My Muse didn't like my Four Day plan, so she changed it.
I also mention, slightly mention, but nonetheless mention a case, but it's not from any NCIS episode. It's totally a creation of my own mind.
A/N: Thanks so much for all of your reviews. My Muse ate them up lol. She's had a lot of good ideas this past week. Sorry Ziva's gone it kind of sucks, I know, but it is all part of my master plan. Also, I started an album of pictures relating to this fic. I won't post it here, but if you want to check it out the link is on my profile next to Four Days under Current Projects.
VillageVoice
"Abby is one lucky woman." Tony began as he and McGee made their way off the elevator and over to their desks as they did each and every morning.
McGee placed a coffee on Gibbs's desk before heading to his own. "How so?"
"She's . . ." He took a deep breath. "Remember when me and Ziva went undercover as those married assassins and had to . . . you know . . ."
"But you didn't really . . . Did you?"
Tony sat down and smirked. "Nah, we didn't. Well, maybe . . . you know McNosey, I don't remember."
"You didn't." McGee chuckled and began getting ready for the day. "If you actually had sex with Ziva I highly doubt that is something you would forget."
"The point is," Tony interrupted. "I know we tease her about being this crazy chick, but she actually is this crazy chick."
"Really?"
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Really. She's incredible, and we were just faking it. To see what she can actually do . . . What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall."
"Keep dreaming DiNozzo." McGee laughed to himself as Tony slipped back to days gone by.
"DiNozzo, McGee!" Two heads snapped up as Gibbs entered the squadroom.
"Yes Boss." They both replied.
"Go down to Abby's lab and see if she's there."
"Uh, Boss?" McGee questioned.
Gibbs picked up his coffee cup and took a sip. "Campfire." It took both Tony and McGee a minute to process that. Gibbs was never a fan of the campfire. "Now!"
"Yes Boss." "On it Boss." They pulled their chairs over to Gibbs's desk and waited for him to speak.
"This does not leave the three of us do you two understand?" Tony and McGee nodded. "Ziva is gone-"
Tony stood up first. "I'll put out a BOLO and search her name for any airline tickets, bus tickets, train tickets-"
McGee was next to stand and make his way back to his desk. "I'll look for activity on her cards and see if I can get a GPS fix on her cell phone and her car-"
"I said Ziva is gone, not Ziva is missing." He motioned them back over and lowered his voice. "Her father found out about her and Abby."
"The emergency trip to Tel Aviv?" Tony asked. He knew there had been something up there.
Gibbs nodded. "He ordered her back."
"Why did she go?" McGee questioned. "Ziva wouldn't do something like that willingly."
"No one said she went willingly Probie."
Gibbs took another sip of his coffee. He was going to need it. "The dead Mossad officer we got yesterday" He began. "Ziva didn't kill him, but it was made to look like she did. If she didn't return her father was going to make it so that Ziva went down for that murder. And Abby-"
"Whoa." McGee interrupted, always protective of Abby. "He threatened Abby."
"Do you really think Ziva would have gone if he didn't McGee?"
McGee shook his head. "No Boss."
"She left last night and Abby isn't answering her cell or her home phone and I drove by her apartment this morning and her car wasn't there."
McGee left their little huddle and went to his computer.
"You don't think Abby went with her, do you Boss?" Tony asked.
"That would defeat the point of Ziva leaving now wouldn't it, DiNozzo?"
Tony nodded.
"Boss." All eyes turned to McGee. "Security has Abby entering the building half an hour ago."
Gibbs relaxed a little. "You two go get her and bring her home. I'm going to deal with this and I'll be by to see her later. Stay with her until I get there."
Tony and McGee stepped off the elevator and headed straight ahead into Abby's lab.
"Abby, what are you doing…" McGee took one look at Abby and paused. "Here?" He finished. He looked over at Tony who was also wearing a look of equal confusion. The first alarm was the lack of 'Abby music' in the lab. It wasn't that it was total silence - they had dealt with that before, total silence they could deal with. But no, there was classical music playing. Music that usually left Abby feeling incredibly tense and strung out now seemed to have no effect.
Abby was sitting down at her computer with her head in her hands looking up at the monitor. There wasn't even anything on the screen. That was the second alarm. The third was what Abby was wearing, or rather what she wasn't wearing. Her hair was down and she didn't have a drop of make-up on her face. No black lipstick, nothing. And she was wearing sweats. Grey sweats and a very much un-Abby ribbed green tank top. Any one of her signature platform boots were nowhere to be found either.
"Uh Abs?" Tony asked, venturing a step further into the lab.
