The Look
Ch. 1
A/N: I recently came upon the rerun of the Episode "Bloodbath." If you have seen this episode, then you will know how I came up with this title. This is not verbatim, I have taken a little liberty with the dialogues. I know that this episode has been done time and time again, but this popped in my head and would not leave me alone.
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!
His Abby. Someone was after his Abby. Gibbs knew deep down that Abigail Scuito, Forensic Specialist, did not make mistakes, so he had a gut feeling that there was something more going on. But it wasn't until Tony gave him the folder containing the secrets of Abby, that he knew that he was right.
Tony watched as his boss, quickly scanned the information in front of him, and then he saw it. The Look. He saw Gibbs eyes darken, his pupils contract and his brows tighten up as he read the shocking news. He had seen that look a few times himself, and knew that this did not bode well for Abby.
Gibbs never said one word until he saw with his own two eyes and verbally heard from Ducky that there was little exposure to the gas, so they should have no lasting effects. Just the sight of two of his people sitting on the autopsy table made his stomach churn. "Good, Duck, because they don't have permission to be sick." Gibbs gruffed out as he made a bee line to stand in front of Abby. He slightly shakes his shoulders, readying himself for some hard questions. Tony was the only one who noticed this, he knew that it was Gibbs attempt to keep himself from grabbing her and hugging her and then turning her around and smacking her. Gibbs wanted so much to touch her, but he held himself in check as Abby attempted to explain what happened.
"I am so embarrassed, it was a newbie mistake." Abby said as she tried not to look directly into Gibbs eyes, and it was this avoidance that let her see the quick look that Ziva and Tony passed amongst themselves. "What?"
"We don't think it was an accident Abs." Tony spoke up, the whole time watching the interaction Gibbs was having with Abby. He would try to get her attention, but she would turn away. She knew to avoid The Look.
Tim was caught off guard by that remark, took of his oxygen mask and asked, "Not sure, meaning what?"
"We think who ever is responsible for the crime scene was actually trying to set it up to get to Abby." Ziva answered. Ziva also knew that Gibbs was trying his hardest to keep it calm, and her answering kept him quiet, and in some sort of control.
Abby looked perplexed, " Me? Why would anyone be after me, …. I mean if it was Tony then…maybe."
"Hey." Tony remarked as he turned and walked around to the back side of Abby. He knew that she was the queen of distraction, and that if she did not want to answer any questions, then she could more than likely find a way to skirt the actual questions being asked and take the interviewer off tangent. Tony knew that walking behind Abby as Gibbs was in front of her, would make her realize that she had no where to go, she could not back out of the coming questions. Just his presence and movement would keep her from focusing on lying.
Gibbs knew that now was the time. "Does the name Michael Maher ring a bell? Gibbs kept a close eye on her reaction, and as soon as he saw her drop her eyes and turn her head away from him, he knew that he had his answer. He stood straighter, she knew that she was in trouble, not just from Maher, but from Gibbs also.
"It should," Ziva spoke up, " you received over two hundred phone calls from him in the past 3 months."
As Ziva, spoke the truth, Abby's head just sank lower, now she knew that they knew. She could feel Gibbs eyes burning a hole right into her head. She knew that he was good and pissed. She couldn't bring enough courage to look him in the eyes again, she that he had the look.
"One was received right before the accident." Ziva finished.
Abby's head snapped up and looked at Ziva. " You went through my phone records?" She had never felt so violated, but now that she knew they had done a true research on her, she knew what was probably coming next.
"Credit card bills also Abs." Tony said from behind her, she turned her head to the side he was on, but she still never brought her eyes up, she didn't want to risk it. "Did you really buy this guy a straight jacket for his birthday." Tony asked as he walked from one side of her to the other.
"OK, slow down." Abby interjected as she felt her control slipping, if anything she just hung her head lower.
"You must have really liked him." Tim added.
"Until she filed a restraining order against him, I think the straight jacket should have been a warning, Abs." Tony said with a sense of rising anger. He could not believe that all this had transpired and he had no idea any thing was wrong. How did big brother miss this? Better, why had she hid it from them, her family, why from him?
