Chapter 4

"Tony? Tony? Come on, Tony. Please wake up!" Abby's voice was shaky as she shook Tony awake from his nearly peaceful slumber.

"Abby? What is it? What's wrong?" he asked, but stifled by a yawn.

"Where did that come from?"

Tony sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes. "What?"

"That!" Abby dramatically pointed at the thing sitting on her coffee table.

It was a huge vase of beautiful, pure white roses. Tony leaned forward on the couch and Abby stopped kneeling on the floor and sat next to him. Both stared at it for several minutes before Tony picked up the note card from the bouquet. The opened the little envelope and read it. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh what?" Tony handed the card to Abby. It read "I'll be calling you soon." Abby flipped it over, but there was nothing there. "Its from him, Tony! The caller!"

Tony who had his head in his hands, looked at the floor. Slowly and slightly he lifted his head to look at the flowers again. "I know, Abby."

Abby jumped off the couch with the sudden realization of what this meant. "My God! He was in my house! He was right here! Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…." she trailed off.

"I am so sorry, Abby. I-I don't know how I didn't notice him last. I…..I'm sorry." His voice sounded heartbroken. And with good reason. This crazy stalker had been in there last night. Mere inches from Tony and he didn't notice. What if this person had hurt Abby? What if he killed her? What would Gibbs have done to me? What will Gibbs do? Oh God! I've got to tell Gibbs!

Abby didn't know which feeling to react to first. She was confused about the flowers that were left. She was afraid that this guy was in her home. She was even a little angry with Tony for not getting this guy while he was right in front of him. She was also feeling guilty for putting Tony in danger. He could have so easily been killed last night and it would have been all her fault. Then a frightening thought crossed her mind. Oh, God, I've got to tell Gibbs!

After walking Abby to her lab and checking it out to make sure everything was good, Tony went up to the squad room. He sat nervously down at his desk. He knew that any minute now, Gibbs would be walking through the elevator doors with a coffee in his hand. Gibbs would want to know if anything happened last night and Tony didn't know what to tell him.

"Good morning, Tony," Ziva said as she walked over to her desk. She took off her coat and set her bag on the floor. "You look like hell."

"Gee, thanks, Ziva."

"What? Another late night?" Ziva walked over and sat on the edge of Tony's desk. "What was her name?" she asked with a curious smile on her face.

"Abby."

Ziva's smile disappeared and was replaced with an expression of confusion. "Abby? Abby Abby? Our Abby?"

It was Tony's turn for a sly smile to appear on his face. He sat up a little straighter in his chair. "Yes, our Abby. I was over there yesterday. And I stayed there all night long." Tony liked picking on Ziva. The look on her face of whether or not to believe him was cute. He would never admit that out loud. He hardly ever admitted it to just himself. Finally deciding that Tony was joking with her, she let out a little laugh and went back to her desk.

Five minutes later, Tony heard something set down next to his head. He had lain it on the desk because he got a headache thinking about Gibbs. He looked towards the noise and saw a coffee cup. Looking up he saw Gibbs standing in front of his desk. He jerked upright in his chair.

"Boss! Didn't hear you walk up." Tony picked up the coffee. "Thank you," he said and took a sip. He would need this today. Gibbs stood in front of Tony, starting at him. Tony knew he should say something, but couldn't force the words out of his mouth. "Well, DiNozzo?" But Tony just stared. It looked like he was going to say something, but changed his mind. Gibbs saw something in Tony's eyes that he didn't see very often. It was fear. He of what, he wasn't sure, but he would find out. "Did something happen at Abby's?"

Tony saw Ziva's head shoot up from her desk. If he wasn't scared of Gibbs killing him, he would have laughed. Instead, all he did was nod his head. Gibbs set one of the coffees in the cardboard carrier on his own desk, then one on McGee's. Gibbs motioned for Tony to follow him. Leaving his coffee o the desk, Tony stepped into the elevator with Gibbs.

Tony was not looking forward to this conversation. He could already feel the foot up his ass while being kicked out the door with a pink slip in his hand. That is of course, if Gibbs doesn't kill him first.

Once the doors were shut, Gibbs hit the emergency stop button. He turned towards Tony. "What happened?"

"I don't know, boss. Everything was alright after you left. We went to bed -."

"We?"

"She went to bed; I slept on the couch. When I woke up, there was a bouquet of white roses on the table and a note with them."

"What did the note say?" Gibbs was far from happy, He was too worried about Abby to think about anything else right now.

" 'I'll be calling you soon'." Tony clenched and unclenched his jaw as he waited to Gibbs' fist to come in contact with it. He could see fury boiling in Gibbs' eyes. Something changed though. It was slight, but sudden.

"Where's Abby?" His voice was deep and rough.

"In her lab. I took her down there this morning and looked around. Everything appeared to be fine." Gibbs hit the button for Abby's lab. "What's up, boss?" When the doors opened, Abby wasn't in sight. They walked through her lab and office, but she wasn't there. "She's got to be around here somewhere. She's got a Caf-Pow! sitting on her desk."