"Yeah?" Abby responded in question, not bothering to look up.
"You're wearing sweats."
Abby nodded. "They're Ziva's."
"Abby, what are you doing here?" McGee asked. "Given the circumstances -"
"I can't go home." She turned around and looked at Tony and McGee. "Not without Ziva." She turned back to her blank computer screen and flipped the monitor on. A picture of her and Ziva appeared as the blackness faded away. Abby had taken it on their one-year anniversary after wrestling the camera away from Ziva. They were sitting up against a tree, the same tree they had laid under the night before watching the fireflies dance. Abby was sitting behind Ziva with her arms around the Israeli as Ziva leaned back in Abby's arms with a smile to match the Goth's own. She was laughing; a big, belly laugh that lit up her eyes and knocked her back into Abby's arms. For the life of her Abby couldn't remember what had made Ziva laugh, but the laugh was so contagious it had Abby in stitches as well.
"You two were really happy, weren't you?"
Abby smiled. Once they got over that post-break up awkwardness, McGee has become like an older brother to her. Always looking out for her and making sure she was happy. "Yeah. We really," She sighed. "Really were." She turned around with fresh tears falling down her cheeks and ran into McGee's arms. "I miss her Timmy."
Tony put a comforting had on Abby's back. "Why don't you come to the bar with us tonight Abs?"
"I can't." Abby shook her head.
"There's nothing a little alcohol can't solve."
Abby pulled away from McGee and walked back over to her computer. "It can't bring Ziva back."
"No it can't." McGee admitted sadly.
"It can dull the pain." Tony offered.
"Ignoring the fact that alcohol is a depressant and would only add to my depressed state, I just can't guys." She let out a deep breath. "I want it to hurt. I want it to hurt so bad that I can't breathe because the pain of missing her is the only part of Ziva I have left. The minute it stops hurting is the minute I let Ziva go." She sat down at her computer and looked back at the screen. "I'm not ready to let her go."
McGee and Tony looked at each other. They'd lost co-workers and friends before, but this was different. After Kate's death, with the arrival of Ziva they had all become close – a lot closer than they had been before. They had become a family. People went on with their lives, moved on, but it was harder knowing the person was still around, but just out of reach.
McGee sat in the chair next to Abby and looked up at the picture on the monitor. "How long were you two together?"
"Our one-year anniversary was last week."
"So that's why Ziva didn't answer her phone last weekend." Tony muttered.
Abby chuckled sadly. "Yeah."
"I was wondering why Gibbs kept head-slapping me every time I tried calling her."
"A year Abby?" McGee asked. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because we didn't want things to be weird at work. And Ziva is a really private person, you know? We didn't want any jokes from Tony and for things to become really awkward between me and you Tim. We were happy."
"Abby, as long as you two were happy we would have been happy for you too."
Abby looked over at McGee. "I know. It just took us so long to finally admit to our feelings that we didn't want to jinx anything. And we both agreed that it would be safer that way. There are plenty of people who would love to see Ziva suffer and I would have been only too good a target. We said that if we made it to a year we would tell everyone." Abby paused, playing with the pendant of Ziva's necklace around her neck. "We were going to do it when we got back to work Monday after our anniversary, but then there was the case with the dead Marine and his wife, and Ziva had to go back to Israel…"
"She was the one. Wasn't she?" McGee asked.
"I don't know." Abby sighed. McGee stared at her; that 'big,' 'bad' big brother intimidation stare he thought worked so well. Abby didn't want to let him down. "Okay, okay. Yeah . . . She was." Abby nodded sadly. "Is." She corrected. "I never told her."
Tony put his hands on Abby's shoulders. "She knew Abs - She knows. I . . . we all noticed that she was happier since she came back from Israel. Smiling more, actually letting people hug her, but we never knew why." He smiled down at Abby.
"She was trying to leave." Abby smiled. "Mossad. Right after our ten month. Neither of us had been in a relationship that lasted more than a few weeks in years. She talked to the Director about making her position here permanent. He agreed, but he said it would take some time." She nodded. "Looks like her time was up."
Tony reached over and took Abby's hand. "We'll get her back Abby."
"Promise?"
Tony nodded. "Yeah."
Abby looked over at McGee.
He nodded. "Promise."
"Thanks guys." Abby put one hand over one of Tony's and the other on McGee's and smiled. "But I'm not leaving."
