Fear
Rating: T for now but M eventually
Pairing: Gibbs/Abby
Disclaimer: Only the plot in this is mine...NCIS, its characters etc don't belong to me, I'm just playing.
A/N: I need to give big hugs and thanks to Gosgirl for all her help, insight, support and supply of sugar/alcohol/bunnies...not to mention the concussion inducing headslaps. I would still be sitting on this if it wasn't for her! :)
Chapter 1 - Missing
"Come away from the window, Abbs."
She felt his hand rest on her shoulder, the soft pressure betraying its owner's anxiety, his fear. Abby welcomed the comfort the gesture offered but its presence was fleeting. Turning to move away from the window in her lab, she was faced with the harsh reminder that she wished the reassurance was coming from another.
Looking into the strained eyes of her friend and colleague Anthony DiNozzo, she knew the same look of concern would have appeared on her own features; her pale skin emphasized by bloodshot eyes and the darkness that surrounded them. Abby felt like she'd lived a lifetime in hours.
Everything she'd known, everything she'd come to rely on had changed. Choices that had been made, by her, and by people she'd never met now meant that things would never be the same again.
Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs had been missing for more than twenty four hours and she was worried, they were all worried.
"He'll be cold," Abby murmured crossing her arms across her stomach and rubbing her hands up and down them as if the action could somehow send warmth to him.
She took one last look over her shoulder and out the window at the falling snow before walking to sit down on the chair behind the desk in her office. Her earlier bouts of frenzied work spurred on by panic and caf-pows had now been replaced by apprehension and uncertainty, she felt lost.
Tony followed her, sitting down on the edge of the desk. "This is Gibbs remember, he never gets cold," he tried to reassure her.
As much as Abby wanted to believe him, she couldn't. The fact was that they had no idea where Gibbs was, or even if he was still alive. The thought of him in pain tore at her heart, the tears she'd held back most of the day threatening to spill over and not stop until he was safe. But she blinked her eyes quickly and swallowed, managing to keep them under control, she knew she needed to keep focused. Gibbs needed her to keep a clear head, his survival could depend on it.
Abby had been the last person to see Gibbs late the previous evening but since then there had been no contact from him. A single piece of paper in an envelope with the words 'You in exchange for Gibbs' had been delivered to Abby with her regular NCIS mail and since then there had been nothing.
Gibbs' abductor had made it clear what they wanted, but with no further demands, the team was still frantically trying to chase up leads that could take them to Gibbs. The thought that there had been no further contact because he was dead also didn't fail to cross Abby's mind. If things had gotten out of hand...if Gibbs had been killed since she had received the note earlier that morning, then they may not be any reason to negotiate.
...Begin flashback...
Dropping the note onto her desk, Abby's first instinct was to call Gibbs, when it went straight to voicemail she tried his home phone but there was no answer. Abby knew he always answered her calls, even in the middle of the night, not to mention Rule 3: Never be unreachable.
Feeling her stomach churn that whoever had sent the note was telling the truth, she'd called Tony, asking if Gibbs was up in the bullpen.
"Not sure where he is, Abby...hasn't he brought you your first caf-pow hit yet?"
She could hear the smirk in Tony's voice but ignored it, her one sole concern only that of Gibbs' whereabouts.
"I think someone has him," she said softly, as if trying to absorb the magnitude of what she was saying.
"What?" DiNozzo asked, confused.
"There's a note...someone's taken him Tony...you need to come down here."
The shakiness in her voice was obviously enough to spring him into motion, Tony's hurried, "Be right there, Abbs," followed by the line going dead, making her realize he was taking her seriously.
She put the phone down, her mind swirling and trying to come up with ideas for who could possibly have wanted to take Gibbs, and why did they want to exchange her for him.
While Abby waited for Tony to arrive she put the piece of paper in a clear evidence bag, not wanting to get any other fingerprints on it apart from her own or possibly whoever had sent it.
Pacing back and forth across the width of her lab she picked up her phone and tried Gibbs' number again, but there was still no answer. She let out a shaky sigh and stared at the note in the bag, fighting her impulse to call his number again, believing if she just kept trying he would eventually pick up.
When Tony strode into her lab moments later with Ziva and McGee following closely behind him, Abby lifted her eyes from the note and threw her phone down next to her keyboard. The plastic bag passed through the hands of all three agents and McGee tried to call Gibbs on Tony's instruction but just like Abby, he'd gone through to Gibbs' voicemail.
Abby watched, feeling helpless, as they had left her behind in the lab, headed for Gibbs' house with a promise to call her as soon as they got there.
Not long after they'd left, a solemn looking Ducky had arrived with Palmer. She assumed one of the team had called him and told him the news and knowing that Abby would be by herself had come to sit and wait with her.