"I put that there this morning when I came down. She wasn't here then. I didn't think anything of it because I didn't think you were here yet." Gibbs and Tony stood in silence trying to figure out what to do next. "Where's the note?"

Tony nodded towards the office. "With the flowers on her desk."

"There weren't any flowers on her desk." Gibbs walked into the office. Nothing. He walked back out and right up to Tony's face. "We will resume this conversation later," he said genuinely pissed off. Tony sat in the chair in front of Abby's computer. He figured he should probably wait here for her. Then he could stay out of Gibbs' way.

Gibbs was facing the elevator doors, waiting for them to open. He was getting more pissed at Tony and worried about Abby as the seconds ticked away. He wasn't sure about what to do next. This guy appeared to be technologically savvy, and that was not one of Gibbs' strong points. How else would this guy make it appear as though he was calling from a payphone when he so clearly wasn't. He needed to talk to McGee again about what to do next. Finally, the doors opened.

"There you are!" said Abby stepping out of the elevator with a huge vase of white roses in her hands. "I was looking all over for you, Gibbs." She walked past him and headed for her office. "Hi, Tony!" she said walking through her lab with Gibbs behind her.

"Tony jumped out of his chair to his feet. "Hey, Abby." He followed Gibbs to her office.

"Where have you been?" Gibbs asked in a fatherly tone?

"well, 'Papa'," she started, "after Tony and I got in this morning and he checked things out and went upstairs, I took the flowers and went to visit Ducky. After we talked for a few minutes, I went to find you. Only you weren't at your desk. Ziva said you took Tony to have a talk. Then she asked about the flowers, McGee showed up, and I told her about last night. Then I came down here and here you are!" Abby took a deep breath. That had taken a lot out of her. But she was an experienced rambler so it didn't take long for her to recover.

"So are those the flowers he left you?" Abby nodded her head and stepped out of the way so Gibbs could inspect them. He looked them over like they were a piece of evidence. In a way, they actually were. A piece of evidence that would help Gibbs find this guy. He took the note off its little plastic holder and examined that, too. There was no indication of where the flowers had come from. He handed the card back to Abby. "See if you can find some prints anywhere." He turned and faced Tony again. "Go back up to the squad room and get to work on the double murder case!"

"Yes, boss!" Tony quickly left the office and the lab. Gibbs turned back at Abby who had a concerned look on her cute little face.

"Are you mad?" she asked Gibbs.

"Furious." Abby's face fell as she picked up her flowers. She was going back into the lab to look for fingerprints. Gibbs stopped her by quickly grabbing the flowers from her hands and setting them back on the desk. He put his hands on top of her shoulders and slid them down her arms, just above her elbows. "just say he word and I will fire him right now, Abbs."

"No, Gibbs! Tony didn't do anything wrong!"

Gibbs took a tighter hold on Abby. "He let the guy walk right in front of him! Through your home, Abby. He could have killed him. He could have killed you!"

Abby closed her eyes to try to hold back her tears of guilt. She had gotten Tony involved in this. If he had died, she wouldn't have forgiven herself. Ever! "I know," she said quietly with her eyes still closed. She lowered her head. "And I feel terrible about it."

Gibbs pulled her into a hug. "You have nothing to feel terrible about."

Abby put her arms around Gibbs. "But I got him involved."

"No, I got him involved."

"But if I hadn't told you -."

"You didn't tell me. McGee did."

"And if I hadn't told him -."

"You have to stop blaming yourself," Gibbs interrupted. "Its not going to do you any good. It puts added stress on yourself. Besides, none of this is your fault." They separated. Gibbs saw tears on Abby's cheek and grabbed a tissue off her desk.

'We don't know that," she said as she took the tissue from Gibbs. She started drying her cheeks. "We don't know who this guy is. Maybe I did something. Maybe I met him somewhere and mistakenly lead him on."

"I doubt that, Abby."

"But I'm a naturally flirty person, Gibbs. You know how much I love to hug. Maybe he took a hug the wrong way." Abby was starting to sound a little panicky. If Gibbs didn't calm her down now, she might have an attack.

Gibbs put his right hand on her shoulder. "Stop. Just take a breath and stop." He waited for her to take a couple of deep breaths. "Okay, good. I'm going to go back upstairs and have a conversation with McGee on what to do next. I'll come back down later and we'll go to lunch and talk then. In the meantime, look for those fingerprints. Can you stay calm?" Abby nodded yes again. Gibbs stepped forward and kissed Abby's left cheek gently. "Call me if you need me."

Gibbs went for the elevator and stepped inside. As the doors began to close, Abby stopped them. "Can you do something for me, Gibbs?"

"What's that, Abbs?"

"Can you go easy on Tony?"

Gibbs laughed. "Hell no."