"How come we haven't heard anything about this before Abigail?" Ducky asked.
Raising her hands to keep everyone quiet, Abby tried to explain. "OK, OK I dated him last year and thing just got a little out of hand. Abby looked from Tim toDucky, still never raising her eyes to look at Gibbs. She could feel his disappointment and anger flowing off him.
Tony was becoming more and more angry as he listened to Abby try to lessen the seriousness of this guy. How could she not see just how dangerous this was? "Did I mention the restraining order?"
Abby could tell that this was not going in her favor at all, now is the time to backpedal and cover. "Ok, maybe a lot out of hand." She said as she looked down at her nails.
Gibbs had had enough, he knew that Abby now knew the true seriousness of what was going on, and now he had to let her know that he wanted some more personal questions answered, and he wanted her looking into his eyes when she answered them. Stepping between her legs, Gibbs placed a hand on each side of her waist on the autopsy table and bent down and leaned in, he wanted to make sure she knew that not only was bossman pissed, but Dad was too. "Why…didn't you come to me,…. Abby" Gibbs caught her eyes for a brief second, and when Abby saw the fear, disappointment and anger in there, she had to look away.
"Because Gibbs," Abby looked up into his eyes and saw the love there also. She knew that she shouldn't have hid this from her family, but she thought she had it under control. " I wanted his restrained, not beaten to a pulp." Abby knew that if anyone in this family ever found out about just how scary things had gotten, especially if they knew of his threats, then they would put their skills to use, and between a trained undercover officer, a computer genius, a trained assassin and a marine sniper, Maher would never be found.
Gibbs stood up and threw her a side glance that said he didn't truly believe her full explanation.
"And…besides it is embarrassing. I mean, I thought I could handle it myself." Abby was no longer embarrassed as she thought about just how they were overreacting to a simple restraining order. " I mean, he is not the violent type."
"The guy cleans up crime scenes for a living, Abby." Tony let her know quickly that he knew a lot about Maher also.
"I know, that is why I liked him at first" Abby said as she watched Gibbs stop pacing and step back in front of her. "But, I am telling you Gibbs that he is not your man." Abby said with confidence. That confidence was quickly replaced as she looked into his face and could see The Look.
Gibbs now stood in front of Abby, head angled down to let her know he was the one making the decision here, not her. His face never changed, his eyes crinkled slightly as he listened to her.
Abby realized by now that with this look, there was no backing down. "But you are going to pay him a visit now anyway?" Abby said with a nod as she acknowledged that she was wrong. She put a slight grin on her face trying to hopefully sway just how pissed he was at her. But as he turned to walk to the door, he held her eyes as he turned his head, his way of letting her know that his was far from done. As he approached the door Abby tried one more time to lessen his ire. "Could you pick up my red studded dog collar?"
Gibbs did not verbally answer her, he just stopped and gave her one more look. This one read don't push me, and Abby knew not to.
Abby leaned her head on McGee's shoulder and said in a slightly tired voice, " Do you think it would help if I was to file a restraining order against Gibbs?"
"Honestly Abby, I think we are all pretty upset with you right now."
"But, why. I am the victim here." Abby argued.
"You intentionally hid something dangerous from us, and from what I just witnessed, I bet there was more to this need for a restraining order. Did he threaten you?" McGee asked as he turned her to face him. He knew her as well as anyone, and besides Gibbs, he could read her like a book.
"No." Abby spat a little too quickly.
McGee could tell from her response and from the downward gaze of her eyes that she was lying. But he would not be the one to deal with this, he would just file it to tell Gibbs later. He knew that Gibbs would be having a personal discussion with Abby and her safety. McGee could tell that deep down she was frightened, so he just tucked her head underneath his and said. "We will catch who ever is responsible for this,…. you know that Gibbs would never let anyone ever hurt you. Well, … except."
"I know, McGee," Abby said with a sigh. " I saw the look, believe me…I know."
Next up: Gibbs and the family deal with Abby's hiding this from them. Hope you enjoy, please read and review.
