It took awhile, but eventually, everyone relocated back to NCIS to talk about what they knew thus far. So as to let Hollis collect herself, Gibbs and Abigail brought her to the first empty conference room they found.
After that, and after Hollis assured them she'd be fine, she headed with Gibbs down in to the squad room for a chat.
Ziva had just finished putting out the Amber alerts about Cooper, Tallulah, Lucille, and Natalia, as well as a separate missing persons report. She also put together a folder of pictures of the missing people, just in case Gibbs and Abigail needed it for Hollis. In that time, Tony and McGee had also returned from going to visit Natalia's parents at the hospital.
"What do you got?" Gibbs and Abigail asked the team in unison.
McGee cleared his throat. "We tried talking to Natalia Ludlow's parents, but that turned out to be a no-go."
"And why's that?" demanded Gibbs.
"Because Missus Ludlow was extremely hysterical by the time the ambulance got the hospital, boss. She, uh, had to be sedated."
"What about her husband?"
McGee sighed. "Him, too."
Abigail arched an eyebrow. "Both parents down for the count? Anything special we need to know about their child? I know Natalia is an only child."
At this, Tony shook his head as he gave an answer. "No special needs or anything like that have been reported."
Abigail glanced at her temporary partner. "You want to tell them what else has happened, Gibbs, or should I?"
Hearing this, Tony and McGee sat on the edge of McGee's desk, as it was directly behind them.
"What happened?" Tony asked cautiously.
Gibbs bit the bullet. "Two things happened, the first of which, DiNozzo, is that Abby was abducted from the arcade."
Tony and McGee gaped at him, unsure of how to process this information, let alone what to say.
"The other thing is that our old friend, Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann is back."
"Really?" McGee sputtered. "It's been like, three years!"
"She has a little boy now, named Cooper," (on cue, Ziva called up a collage of the missing people on the main plasma screen) "And they were already at the arcade when Natalia was taken. Unfortunately, Cooper is gone, too."
"Not only that," Abigail added. "But he and Abby were taken together. Hollis even told Ziva that she knows who's behind this."
"We always give every case our all, but for this one," Tony vowed. "We'll work double time."
McGee gave a nod of agreement and then looked around. "Uh, where is the lieutenant colonel, exactly?"
"Upstairs, in one of the conference rooms—we gave her some time to collect herself."
Gibbs worked his way back in to the conversation, addressing all three of his underlings at once. "I want all of you to find Borin and I something new—dig into people's pasts, if you have to, okay? Ziva can fill you in while we go upstairs!"
"On it, boss!" the others responded in unison, Ziva handing the folder of pictures to Abigail as they went.
Confident that they had the situation under control, Gibbs and Abigail headed up to the conference room where they'd left Hollis. It was time to get her complete version of events, and, Abigail realized as she and Gibbs joined Hollis at the long table, the woman before them was the only steady witness they'd encountered so far.
But she put her best foot forward and shook hands with Hollis as she introduced herself.
"I'm Special Agent Abigail Borin, and I'm from across the yard, at CGIS. You must be Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann."
"That's me, but I haven't officially gone by that title in quite some time because I'm retired now." she let go of Abigail's hand. "I'm sorry—did you say from CGIS?"
"Yes, but we're all friends in this room, so you can call me Abigail."
Hollis turned to Gibbs. "Two Abigails?"
"Uh-huh. She comes to visit us every now and again, like you did—she's family, too."
"I see. Any news on my boy, or on Abby?"
"Not at the moment, I'm afraid," Abigail replied. "But it's come to mine and Gibbs' attention that you know who is doing this?"
Hollis nodded. "I d—what is that?"
She'd noticed Abigail's folder.
"It's got pictures of the people we're looking for." the redhead explained.
"May I see it?"
Abigail handed her the folder and watched as Hollis arranged the items before her. "In order, we have Lucille and Tallulah Morgan—they're sisters, and they both have special needs—and then after them is a little girl named Natalia Ludlow. Last, but not least, are Abby and Cooper."
Hollis observed all of the pictures, and then looked curiously at Abigail. "I was with the army for my entire adult life until three years ago, and of course, Cooper is my child, and Abby is from NCIS, but how are the rest of these children tied to the Coast Guard?"
"Natalia's parents, Cain Ludlow, and Emily Turner, both have work spaces adjacent to mine at the other building. It's a little more complex with Lucille and Tallulah."
"Try me, Abigail."