Gibbs marched right up to Tony and grabbed him by his shirt. He yanked him right out of his chair. Tony had been expecting something like this so he was only slightly taken aback when forced from his desk. Gibbs kicked the door of an interrogation room open, drawing quiet a bit of attention. Tony was thrown into the room as Gibbs slammed the door. Tony stood next to the table. Gibbs stood by the door. For a while, neither spoke, just stared. Tony found this more frightening because he could only imagine what was going to happen. Finally, Gibbs spoke.

"You're an idiot."

Tony leaned against the edge of the table. "I know."

"What the hell, Tony? You were there to watch Abby. To protect her. Not to be a welcome mat for this creep!"

Tony lowered his head. "Yes, boss."

Gibbs walked up to Tony and pushed him, causing him to nearly fall backwards over the table. "Look at me while I'm talking to you!" he yelled. It was then that Gibbs saw that same look of fear in Tony that he saw earlier. Now he knew what Tony was afraid of.

"Yes, boss," Tony said again. Tony was scared. He tried to hide it, but he knew that Gibbs knew. Tony figured he deserved whatever Gibbs dealt him.

"You could be dead, Tony!" Gibbs was right in Tony's face.

"I know."

"Abby could be dead!"

"I know!" screamed Tony and pushed Gibbs back. Tony had no idea what happened. Something in him just snapped. Gibbs was saying everything Tony had been thinking since they found the flowers this morning.

Pushing Gibbs was a huge mistake. Tony knew the second before it happened, but it was too late. Gibbs lunged at Tony and fist started flying. Both were tangled in each other punching whatever they could reach. Someone finally came in the room yelling and started pulling Gibbs off of Tony. Gibbs kept struggling, but the instant Tony was free, he started yelling again.

"You don't think I don't know that? That I haven't been thinking about it all morning? Every time I blink, I see her lying there, lifeless. And I know its all my fault." Tony's voice involuntarily trembled slightly with his last few words. Gibbs shook Ziva and McGee off. They were the ones who had pulled Gibbs off of Tony. "I'm sorry, Gibbs." It was something Tony rarely said to him, knowing how Gibbs felt about apologies.

But this time, Gibbs didn't correct him. Instead, Gibbs ran the back of his hand across the corner of his mouth. Tony had landed a couple of good punches, including one right hook straight to Gibbs' jaw. Gibbs didn't do too bad either. "I know," he said in response to Tony's apology and walked out of the room.

Tony gazed at himself in the men's bathroom mirror. He had a cut under his eye which he was positive would be black and blue tomorrow. His ribs on his left side were also killing him. He though one or two of them maybe cracked. If so, they could be sore for a few weeks.

The door to the bathroom opened and Ziva walked in. She didn't have her usual sarcastic smile on her face. Instead it was concern. Concern about him. Never would she have thought Tony would start a fight with Gibbs. And she knew he had started it when he pushed Gibbs. She and McGee had snuck into the observation room and watched the whole thing. Until the fight started, that is. Then they ran in there to break it up. She didn't know about McGee, but she was sure Gibbs would have killed Tony at the time. It took both her and McGee to pull Gibbs off of Tony.

She looked Tony over. His eye was already getting puffy. She saw him wincing and limping as he walked out of the interrogation room. She guessed he would look and feel horrible for at least a few days. She pulled out a couple of paper towels and wet them with warm water. After ringing out the excess water, she dabbed it on Tony's cut to wipe away the dried blood. He winced.

"What? Did I hurt you?" she asked sounding actually concerned.

"No," said Tony. "Just afraid you're going to."

"I'm not going to hurt you. You look like you're in enough pain without getting beat up by a girl as well." She finished cleaning him up. "Where else did you get hurt?"

"I think Gibbs may have cracked a few of my ribs." He lifted his shirt up a bit, but there was no bruising yet. Just some fist-sized red marks.

"Come on. Let's go get some x-rays done." She grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the door.

"I don't need x-rays, Ziva."

"Tony, if you don't come with me, I will hurt you."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"Want to test that theory?" By now she had him in the squad room. Gibbs wasn't at his desk, but McGee was. "I'm taking Tony to the hospital to get some x-rays. We will be back soon." McGee nodded and Tony and Ziva left.

"Fighting with team members in the office?! What were you thinking, Jethro?" Gibbs was in the Director's office. As soon as she heard about the fight, which only took about 1 seconds for scuttlebutt to reach her, she ordered Gibbs into her office. "What is all this about, anyway?"

"Just a personal matter. Its over now."

"It better be. I can't have you or anyone else starting fights in the hallway. We have enough problems around here as it is." She took a seat behind her desk as Gibbs continued to stand. "Are you and Agent DiNozzo going to have a problem from now on?"

"Nope."

Jen was starting to get aggravated with Gibbs' short, non-descriptive answers. "Damn it, Jethro! What is gong on?!"

"Nothing, 'Director'."

"Fine. Don't tell me," she said finally getting fed up with his attitude. "Get out of here and go clean yourself up. You've got blood on your shirt." With that, Gibbs left.