Part Seven
The receptionist had flinched under the glare he gave her when she'd tried explaining that Abby was unavailable. Gibbs felt only a little remorse, resisting the urge to snap at her when she started to offer alternative suggestions.
"Maria's free," Tina told him nervously. "Or Simone. They're both popular..."
Gibbs shook his head and did his best to fix a charming grin on his face, with just an ounce of danger. "It's Abby I've been told about, Abby I want to see. I understood from my associate that he'd be forfeiting his appointment with her, that she'd be available?" As Tina started to stammer an excuse, Gibbs leaned a little more over the desk. "I'll pay double," he offered quietly, his blue eyes locking with hers. "Triple, if necessary."
Tina's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Triple...? But that would be...?"
"A lot of money," Gibbs replied, pulling out his wallet. "I can pay cash for your percentage, up front, and pay her the rest personally."
"I..." Her eyes still wide at the thought of so much money, so easily given, Tina fumbled for the telephone on her desk. "I'll need to check with the manager. Just a moment." She dialled what Gibbs suspected was an internal number and waited for what felt to him like an age before someone answered. "I'm sorry, Andre, I know you said you weren't to be disturbed but I've got a gentleman in reception who wants to see Abby. He said he'll pay triple the normal rates and can pay our percentage in cash up front for the three hour appointment... Yes, okay." She hung up and gave him a curious but no less polite smile. "Let me sort that out for you, then you can go straight up."
Gibbs handed over the cash in his wallet, making a mental note to repay his team, and signed the necessary documentation before starting towards the elevators with long, determined strides.
"She's in room 361," Tina called out after him. "Take the elevator to the third floor, then..." Her voice faded as the elevator doors closed behind him.
He took a moment to compose himself, his hand clenching and unclenching reflexively as he waited impatiently for the elevator to reach the third floor. As soon as the doors started to open, he moved forward, his steps confident as he scanned the room numbers on his way along the hallway.
He found her room easily and knocked a little sharper than he'd intended, waiting impatiently for the door to open. As he'd expected – as he'd feared – it wasn't Abby who answered the door but the man he recognised as being Andre.
The other man had a polite smile on his face but Gibbs didn't miss the flash of irritation in his eyes and wondered what he'd interrupted. Andre held out his hand. "Mr...?"
"Sciuto," Gibbs answered smoothly, her name the first that came to mind after remembering that he couldn't use his own. He looked at the hand offered to him but didn't take it. "It's Mr. Sciuto."
Andre inclined his head and let his hand drop. "Well, I'll leave you to it. Enjoy your evening."
Gibbs stepped aside so the man could pass, then walked into the room and closed the door, locking it, behind him. He turned to face Abby and within moments found his arms were full. He tightened his arms around her, indulging himself for an all-too brief moment as he let his head rest against hers and inhaled deeply, satisfying himself she was safe.
After several moments, Abby pulled away, her smile soft and grateful. "Thank you," she murmured, looking up at him almost shyly. "I take it Lewis couldn't make it? His kids are okay, aren't they?"
"They're fine, as far as I know." Which, Gibbs admitted to himself, wasn't much as he hadn't realised the younger agent had children. "He got caught in traffic. There's been an accident on the Beltway."
"Oh." There was a moment of silence as Abby reigned in her disappointment as the hope that he'd just wanted to see her, to check on her himself, fell flat. "Well, welcome to my suite at Scarlet Secret. It's not really anything like home but it's comfortable."
"What was Andre doing in here?" Gibbs couldn't stop himself from asking, though slapped himself mentally for the almost accusing way it sounded.
Taken aback for a moment, Abby busied herself by tightening the side ties of her dress. "He wanted to know why I was so popular with my clients," she said eventually.
"He wanted a demonstration," Gibbs deduced from her awkward stance and the way she couldn't or wouldn't meet his gaze. "Damn it, Abby."