"He'll be alright, my dear," he tried to reassure her as Abby moved into his outstretched arms.
"We don't know that, Ducky...he could be anywhere...hurt...or..." She couldn't bring herself to say what was going through her mind, instead she clutched onto Ducky's shirt, trying to draw strength from him and hoping that his words would turn out to be true.
With each step he took up the pathway, Tony could see the front door of Gibbs' house had been left slightly ajar. If they'd known the man himself had been at home, it wouldn't have been such an issue...but they didn't know where he was.
Gibbs' Challenger was parked up the far end of the driveway, and his truck was out on the road, so Tony knew he either had to be here somewhere or the threat they'd received was very real.
Unclipping his gun, he took it out and signalled to Ziva and McGee with a nod of his head. Ziva stealthily set off around the back while McGee followed opposite Tony. Chancing a quick glance in through the front window, DiNozzo saw no signs of life and moved ahead, both men taking the stairs to the front door.
DiNozzo backed up against the wall of the house, trying to get a visual into the small gap in the doorway. He could see several things on the floor, but there were no sounds and no signs of any movement. Looking across at McGee on the other side of the door, Tony slowly started to push the door open, keeping his gun aimed ahead.
He'd been to that many crime scenes now that there were few things that could shock him anymore. But this was Gibbs' house, they had no idea what was going on and every thought that raced through his mind told him that there was something seriously wrong.
Gritting his teeth and holding his breath DiNozzo pushed the door open further. He heard it hit something which made him falter temporarily, but he continued on. Gradually the door opened up to reveal the source of the scraping behind the door; the remnants of a wooden chair as they were pushed out of the way.
He felt his breath hitch at the trail of blood he saw on the floor, but tried to ignore the apprehension that churned in his belly as he walked inside and saw Ziva entering through the back door.
Sweeping through the rooms downstairs, they found the coffee table overturned, various bits of paper as well as Gibbs' keys, phone, wallet and badge were spread out over the floor. The red hoodie he'd seen Gibbs wear on several occasions was bunched up inside out in the center of the room, and Tony instantly wondered whether he'd find Gibbs' gun locked in the safe.
While Ziva checked out the basement, the other two ascended the stairs, checking all the rooms and finding no evidence of disturbance or any sign of Gibbs.
When all three agents gathered back near the entrance, each pair of eyes was drawn to the pool of blood with a trail that led towards the door.
All at once, Tony found himself overwhelmed with different thoughts and emotions. He needed to find Gibbs but anxiety and doubt suddenly overcame him at the sight of the blood and what had obviously been some kind of fight.
Looking at both his colleagues he saw the same expression of dread and disbelief. Tim had gone pale, his unblinking eyes not wavering from the sight of the blood. Ziva looked like she was holding it together better than all of them, but she knew how to hide what she was really feeling. She'd been trained for this. In a way they all had, but was there any way they could ever really be ready for something like this?
Walking over to the safe, Tony tried to open it but the lock was engaged. From spending enough time with Gibbs and having to leave his own gun in there on occasion, Tony punched in the combination and the door on the small metal box opened to reveal Gibbs' gun.
They all knew he'd never leave his house without his gun or badge.
As much as none of them wanted to admit Gibbs had been taken against his will, there was no way to deny it anymore.
Tony also didn't fail to notice the fireguard sat off to the side of the fireplace, the blackened ashes and blocks of wood left as if they'd died out of their own accord. Leaning down, he placed his hands over the remnants to find it had cooled almost completely; Gibbs had been gone long enough that the fire had been left to go out on its own.
The Special Agent in DiNozzo knew he had to switch off his personal concern for his boss and focus on doing his job. If they were going to find Gibbs, and do it quickly, they all needed to remain professional. Never would he have imagined seeing his mentor's, his friend's, house like this, as a crime scene, but that was what it was.
Tony also knew he had to provide some kind of stability for the rest of the team. He had to look like he was holding things together, even if that wasn't entirely true.
"McGee, bag and tag!" Tony barked, jumping at the harshness of his own voice in the quiet house. "And tape off the perimeter, I want the street sealed off, there's gotta be evidence here. Ziva, sketch and shoot...I need to call Abby."
As if the scene they'd walked into hadn't been enough, he now had to break the news to Abby that it looked like the threat on the note that had been sent to her was not a prank.
Sighing heavily, Tony took out his phone and ran his hand through his hair. It would be difficult to tell her that any of them were hurt or missing, but this was Gibbs. They all knew the relationship between their boss and the forensic scientist was a special one. And for that reason, Tony doubted whether he'd ever had to make a more difficult phone call.
TBC...