HURRICANE TABBY

Having just gone through Hurricane Sandy here on the east coast, this was a natural story idea. At least the hurricane in my story won't be followed a week later by a snow-dropping Nor'Easter, as really happened here after Sandy. Taking a lot of liberties with Washington DC locales and weather. And YES, this is a TABBY story. Not your thing, don't read. That simple. Tabby Shippers UNITE! And please take a moment to pray for all those in New York and New Jersey still without power - heat and electricity - and many without even a home. Even better, think about making a donation to the American Red Cross to help those communities in need get the basics, like fresh, clean water. And pray that all the animals separated from their families during the storm find their homes again.

"She knows better than to disobey a direct order from you, boss," Tony said over the phone to Gibbs, walking down to Abby's lab. "I'll check every corner of the lab. But I'm telling ya', much as our little lab bat loves storms, she wouldn't put herself in danger during a hurricane. Ok, I'll call ya' when I don't find her. Ok, later boss." He flipped his phone closed and turned the corner into the lab. He got the shock of his life to see Abby there. And she wasn't alone.

Abby tugged the fleece jacket over little Ava's chubby toddler arms. "There we go. I'll just grab my jacket, and we'll be on our way."

"Abby! What are you still doing here?"

Turning with a gasp, Abby relaxed to see it was Tony. "Oh, hey, Tony. Volunteered for skeleton duty, huh?"

Tony grabbed Abby by the arm and pulled her a few feet away from the young girl sitting on the table. "You were supposed to be gone a long time ago, Abbs. What are you still doing here?"

Abby shrugged. "Well, I had a test running for Monroe's team, and Ava was napping, so I figured I'd let both run their course. But we're just about to leave now, I want to get Ava back to her mom before it gets any worse."

Pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, Tony sighed. "Abby, the Anacostia Bridge closed an hour ago. The winds have really picked up, the hurricane is supposed to be right over us in a couple of hours." He ignored her whining. "This is why Gibbs told you to move out hours ago. He wanted you home, safe, once Tabby hit."

She fretted. "I thought there'd be more time, she wasn't doing much the last I heard. I figured I'd have everything done in time…..what am I going to do, Tony? How am I going to get Ava home?" Abby bit her lip in worry.

Tony looked over at the toddler, who was swinging her legs as she waited for Abby. "You can't, Abbs. You're going to have to wait the hurricane out here. You and…Ava…" he gestured lamely to the little girl. It was no secret that Tony wasn't exactly comfortable around real little children.

Abby began to pace. "Oh my God! This is bad! Nina will never let me babysit again…. What kind of person strands a three-year old in a hurricane? It could be hours before I'm able to get her home….."

Tony and Ava both watched Abby pace, and shared a look, rolling their eyes. 'Maybe this kid isn't so bad,' Tony thought with a smile. "Look, Abby, call…Nina, explain what happened and that you're keeping Ava here. Building's down to a skeleton crew, but it's safe."

"Oh! I know! I'll call Nina and tell her what happened, and that I'm keeping Ava here! The building will be safe during the storm, we've got all kinds of generators to keep things going." She pulled out her cellphone and began to dial.

Pulling out his own phone, Tony said, "great, you do that. I'll call Gibbs and get reamed over the phone for finding you here." He walked out into the hall as Gibbs answered on the other end. "Hey boss, guess what…."

Trying several phone numbers and getting 'line disconnected' messages on all of them, Abby began to panic again. Shutting the phone, she looked at Ava, who was beginning to get fidgety. "I'll be right back, one second, ok?" She ran out of the lab, bumping into Tony as he came around the corner.

"Hope you're happy. I could feel the head slap through the phone."

"Tony! What am I gonna' do? I couldn't get ahold of anyone! All the lines there are down or something! I tried like five different people, at least ten different phone numbers…. Nothing! Just that automated message, telling me that the line isn't in service…."

Tony wrapped Abby in a hug and walked her back into the lab where Ava was waiting.

"Aunty Abby? We stuck here?" Ava's little face was scrunched up in worry.

"Uh, yeah, kinda'. Sorry, kiddo." Abby helped the toddler take off her coat again. "But don't you worry. We're perfectly safe here. And we're going to have fun, I promise!"

Ava's lip and chin quivered. "You don't got much toys a' play wif."

Tony cleared his throat. "Uh, well, Gibbs suggested that you take ….Ava ….up to the daycare center. Plenty to do up there, full kitchen, place to sleep."

Abby ran over and jumped into Tony's arms. "You're a genius!" She planted a big, loud smooch on his cheek.

Blushing, Tony brushed it off like no big deal. He wasn't going to remind her it had been Gibbs' idea. "Plus you won't be alone on that floor, there's a couple senior admin working in the offices down the hall from the center." He watched as Abby and Ava high-fived. "Grab your stuff, I'll walk you up there."

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Abby glanced out the windows again as they rattled in the wind. She and Ava had been in the otherwise empty daycare center for about a couple of hours now, and Abby had been watching the storm build in intensity and strength. She couldn't believe she'd been so stupid as to ignore all the weather warnings, especially where she had someone besides herself to worry about. A child, no less. Were it just herself, she wouldn't be half as worried as she was now. She would have hunkered down in her lab with her music and her babies. No one in the building to drop off endless evidence, she could've tackled some cold cases, finished up some paperwork she kept putting off. She'd grown up in Louisiana, she was used to hurricanes. But little Ava should be home with her mom at a time like this, not still hanging out with Abby.

