Gibbs looked behind him into the house before closing the door, a large duffel bag thrown over his shoulder. The next few months normally wouldn't have been so bad, were it not for the thought of the expressions on his team's face at the news. And the thought of Abby's reaction of disbelief mixed with heartbreak. He dialed a familiar number on his phone, and waited for a response.
"Vance."
"It's done."
"Alright. Good luck, Gibbs."
Gibbs clicked the phone shut and chucked it into the bushes before his resolve gave way and he called his forensic scientist. The sooner he left, the sooner this nightmare was over.
~*~*~NCIS~*~*NCIS~*~*
Abby was working on a DNA test when Tony edged his way into the lab.
"Hiya, Tony! Tell Gibbs I don't have anything yet, but I'll let him know when I do." Abby bounced around the table and back to her computer to check up on the fingerprint analysis.
"Abbs…" Tony approached her slowly, his demeanor reserved.
Abby furrowed her eyebrows at the Senior Agent, "Tony, why are you so quiet? You look like someone die- oh God, what happened? Who is it?" Her smirk vanished and was quickly replaced with a look of panic and horror.
"It's not that, Abby." Tony came to stop just in front of the scientist. "Gibbs… he…" Tony sighed, "He's disappeared. He's suspected of being involved with this drug smuggling ring."
Abby stared at Tony, taking in what he was telling her. "That's…that's impossible, Tony. This is Gibbs. Gibbs! Gibbs doesn't do stuff like that. He's like… Mr. Perfection. Why would he do something like that?"
Tony shrugged. "The Director confirmed it. I don't believe it really myself, but… Gibbs is gone. No one can find him."
Abby shook her head stubbornly. "Something is up. Something we don't know. There has to be more. We know Gibbs better than this."
"We'll look into it, Abbs. We'll get to the bottom of it, I promise."
"We'll figure it out. Or by the time we do, he'll be back. He'll be back soon." Abby seemed like she was trying to convince herself. "Soon."
~*~*~NCIS~*~*~NCIS~*~*~
Two months had passed with no sign of Gibbs. Tony had taken on the role of Team Leader, and the former Team Gibbs continued to muddle through, the case that had involved the smuggling ring given to another team to avoid conflicts of interest.
Abby shuffled through each day, her phone kept by her as she checked it religiously, just in case Gibbs tried to call her; in case he was in trouble. She knew his number wouldn't show up – his cell phone was in an evidence bag on her work desk. But if he was being held somewhere…
She shook it out of her head. The team had searched for inaccuracies in the evidence, and possible signs of foul play. But then surveillance photos had come in of Gibbs with the other suspects – clearly not being held captive. Abby had continued to force brainstorms through – maybe they were threatening him with something, like blackmail, that made him stay. But the others had shaken their heads, and silently left her lab.
In her spare time, Abby had taken to studying the evidence of the smuggling case over and over again, trying to figure out some way that Gibbs would be innocent. She studied the pictures, trying to see if there were hidden weapons, or expressions on his face that gave him away. She looked back through financials and cell phone records and even receipts to study his whereabouts. But each time she was faced with the same conclusion – that Gibbs had been in cohorts with the smugglers.
Abby paced in her lab. It made no sense. Gibbs had shot Hernandez, a drug dealer, in Mexico, why join smugglers from Afghanistan? Of course, he'd shot Hernandez to get revenge for Shannon and Kelly, not because of the drugs. But why would he join the same type of people who were responsible for his girls' deaths? Or maybe they weren't really smugglers – they still didn't have enough evidence to bring any of them in yet. Abby paused, grabbing her remote and turning the volume up on her music. She needed to focus. She had considered multiple times that he could be undercover, but if that were true, wouldn't the team know about it? Wouldn't McGee have been the one to fake the financials and cell phone records? If McGee hadn't faked them, then they must be real. Which would mean that Gibbs had actually had $5,000 deposited into his account four times in the last five months – for three months before he'd vanished . There had to be something she was missing.
"Abbs, I need you to check AFIS for these prints." Tony swept into her lab carrying a small evidence bag and a Caf-Pow!
Abby hit the volume button a couple of times on the remote so he wouldn't have to strain to be heard. "Okay, Tony." She nodded, sighing a bit at the lack of ideas she'd come up with once again.
"Abby…" Tony set the cup of caffeinated fruitiness on her desk and reached towards her. "He's not coming back."
"How can you say that?" Abby blinked back tears, trying to keep from breaking down into sobs, as she had on a regular basis since Gibbs' abandonment.
"I don't want to believe it, Abby. But he vanished from NCIS over two months ago and has been spotted still in town with our suspects. What else can I assume?"
"He could be undercover, Tony."
"Why would that be kept from us?"
"For the same reasons no one else knew you were going undercover for Director Shepard with Jeanne." Abby looked at him pointedly.
"That was different, Abbs. She wasn't supposed to be going after him. We are actively trying to find solid evidence against these guys. There wouldn't be a need to hide an agent that deeply."
"That we know of."
Tony frowned at his friend. They'd all taken it hard – Gibbs had been like a father to all of them, but Abby was taking it worst of all. He was really beginning to worry about her obsession for proving Gibbs' innocence.
"Abby, how about a movie night? Tonight around 7? I could order pizza."
Abby sighed. She knew he was trying to get her mind off of it and pull her into their world – one in which they all thought Gibbs was guilty, felt bad about it, but tried to move on. "No, thanks, Tony. I've got plans with Carol." She was surprised at how easily lying had become recently. She'd never been good at it before, but now that she was sneaking around on her own now, it was almost second nature. Gibbs would've been so proud.
Tony studied her for a moment, before nodding. "Alright. Be safe." He handed her the Chain of Evidence form to sign before leaving the small bag with her.
~*~*~NCIS~*~*~NCIS~*~*~
Gibbs ended a long day with a gulp of Bourbon before settling on to an old mattress that lay on the floor of the rundown building. He was getting close to discovering who was in charge of the ring. He knew there were others he would never find out about, but if he could at least get that one name, they may be able to track the rest.
It had been hard to convince the others that he was a rogue agent, but the help of Holcomb it had slowly worked. After Gibbs had tracked Mitchell Holcomb down, the man had admitted to everything, but had only known a little about the smuggling operation, and what he was responsible for doing within the operation. Holcomb had agreed to help them go undercover to find out as much as possible, but only on the condition that Gibbs was the undercover agent and that only the Director knew about the op. Holcomb claimed that if too many people knew and things got out, they would both die for it. And Gibbs had to agree with him.
Holcomb had introduced Gibbs to one of his few contacts who was closer to the man who ran it all. He'd managed to convince them that Gibbs had been working with him for the last three months, was even able to hack into his bank account and alter the financials as proof that he'd been paid for jobs that Holcomb said he'd been doing for him. Some of the jobs he supposedly completed included destruction of evidence while still at NCIS, which had been part of their plan to have the others trust that Gibbs was now rogue. Given that the news was abundant with reports that the highly-decorated Special Agent had disappeared and was suspected of manipulating evidence to keep NCIS from getting further on a case, it wasn't as hard as expected to convince them of his potential outlaw status.
Gibbs remained still on the mattress, trying not to think about what his team was doing or thinking, or whether Abby was convinced that he was a traitor to his country, and more importantly, to her. He closed his eyes with a deep sigh. The sooner he could worm his way through the ranks, the sooner he'd be back to his girl. And maybe this time, he would fess up to his own secret meaning behind her nickname… what 'my girl' really meant to him. This time, maybe.
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