"What?" Her head shot up at the unbridled anger in his voice, a defensive note creeping into her own as she wrapped her arms around her middle. "It's not like I had much of a choice in it, Gibbs. If I piss him off, I'm dead, or as a good as."
"You mean you...?" He looked her over quickly, anxiety mixed momentarily with his anger, both eclipsed for a moment by relief at the denial on her face. "You need to get out of here, out of this. We'll find another way, maybe start over with someone else..."
"No!" The hurt and anger in her voice stopped him as he started to turn away. "I can do this, Gibbs. I know what I signed up for. If that means I have to have sex with him to stop him from suspecting I'm not who I'm pretending to be, I will. I won't lie and say I won't hate every second of it but I'll see it through."
"Like hell you will," Gibbs seethed. "He's not laying one finger on you, Abby, and if you think for one minute I'd let you do that..."
"*Let me*?" Abby repeated incredulously. "You won't *let me*? You've got no say in it, Gibbs. I'll sleep with who I want, when I want..."
"But you don't want to, Abby, that's the whole damn point!" Exasperation coloured his tone and he dragged a hand through his hair in frustration. "This isn't you. I know you. You can't switch off when it comes to things like this, you're not..."
"Not what?" She stood with her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing. "Not good enough? Not Ziva, not Holly? Tell me, Gibbs, why are you so sure I can't do this? Why so convinced I'll screw it up and let you down?"
Gibbs stared at her, breathing heavily, his expression unreadable. "I know you won't let me down, Abby. You could never do that. That's not what this is about."
"Then what is it about?" Her voice was a little softer, her confusion clear. "Why are you so against this? Against me?" She stared at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.
He stared at her, willing her to understand when the words refused to come. He'd always thought of himself as a man of action rather than a man of words but, when it came to Abby, he found himself second-guessing those actions. He hoped she'd be able to read him, that she'd know what he was thinking – what he was feeling – without him having to say anything like she so often did but, Gibbs realised as he bit back a sigh, it wasn't going to happen.
Before he could get his racing thoughts under control, Abby looked away. He saw the flicker of disappointment in her eyes, the hurt she couldn't quite hide, and berated himself mentally, his frustration growing.
"I'm going to take a shower," Abby said quietly, walking past him to the small closet where her spare clothes were kept. "Make yourself comfortable. It's going to be a long night."
He watched her go, wishing he could do or say something to erase the look on her face. When she eventually left the sanctuary of the small en-suite bathroom half an hour later, they sat in an uncomfortable silence that felt foreign to them, both wondering how a once-close relationship had gone so downhill so fast.
Neither were feeling at their best when they reported to work the following morning, a lack of sleep and an underlying worry that something fundamental had changed between them and not for the better. When Abby was called to the conference room, she wasn't surprised but wasn't pleased to find Gibbs already there, standing – pacing – by the window as the others took their seats.
Director Vance sat at the head of the table, with Holly Snow on one side, an empty seat where Gibbs should be on the other. Tony, Ziva and McGee sat in the other chairs at the table, leaving Abby to take the only free seat remaining, between Gibbs' empty chair and Tony's own.
"Alright, people," Director Vance started, staring at Gibbs until his senior agent took his seat. "SecNav wants some answers and, quite frankly, so do I. What's your status on the case?"
"We've identified a possible weak link," Tony volunteered when no one else spoke. "Well, Abby identified her. Tina. She's the receptionist who works the late shift."
The Director looked at Abby expectantly, arching an eyebrow when she took her time in continuing.
"Um, Tina was one of the girls," Abby said after a pause, her sleepy mind struggling to keep up. She'd only managed two or three Caf-Pows – she couldn't be sure – and it was nowhere enough, she decided, to keep her going after the sleepless night she'd had. "She's also the ex-partner of one of the managers, Andre. I think I can get her to talk about what really goes on there but it's going to take time. She has a son with him so she'll have to be sure she can trust me, trust us, to keep them both safe if she does decide to turn on him."
