite obvious he wasn't. She didn't feel particularly guilty about that; it was a reasonable assumption. But if it wasn't him, that meant someone else had messed with her lab. Someone else had entered her sanctuary, and moved her precious things around.
She glared at the desk in question. Who else would know her well enough to know she'd notice? It couldn't have been McGee. He'd never mess with his computer. Not Ducky, not Tony… Borin? She dismissed the idea quickly. When the pranks started, she wasn't there. Vance? Palmer? Tracy, the new secretary? She groaned in frustration.
"Abby, you're a scientist! A forensic scientist!" She scolded herself. "Investigate!"
She grinned, happy to have a purpose.
An hour later, she angrily threw her Caf-Pow! into the trashcan. She'd had absolutely no luck. There was no suspicious DNA on her desk, no hairs, and no odd fingerprints. No fingerprints? So the culprit wore gloves! A smile spread across her face.
She started with her trashcan, but found no suspicious gloves. She wasn't surprised. Someone this devious would have known not to do something so foolish. So she headed down to autopsy. Nothing. She made her way up to the squad room, and began inspecting trashcans. McGee's was empty, (no surprise there,) and so was Gibbs', (no surprise there, either.) but when she reached Tony's, she found them: Two gloves, slightly stretched at the fingers. From moving my desk, she thought victoriously.
Her first impulse was to drive straight to Tony's house and yell at him, but the truth was, she couldn't picture him setting those weights out and intentionally tripping over them. He could have scratched his handsome face, she thought with a smirk.
After a moment's debate, she took the gloves back to her lab. This is your trial, Tony, so that makes me your judge. She chuckled, then began her inspection.
She clipped the fingertips out of the gloves, and carefully lifted the fingerprints out. She set them up to run through AFIS, then waited.
The computer beeped, informing her that the results were in, and she scurried over to the screen. She felt her mouth drop open, and shook her head. No way.
Gibbs yawned. He had long ago stopped his woodwork, and was now leaning back against the wall in his basement. He chuckled slightly, remembering the look on McGee's face, staring at his computer.
He closed his eyes, and felt himself slowly start to drift off, when-
"How could you?"
His eyes flew open, surprised to see Abby, standing in front of him, her arms crossed and her eyes blazing.
"Abbs, what are you doing here?"
She shook her head. "You know exactly why I'm here, Gibbs!" She paused. "Actually, you probably don't, which is weird, because I'm pretty sure you're a mind reader. But then, how can you not know why I'm here if you're a mind reader? Unless-"
"Abby." He cut her off warningly.
"Right." She blinked, before locking her eyes on his. "I'm here to accuse you. I've got proof that you're the culprit."
"Culprit?" He was slowly starting to understand, and fought the urge to smile with pride at his girl for figuring it out. "What exactly are you accusing me of?"
"Heinous crimes against your team."
She looked so serious, so enraged, that it took every ounce of his self-control to keep a straight face. "Abbs, what are you talking about?"
She pointed at him, jabbing his chest with her finger. "You covered McGee's computer! You his that annoying beeper in Ducky's lab! You put the weights in Tony's bag!" She hesitated. "Although that was actually pretty funny." She shook her head, forcing herself to focus. "You moved my work desk! Do you think that's funny?"
He gently reached out, taking her hand in his, moving it slightly away from him. He made no move to let go, and she didn't fight him. "Abby, why do you think that was me?"
She yanked her hand away. "Why do I think? I don't think, Gibbs! I know!"
He stared at her, and she took a deep breath. "Your fingerprints were in gloves I found in Tony's trashcan. Gloves stretched out from moving something heavy."
He considered holding out longer, but decided against it. When you're in a hole…
"Okay, you've got me." He held up his hands in surrender.
She shook her head. "How could you do this to me, Gibbs? I trusted you, and you moved my desk."
She looked heartbroken. He couldn't help it. He chuckled.
He flinched, immediately knowing she wouldn't appreciate it. Her eyes locked onto his, and an idea occurred to him. "I'm impressed."
She frowned. "Why? Because I did my job?"
He shook his head. "Well, two investigators, a profiler, and you. Think about it. You outsmarted all of them."
She grinned in spite of herself. "I did, didn't I?"
"Yep!" He reached out and signed against her cheek 'My girl."
They stayed like that for a long moment, before he let his hand fall away. He met her eyes, a half-smile on his face. "We good?"
She sighed, but a smile tugged at her lips. "I guess. On one condition. Actually, two."
He raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"
She nodded. "One. Never, ever mess with my lab again."
He nodded. Fair enough. There were other ways to get her, but he wasn't going to mention that just then.
"And two?"
"Two…" She gave in to the smile, which spread across her face. "Next year, you have to let me help."
A/N: I intended for it to end differently… Probably with a more solid 'Gabby' scene, but this is where the story went. And to be honest… I kind of like it. Thoughts? God Bless.