Well, thanks to those who reviewed and replied. It's awesome that you guys did. I'd like to add that this fic is dedicated to Naomi, Maddie, and David, my dear sweet brother. Thanks to you all! Buon divertimento!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize

Characters are slightly AU

~Very Special Agent Bandit

All We Are

Chapter 3

For all she knew, she could have been dying. A slow painful death. She could've been already dead; all this could've been a fantasy. But she knew she wasn't dead. Not if she could feel such pain. A pain that spread from her toes to her head. That ached in every bone, that made hammers crush the inside of her skull. The pain that blossomed from her heart, that made her shudder. She could feel the pain in her shoulders, her legs. She was curled in a ball, biting her lip so much it bleed, in attempt to distract the pain, but it only added to it. The cold floor wasn't helping her horrible shivers. The ones that racked her body, made her teeth chatter, and her lips turned blue. She sat against Abby's cool refrigerator, her cheeks flushed with fever. She was wrapped in Tony's jacket, lying on a futon, her head resting against Abby's purple farting hippo, named Bert.

She felt tears fall down her cheeks, and into her ears, a sensation she hated so much, but didn't have the energy to stop. She watched Abby race around the room, something she'd been doing since Arty'd first arrived. She grew dizzy of the movements, and instead focused herself on the dark window of Abby's lab. She watched rain drops slowly hit the window with a soft "patter" and then latch themselves onto each other as the slid down the window, as if they were racing each other. She smiled at her fantasy, but the movement hurt, and she instead continued to look around the room, trying to distract herself. Abby had turned her music off, and Arty could hear her own, soft breathing. Slow and short. So unsure.

Arty moved her stiff toes, and hugged herself, trying to find balance between the shivers and the heat waves that passed through her. What if they abandoned her? She looked around the room, and into Abby's office, where McGee was sleeping in her office chair. She quite liked him now, no matter how nerdy he was. Or how much fun it was to mock him. She watched as his mouth moved open, and for a second, she held back laughter as she could hear a slight snore through the glass door and the faint melody of all of Abby's machines beeping. She could hear Abby start to hum impatiently under her breath, as she took a sip from her seventh cup of Caf-pow today. She looked at the table stacked full of evidence, and Arty wondered, not for the first time that night, where they'd gotten all of it. She hadn't seen that much evidence at the scene.

She gave a slight moan as she shifted in attempt to get into a more comfortable position, and Bert farted underneath her head. Abby spun around, quick as lightning, her green eyes wide in surprise, and when she saw it was only Arty, quickly relaxed. She knelt down next to the girl.

"How're you feeling? Did I wake you up?" Abby said softly, her voice gentle and concerned.

"I feel like I'm going to vomit," Arty paused, "I was never asleep, Abby."

She looked even more concerned. "Maybe we should get Ducky to look at you again."

Arty shook her head with another quiet moan, "He said I should rest, maybe take a few Tylenol. But he said that's all he could do. It'd be better if we just left him alone."

Abby nodded, and looked at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry you're feeling so horrible."

"There's nothing you could do," A weak smiled crept onto Arty's face.

"Maybe I should get Tony or Kate to come pick you up. You could stay at one of their houses. You could sleep in a real bed."

"I wouldn't sleep anyways. Besides they're probably asleep. What time is it anyways?"

"It almost two thirty."

"Two thirty?" Arty knit her eyebrows, "Aren't you tired?"

"Nope, I've got my Caf-pow," Abby shook the cup that she held in her hand quietly. "Want a drink? You're not contagious."

Arty smirked and refused, "You should get back to work. I'll probably feel better after you guys catch the killer."

Just then, Gibbs arrived through the doors, a cup of coffee and Caf-pow in each of his hands. "Any progress, Abbs?" he looked over at the two of them.

"Sorry, Gibbs," Abby stood back up and finished the cup of Caf-pow she had in her hand, "Nothing yet."

He gave a resolute sigh and directed his attention to Arty. "Feeling any better?"

Arty shook her head. He knelt by her.

"Is there anything you'd like? You're going to be staying here all night. If there's anything that'd make you less miserable…"

Arty shook her head again, "Thanks for asking Gibbs. But it's going to be a long night no matter what you give me."

Gibbs nodded and brushed back the hair from her sweat forehead and kissed her cheek. "Feel better. We can't interrogate you until you at least have enough energy to sit up."

"I'll try," Arty chuckled weakly. Gibbs handed Abby the Caf-pow and left the room again. Arty continued her shivering, a sheet of sweat still lying on her skin. She exchanged looks with Abby, and shakily got up off the ground, only to collapse into a chair. "I'm tired of the ground."

"I don't know what we could do."

"Do you have any games?"

"Yeah, but all of them have pieces missing," Abby chuckled as she handed Arty her cup of Caf-pow, "I could show you all of my tattoos."

Arty snorted, "As if that'll happen. I'm fine only knowing about the ones I can see, thank you."