Director Vance nodded and looked down at the report in front of him before turning his attention to Gibbs, a troubled expression on his face. "On the subject of safety, I believe there was an incident last night...?"
"Agent Green was late," McGee explained, glancing at his teammates. "He got caught in traffic due to the accident on the Beltway. Gibbs filled in but it highlighted that we need a contingency plan. If it happens again..."
"It won't," Gibbs interrupted shortly, his gaze locked on the Director. "I think we should look at taking Abby out of there. It's too dangerous."
"What?" Abby's outrage was clear to hear but Gibbs didn't turn to look at her. "Gibbs!"
"Last night was a close call," Gibbs continued, all but ignoring her. "Andre Mason has a criminal record, for assault among other things. He's made his intentions clear..."
"And it's nothing I can't handle, like I said last night!" Abby argued, her face flushing, her eyes bright when he eventually turned to look at her. "I can't believe you're bringing this up again. I told you wouldn't screw it up, Gibbs, and I meant it. I'll do what I have to find out who's behind this and I can't believe, after everything we've been through, that you don't believe me." She pushed her chair back and stood up. "If you'll excuse me, Director, I'd like to take some personal time and catch up on my sleep for tonight."
Director Vance gave her a small nod, and waited until she was out of the room before continuing. He looked back to Gibbs, concern in his eyes. "What happened last night between Ms. Sciuto and Mr. Mason?"
Gibbs relayed the events of the previous night, calm and detached. If Director Vance hadn't been watching him so intently, he would have missed the clenching of Gibbs' jaw and the icy glint that entered his eye as he explained just what Andre Mason's intentions were towards their forensic specialist.
"We'll make sure we have back-ups in place," the Director decided, glancing around the room at the other agents and the civilian acting as a consultant on the case. "DiNozzo, David, take another look at the rota. Make sure there's always a minimum of two agents available, no exceptions. McGee, keep looking into getting eyes and ears into her room. The more security we have, the better I'll feel about this." He paused only a moment. "Get to it, people. Gibbs? I'd like a word with you before you go."
Knowing that they had been effectively dismissed, the agents filed out of the room along with Holly Snow, who cast a speculative look over her shoulder as she closed the door behind her.
"Abby should be taken out of there," Gibbs said coldly, anger rolling beneath the surface of his voice. "You've no right to put her in danger..."
"I've every right, Agent Gibbs," Director Vance reminded him sharply. "Ms. Sciuto is a member of my staff, and volunteered to take on this assignment. As I'm sure you're aware, I'm under a lot of pressure from SecNav on this one."
"Screw SecNav," Gibbs interrupted, his eyes flashing. "There are other ways we can find out who attacked him, ways that don't involve putting Abby at risk."
"She was aware of the risks before she went into it, as we all are," Vance reminded him. He stayed sitting as Gibbs stood and resumed his pacing once more. "I don't need to tell you how much money it costs to run an operation like this, or how much would be wasted if we pulled her out now and tried to start again."
Gibbs turned on him, his blue eyes cold. "If it's the damn money you're worried about, I'll pay the bill myself. She's not the right person for this, Leon. She's not like you and me. She can't handle it."
"From where I'm sitting, it looks like she's handling it better than you are." Keeping his expression noncommittal, Vance held the agent's gaze. "I won't pull her off this unless she asks me to, Gibbs. We've got too much invested in it. If that's going to be a problem for you, tell me now and I'll have DiNozzo take over as lead agent."
They stared at one another, each holding their ground. Gibbs turned on his heel, walking out of the door and slamming it behind him.
When the Director checked the whereabouts of his agent an hour later, he wasn't surprised at all to find he was no longer at the Navy Yard.
So... I know that's not how you were expecting Gibbs' appointment with Abby to go. Be patient, my fellow Gabby shippers, just for a little while longer ;)