As the windows shook again, Ava jumped. The room may have been a toddler's toy paradise, but the young girl was starting to get fidgety. Not to mention more and more scared about the storm, which they could see happening right outside the window. "Hey Ava, what do you say we go raid the vending machines? I think we could do with a little walk." The child didn't speak, just stood and took Abby's hand.

Walking around the rest of the floor, Abby realized that they were totally alone. Tony had said that there was supposed to be some administrative office people around, but apparently they'd jumped ship before the hurricane hit the Navy Yard. Reaching the staff room, Abby led the way to the vending machines, only to realize she'd forgotten money. Ava deserved a treat, but Abby didn't want to take the time to go all the way back to get her wallet. With a peek over her shoulders to make sure no one was watching, she prepared to assist the machine in dispensing its' wares. "You didn't see this, Ava. And you're never, ever going to do this yourself, got me?" As the girl nodded, wide-eyed, Abby hit the machine in the 'sweet spot,' just like Tony taught her, and two bags of chips and three candy bars came dropping down into the tray. "Score!" She handed the candy bars to Ava and scooped up the chips. "Now remember," Abby reminded Ava again as they returned to the daycare center, "that never happened. Especially if Agent Gibbs asks." She giggled along with the little girl, who'd met Gibbs - and liked him - earlier in the day, and wouldn't believe for a second that he'd ever punish Abby.

As they walked back into the daycare center, the room phone rang, Running to pick it jup, Abby knew it would be Tony. He called every 30 minutes to check in and make sure they were ok. Abby had tried to tell him he didn't need to do it so often, but the man was almost as stubborn as Gibbs when it came to protecting her. "Hi Tony….no, we're good, we just took a walk down to the vending machines…..ok…talk to you then. Oh hey, wait. Didn't you say that there were supposed to be some admin in the offices down here? 'Cuz there's not. Offices are all dark." Abby rolled her eyes at Ava. "No, we're not freaked out, we're fine. I was just letting you know no one else was here. No, we don't need to….hello? Tony? Tony….Tone?" She hung up with a shrug. "He gets more and more like Gibbs everyday," she joked to the little girl. Seconds later, the power flickered on and off several times, then finally stayed off. Ava gave a small cry. Making her way over to the girl and picking her up, Abby said, "it's ok, sweetie. This is a federal building, so we've got really big generators that will give us some lights back. Any minute now," she mumbled to herself.

"I don' like a dark, Aunty Abby. Scary!" Ava whimpered.

"I know, sweetie, I know. But I'm here with you, and I won't let anything happen to you in the dark, ok?" She felt the young child nod. "Ok. Any second now, those generators will kick in and power some things up. There might be a big thunking noise, but it's ok, that's just the generator starting up. Nothing to be scared of."

"'k, Aunty Abby."

Abby had just started to head for the utility closet for a flashlight when the emergency power chugged on. The emergency lights cast a soft, amber glow around the room, and they could hear the refrigerator softly humming again. "There, see? Everything's back to normal." Just as Abby spoke, the lights flickered and went out again, then came back on. "Tell you what, let's go back to the playroom. There's a little more light because of all those windows. You can pick a game for us to play til the power comes back on, how's that?"

Ava nodded against Abby's chest sadly. She was scared and tired, and she wanted to go home. Three year olds don't generally like strange, dark places, and this place - to her - was strange, and it was dark. As long as she had Aunty Abby, she wouldn't be too scared. Picking out Candy Land, Ava sat on the floor with Abby and began to play, flinching every time the lights flickered.

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"Don't do that again, I got worried when you didn't answer the phone." Tony knew Abby was just humoring him when she said 'ok.' "I'll check in again in half an hour, then…..yeah, there's supposed to be two or three senior administrators manning the phones, why?….they left? Are you guys freaked being by yourselves down there, cuz I can…..well then you can come up here…..Abby? Abbs? Hello? Abby!" He froze, still holding the phone when the lights flickered and went out. And sighed in relief a few seconds later when the emergency generator clunked on. Tony hung up the phone and went back to work.

It seemed like it had been hours, but it had only been fifteen minutes before Tony's gut started to twitch. Something was wrong with Abby, had to be. He sat as his desk for a minute, trying to decide if this was a 'someone's in trouble' feeling, or just a reaction to the hurricane in general. Oh, what the hell, he'd go check on Abby and the kid down in the daycare center. Couldn't hurt. He left his desk and walked to the elevator and pressed the button. And after a heartbeat, remembered what happened with Dearing's bomb and opted to take the stairs. As he walked down the hallway past dark offices that were supposed to be occupied, his gut screamed, and he began a slow jog. He was just about to enter through the daycare center doorway when there was a tremendous crash - glass shattering, the sound of wind and driving rain, things banging into other things, and two screams - one young, scared, hurt. The other older, yet still scared and hurt. One glance told him that the wall of windows had blown in with the force of the wind, and now everything in the room was flying around. His heart stopped.

"ABBY!"

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A/N - PLEASE REVIEW, AND MAKE MY 18 HOURS WITH NO ELECTRICITY OR HEAT (or INTERNET!) , AND WITH ELDERLY PARENTS THAT DROVE ME CRAZY THE ENTIRE TIME WITH NO COMPUTER SOLITAIRE TO KEEP THEM ENTERTAINED - WORTH IT! PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! Thank you!