Abby laughed, and Arty's head stopped pounding for a millisecond.

"Do you think Gibbs will let me have some of his coffee?" She whispered to Tony as they watched him from Tony's desk.

"No. Not even Abby can get him to share his coffee. You wouldn't like it anyways, it's black, nothing but coffee in it," Tony snorted, his fingers darting across the keys of his keyboard, not even glancing up at Arty, who sat next to his computer.

"At this point, it doesn't matter what it tastes like," she could see Tony smirk out of the corner of her eye.

"Sounds like you're tired," Tony snuck a look at her, "You should've gotten more sleep last night."

"I would've if I could've. I bet you Abby's as tired. She had to deal with me the whole night. And I had as much Caf-pow as her," Arty slid off his desk and turned towards Tony. "So, how far are you to solving the case? Are you really going to interrogate me?"

Tony shrugged his shoulders in an "I dunno" manner, but he quickly avoided meeting her eyes. Arty put her hands on her hips. "No use lying to me."

"It's only the second day. I bet you Gibbs is coming to collect you for interrogation right now," Tony sighed in resignation.

"Anything I should know about what's going on?" Arty looked down, then back up.

"Gibbs doesn't suspect you. That's a good thing," Tony continued to type.

"And how would you know he doesn't suspect me? You haven't seen him all morning!" Arty threw up her hands in frustration.

"He's looking for a foster home for you," Tony bit his lip, and paused his typing. Arty swallowed.

"That's… Wonderful," her voice dripped with sarcasm. She ran her fingers through her knotted hair and scoffed.

"Are you okay, Arty?" Kate came into the bull pen, and dropped her bag onto her chair.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she looked down, biting her lip again; "I just learned I'm going to be sent to a foster home."

Kate looked up and down at her, "Gibbs is just looking at some. I bet he won't send you to one. He's not that heartless," she dialed a number into the phone on her desk, putting it up to her cheek.

Arty looked away, and came face to face with Gibbs. He beckoned her with the hand he wasn't holding coffee with.

"You're not going to interrogate me, are you?" she followed him slowly.

He shrugged, but she stopped in her tracks. "Come on," he demanded. He reached forward for her arm, but she recoiled, her eyes flashing murderously.

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me where you're taking me," she backed away slowly from him, her hands on her hips. Tony watched the scene with interest, while Kate stopped talking to the person on the phone.

Gibbs sighed, and Arty leaned against Tony's desk. "Fine," he muttered, "C'mon then," he beckoned her towards him again, "I'll take you back to Abby."

She cast a hesitant glance at Tony, shifted her weight, bit the inside of her cheek, and finally shuffled after him.

"So what was I supposed to do? I mean he asked me out, but I hated him, and he was such a gentlemen, and I really liked that restaurant, so I went with him. In the middle of the date I get this call from Gibbs, and of course I had to take it. And then he thought I was going out with Gibbs. Which was the weirdest accusation I've ever heard of. Turns out there was a dead sailor and he needed me back to the lab. So Tom never talked to me again, which I was glad of. It was really quite a weird set of circumstances, but all in all I now know never to date a zookeeper again," Abby finished her rambling with a short laugh, and Kate, who was also listening to the story, joined in shortly after. Arty's eyes sparkled with laughter. It really was a funny story, but her mind was on something else at the moment.

"So…" she paused, her voice wavering as she thought over wait she was going to say. She felt both of Kate and Abby's eyes on her, "So… What do you think about dating older men?"

Both of them paused for a second, "If you really like him-" Abby started, and Arty could see the edges of her mouth twitching up into a smile.

"Abby!" Kate looked absolutely appalled at the idea.

"I was just gonna say that if you really liked it, you should totally go for it," Abby's smile looked elfish, "I actually quite dig the idea of dating older men, it kind of gives you a satisfying feeling."

Arty burst out laughing, Kate slapped Abby on the arm, "We are not supposed to be promoting these ideas!"

Abby ignored her, "So, how old is he?"

"Umm… I don't really know," there was an awkward pause, where she looked around guiltily, "I'd say somewhere along the lines of thirty-three or something like that."

Arty bit the left sleeve of her jacket, and looked up at Abby and Kate with innocent eyes, "That's not so bad," Abby ignored the heated glare from Kate, "I'm mean you're thirteen, right?"

"What's his name?" Kate finally gave in, beginning to get curious herself.

"Well, um, it's a little embarrassing. I mean, you know him," Arty pulled herself into a crouching position, only to rock back on her heels.

"Arty, we know a lot of people," Abby smiled at her, "Honestly, who is it? I swear I won't tell."

"I won't either," Kate grinned at her also.

"I, um, still don't know that I can tell you," Arty's stomach did somersaults in anticipation. What if she really told them? "You swear you won't tell anyone? Not even Gibbs, or Ducky, or McGee, or Tony? Especially Tony."

"Come on, Arty, we don't have all day," Abby smiled at her.

