Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.
Chapter 3
The Second Elevator Scene
The ding of the elevator, she swore, was louder than usual. The doors slid open to a scene that made her want to cry. Tony stood in the exact same spot he'd been standing so early that morning, still staring blankly at the wall in front of him. She almost didn't board. What could she say to him? He was her friend, and he was dead, and she didn't know how to help him feel better about the situation.
"Are you coming?" He asked her after a moment, turning his blank green eyes on her.
She stepped into the elevator, confirming that she was without words. He turned his eyes back to the wall and lapsed back into silence. They hadn't gotten far before she flipped the emergency switch and the elevator shuddered to a halt, the lights blinking out.
"What are you doing, Abs?" Tony wondered, turning to her with his brow furrowed in confusion. At least he was displaying some kind of emotion.
For a moment she had no idea how to respond to him, but then he was speaking, and the burden was gone.
"Where is everybody? It's so deserted in here. You're the only person I've seen all day," Tony said. "There hasn't even been a guard. Aren't they supposed to be doing rounds? I know its Saturday and all, but if you have to work, don't they?"
He couldn't see the other people in the building. It was the norm for 'ghosts' to only see her. She hadn't researched it, but she assumed it had something to do with the fact that the deceased weren't actually on this plane of existence. She, herself, straddled that plane, walking in both. It was why she could see him and the others, but they couldn't see each other.
"They're here. You just can't see them," Abby explained to him, reaching out for his hand, and shuddering at the icy coldness that enveloped her own.
"Did they suddenly go invisible?" He joked, and while the chill in the air still unsettled her, at least he was being Tony again. "I didn't know everybody was harboring secret superpowers."
"You're somewhere else, Tony. You're not actually here. That's why you can't see them. That's why they can't see you," Abby tried to be gentle about it.
'Ghosts' often were confused by the lack of people in their environment. They were drawn to her because they could interact with her. Some took the news well, and other's took it terribly, insisting they see their friends and family before they pass into the ether. Tony didn't really fit into either of these categories, she quickly learned.
"What? You're talking to me right now, Abs," he pointed out.
"I'm special," Abby told him. "It's why you see me but not the others. It's my job to help you."
"Help me what?" The befuddled look on his face, she had to admit, was more than slightly adorable.
"Pass on," Abby said.
It nearly broke her heart to say it. This was Tony. He wasn't supposed to be dead. She wasn't supposed to be helping him move on. She didn't want to. She wanted him to be alive.
"Pass on?" He asked skeptically, cocking an eyebrow at her. "How many Caf-Pows have you had today, Abs? You're not making any sense. First I'm somewhere else, and now I'm supposed to be passing on? Perhaps you should go easy on the movies."
What? It was Abby's turn to be confused.
"Tony, when you die, you have to pass on," Abby said. "If you don't you'll be consumed by the darkness."
She'd only seen it happen once in her lifetime. It was rare for a soul to refuse to pass on. It had been described to her as a pulling sensation, the feeling of really needing to be somewhere else but not being able to get there. Fighting that draw wasn't easy, and many people didn't attempt it. The only man she'd seen consumed by the darkness had fought death, and her, the entire three days she'd known him.
His name was Darnell. He was a middle-aged politician who planned on running for office in the next election. Abby had been in college at the time, and she'd tried everything to persuade him to give up his life in the spotlight and pass into the ether, but he'd refused. He had insisted there was a way for him to come back, and he'd spent days trying to figure out how, even though she assured him there was no possible way for it to happen. Dead was dead. You couldn't put a soul back in a dead body. If it was that easy, Abby would have lost far fewer friends. The darkness had been like an extension of a shadow, sliding out from a dark corner to swarm around Darnell. It had been the scariest thing she'd ever witnessed, and his screams had stayed with her for years afterwards.
Whatever the darkness actually was, Abby didn't know. She could have done research on it, but she found it too frightening. Besides, how could she possibly look it up? As far as she knew, her 'gift' was not very common, and not many people were aware that whatever the darkness was existed. She couldn't google it and expect to find an answer.
"What are you talking about Abby?" Tony demanded, pulling his hand from hers and tucking it into the pocket of his leather jacket- the same leather jacket that was sitting on her lab table in an evidence bag.
"You can't fight moving on, Tony," Abby tried to make him understand. "If you do you'll regret it. I'll help you. It won't be bad."
She would help him. As much as she didn't want to lose him, she'd rather he pass into the ether than be consumed and destroyed by the darkness.
"You've got this all wrong, Abby," Tony shook his head vehemently. "I'm not passing on. I'm not dead!"
"What?" This was not something she had encountered before.
"I'm not dead!" Tony repeated himself. "Have you been drinking on the job, Abs? What the hell?"
Everybody she had ever encountered before had known they were dead. Kate had known she was dead- she'd even gone so far as to tell her, with more detail than was necessary, exactly how it felt to feel a bullet go through your head, how it felt to have all the lights blink off in a single moment. It had been very disconcerting to hear.
"Tony," she pleaded, but she had no idea what exactly she was pleading for.
"This is ridiculous," Tony snarled at her, reaching forward to snap the elevator back on.
The lights flooded the room, and the elevator kicked a bit as it snapped into motion. Abby didn't know quite what to do. Tony was dead- Gibbs had told her, and Gibbs wouldn't lie to her. What was she supposed to do if he didn't think that he was gone? She couldn't help him pass on if he refused to believe that he was no longer alive. The thought of him being consumed by the darkness almost made her cry. She couldn't see that happening to Tony.
When the elevator doors dinged open, revealing the hallway to her lab, Abby tried to stop him from leaving, but he marched out the doors and promptly faded. If she hadn't been sure he was dead before, she was very sure he was dead after seeing that.
A/N: Any thoughts?
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