"For starters, the girls were adopted six months ago by their older sister, Grace Morgan. She works here, in the mail room, and her husband, Petty Officer Noah Morgan, is from CGIS."
"With you, so far." Hollis told them. "You're saying that the Morgans are the girls' guardians and caretakers, and that she works here, but he works at the other building?"
"Yes." Abigail nodded. "Grace is also nine months pregnant, and she had a contraction earlier... I wouldn't be surprised if her water broke today."
"But where are—"
Gibbs interrupted, rapping the tabletop with his knuckles. "Focus, Holly! Who do you think it is that's behind all of this?"
She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "His name is Peter Mathers, and I know this is his doing. He's an army private, and the day before he deployed, I gave him a warning, because he'd just been released from the brig a week before."
"Why was he there?"
"For starting crazy fights, and I was the one to put him in the brig. I also told him that retired or not, if I found that he'd even toed the line, I would make sure that he was brought back to be properly reprimanded."
"How aggressive was this guy, and how old was he?" Gibbs pressed.
"Mathers was extremely aggressive because he was a total 'problem child,' and he always had authority issues, especially with women. Back then, he was freshly turned eighteen, and had been sent to us from boot camp in South Dakota."
"What in God's name would possess him to go after Cooper, or other innocent kids? Obviously, Cooper wasn't born yet, so this means that Mathers had to have been watching you, and the other parents. With Abby, it was probably a spur of the moment thing."
"Well, before I saw Mathers forcibly removed from my office, he gave me a lot of grief about leaving for a war he didn't even support."
"Then why the hell was he even there?"
"From what I understand, his parents had had it with him, so they turned guardianship over to the boot camp director, who in turn sent him to Fort Bragg."
Gibbs chose his words carefully, remembering how he had also been a 'problem child,' too. "I can't say I feel for the guy because I used to be like him when I was younger, although I didn't devolve into whatever he is now. I signed up for the navy mostly to get away from my hometown, and also because I wanted to serve my country."
"That's also why I chose to serve." Abigail chimed in. "I just didn't last as long as you two did. Hollis, what happened to Mathers, after he left your office?"
"I never saw him again, but I heard through the grapevine that he'd sustained an injury that was bad enough to send him into longterm rehabilitation."
"What happened there?"
"He lost a leg, is what I was told," Hollis recalled. "But when he left, he was aiming all of his anger at me, and was definitely angry enough to cook something up, like a cheesy revenge plot. What I can't figure out is that even if nabbing Abby was a spur of the moment type deal, I can't think of how the other families are involved, because I would have remembered all of these darling children."
"This link is another thing we have to figure out." Abigail replied. "Listen, Hollis, I know you're retired, but…"
She looked to Gibbs—this was his house, after all, so he had the final say. Naturally, he picked the thread right up.
"Do you think you can keep it together enough to help us? Just in-house?"
Hollis wiped her tears away with tissues from a tissue box, but managed a nod. "I can do that, and I don't know if I could be anywhere else right now. I feel safe here."
Abigail realized that the conversation was quickly changing lanes now, and that the other two probably wanted to be alone, so she got up.
"Since that's that, I'm going to go tell the director what's happening before I head back down to the squad room."
Without waiting for a response, she left and closed the door behind her, leaving the two former lovers be.
Gibbs also rose, and closed the small distance between himself and Hollis.
"What do you need?" he asked her.
Hollis got to her own feet. "Will you hold me, Leroy? Just for a minute, please?"
"Of course."
He pulled Hollis close, and hugged her warmly.
Hollis melted into his embrace, feeling warmer and safer than she had since first finding out that her son had vanished. Even if it was just for a brief respite, he made her forget her worries.
As for Gibbs, he was just happy to have Hollis back in his arms, after all these years of missing her.
"We're going to find Cooper and Abby, and Tallulah and Lucille, and Natalia." he murmured gently. "We will, Holly."
"I know." she whispered back. "I've always had faith in your team, and it's never left."
"That's a good place to start."
"I just feel so scared right now, because I've never had anything at stake before. At least Abby will protect the kids."
"Oh, most definitely." Gibbs rubbed Hollis' back. "Are you good, or do you want to stay up here?"
"I want to stay, just for a little bit longer."
And they did.
After a beat, and wondering if he should or not, Gibbs dropped a kiss to Hollis' brow.
In response, Hollis just sighed and rested her head against his chest, so she was listening to Gibbs' heartbeat.
She felt so safe, warm, and wanted in Gibbs' arms, that she forgot her woes once again.
Just for a moment.