"Nervous?" Kate sat forward also.

"If you tell Tony, I won't hear the end of it," Arty met their eyes, "Because, well, it is Tony. I have a crush on him, like a major crush."

Abby burst out in giggles, "Tony?"

Kate's mouth dropped, "You have a crush on Tony?"

"Yeah," her eyebrows furrowed in protection, "What of it?"

"What do you see in him?" Kate cried out in distress, "He's disgusting and just—ugh!"

"Well, he's funny and sort of charming. Besides," A sly smile slid onto Arty's face, "He's Italian."

Abby's face was starting to turn red she was laughing so hard. "Stop it!" Arty smacked her on the arm in a playful manner.

"I'm sorry, it's just, Tony? Of all the people it's Tony?" she buried her face in her hands.

"How can you think he's charming? He's nosy and annoying," Kate folded her arms.

"He isn't to me," Arty growled.

"That's hilarious," Abby chuckled.

"Breathe, Abby," Arty patted her shoulder.

"That's just really disturbing," Kate scrunched up her nose, looking down at the floor.

Arty closed her eyes and breathed through her nose, "One more word about it and I'll-," her eyes snapped open. "Abby!"

"What?" a sort of urgent tone hung from Arty's words.

"What gun did you say it was? The ones that supposedly killed my parents," she jumped up from the floor and waved a hand at Abby.

Abby got up as well, "A 7x75 Mauser. What's this about?"

Arty jumped into the chair she'd been using last night and slid to the computer screen. "Can you show me a picture of it?"

"Sure," Abby started to type into the computer, and Arty tried to follow her fingers, but she soon grew dizzy.

"What's wrong?" Kate had gotten up too, and was now by Arty's side.

"Here," the picture showed up on the screen. Arty's eyes widened. She studied the picture for what seemed like hours. Abby turned to work on studying Ethan's clothes, and Kate went back upstairs for a lead.

"Abby!" Arty exclaimed, jumping up from her chair.

"Yeah?" Abby turned from her work, and pushed the goggles up from her eyes.

"This computer-"

"That's Calvin," Abby arrived behind her.

"You name your computers?" she turned to Abby, an incredulous look on her face.

"Only the special ones. It started a couple of years ago, when-"

"Abby! Focus!" Arty returned her attention to her discovery, "Sometimes I wonder if you and Ducky are related," she added under her breath.

"You were saying something, Arty?" Abby turned back to the thirteen-year-old.

"Calvin shows this gun," she pointed to the one on the screen, "But that's not a 7x75 Mauser."

Abby's eyes widened, "What gun is it?"

"A 9x19 mm. Beretta 9000," Arty squinted at the screen and nodded.

"How did I make a mistake?" Abby muttered under her breath.

"What's the mistake?" Gibbs was suddenly beside them both, a Caf-pow in his hand.

"I told you that the bullet fired was from a 7x75 Mauser, but it's really from a 9x19 mm. Beretta 9000," Abby groaned, "The possibility of me making a mistake is like one million and one. Arty discovered it."

Gibbs suddenly turned on her, "How'd you know it wasn't a Mauser?"

Arty shrugged, "I recognize the gun. I saw it a couple of times with someone."

"Who?" Gibbs' eyes flashed in surprise.

"There is only one person I know who owns that gun," she paused, blinking rapidly, "And he's dead."

"Who?" Gibbs repeated.

"Petty Officer Robert Carter, Kennedy Carter's dad," she met Gibbs' eyes, "It was buried with him. Before he died, he used to show Kennedy and me how to clean it."

"It's okay, Abs," he patted her shoulder, and gave her the Caf-pow, "Good job, Arty."

He kissed her cheek again. Abby suddenly groaned as Arty watched him leave the lab. "What is it, Abby?"

She scrunched up her nose, "Arty," she looked troubled, Arty wasn't liking the look of it, "I'm afraid…"

"What is it, Abby?" Arty demanded, turning to look at her.

"Gibbs is faking it," she whispered.

"You mean, he's—he's gaining my trust?" Arty leaned back in her chair, "He's making me trust him?"

Abby nodded slowly, "By being nice to you. He's gaining your trust so the inter—."

"So the interrogation would be easier. So I would talk more," she turned her head to look at the door again, her eyes reproachful.

A/N: That was kind of sad. Too bad for Arty, Gibbs is totally lying to her. Well that's too bad. Thank you! Please review, they make me happy and keep me writing.

helen: Well I did say that there would be a little. I didn't say there wouldn't be any. I only as that pairing because they are the other two main characters of the story. I'm not implying that they are going to get together. Though I do appreciate you reading the story :) Thank you :)

lognay482: Haha, well it was meant to be rushed ;) I tend to do that alot, though. Thanks yous XD (By the way I had to update, because I was fantasizing about the sequel)

THANK YOU ALL WHO READ AND REVIEWED! YOU ARE AMAZING!

;)