Abby didn't move as she heard someone enter the lab. She knew who it was. McGee and Tony had left five minutes ago to get the 'big gun' since they weren't working in convincing her to leave. "McGee and Tony." She explained looking up at the plasma screen on the wall. There were three pictures on the screen; one of Abby on the left, one of Ziva on the right and another was a beautiful little baby girl in the middle with Abby's green eyes and engaging smile, and Ziva's olive complexion and dark curls. It was part of the baby making program they occasionally fooled around with when they had nothing better to do. "Before Ziva . . . Before they knew she left-" She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to its owner. "I miss her Gibbs." She threw her arms around her surrogate father.
Gibbs held Abby as she cried, stroking her hair and whispering comforting words about how he would make everything okay. He would get Ziva back. "I will get her back. I promise." He said.
Abby pulled away. "It hurts."
"I know." He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "She's pretty."
Abby turned around and looked up at the baby on the screen. She wiped her tears and took a deep breath. "She's beautiful."
Gibbs took a few steps back and picked up the cardboard box he had brought with him into the room. He put it on the stainless steel evidence table and cleared his throat a few times until Abby turned to him. He motioned her over and kept his eyes focused on the contents of the box until she made her way over to the table. "Ducky says they're half German Shepherd, half Golden Retriever. About six, seven weeks."
Abby nodded, not really paying attention. She was too busy staring at Ziva's picture on the screen.
Gibbs reached into the box and picked up one of the puppies. They had come in with their latest case. Along with the dead Marine and his wife, the murderer has also killed the mother of these puppies when she tried to protect her owners, leaving the four puppies to fend for themselves and wonder around the crime scene until the bodies were found almost a week later. They had been cleared by animal control and once they had been poked, prodded and combed for every piece of possible evidence Gibbs had taken custody of the young dogs. Their mother was a military-trained German Shepherd, so there was a lot of potential for these babies. A lot more potential than Gibbs was willing to let be adopted out by the general public.
Out of the four puppies in the litter there was one like every member of his team. There was the first boy, mostly a brownish color with some darker browns and black German Shepherd markings over his eyes, ears, muzzle, back and legs, was cocky and knew exactly how cute he was and used it to get away with anything and everything that he could – he was Tony. The next little boy had slightly longer fur and lighter coloring loved to play with his littermates, but constantly found himself the victim of their playful nips as they were stronger and more outgoing than him – he was McGee. The largest of the litter, the most German Shepherd-like looking of the bunch, often sat off to the side watching his siblings playing and making sure everyone stayed in line and no one hurt the littlest one – he was Gibbs
Then there was the lone female of the group. She was the smallest of the litter; smaller than her siblings by a long shot, but also the strongest and the sweetest. Out of the four, she looked the least like a German Shepherd. She had the typical reddish coloring associated with red colored Golden Retrievers with some dark brownish/black streaks throughout her body and covering her muzzle, eyes and ears from her German Shepherd side. She was tough. This little girl could take on any of her brothers easily, but most of the time she was too busy chasing her own tail to even bother with the boys – she was the perfect combination of both Abby and Ziva.
Gibbs gave the little girl a quick pat and handed her to Abby. "She needs a home."
"I can't Gibbs." Abby protested as she held the tiny puppy close to her chest, stroking her soft ears. "She needs to be loved and be with someone who has time for her. I live in my lab Gibbs. Ziva didn't…" She trailed off, fresh tears springing to her eyes. "My landlord doesn't allow dogs."
"Already talked to your landlord and base command. Neither have a problem with the dog - you can bring her home and you can bring her here. She needs someone Abs." Gibbs reached over and ruffled the little dog's fur. "So do you. Take her home."
Abby nodded silently and walked out of her lab.
Gibbs sighed and turned back to the box. He looked to the pictures on the plasma and back to the remaining puppies. "Close enough."
Gibbs impatiently waited for the elevator to open and then marched over to his desk with a purpose. "McGee!" He called, standing by the Probie's desk as he awaited the update.
"Her credit cards have all been cancelled, cable and electricity in her apartment turned off. I've hacked into her laptop, but nothing has changed. GPS on her car hasn't moved. Passport records show that she had a two hour stopover in London and landed in Tel Aviv at 17:10, which was" He checked his watch. "Fifteen minutes ago Boss."
Gibbs walked over to his desk. "Any good news McGee?"
"Uh . . . her cell keeps going straight to voicemail." He quickly added. "She hasn't changed the number or gotten rid of it."
"Yet."
McGee turned back to his computer and tried to think of something else to look for.
"Your turn McGee." Gibbs stated, looking across the way and nodding toward the elevator. "Go." Gibbs had managed to get Abby to return to her apartment earlier. Tony and McGee had stayed with her for a while, but they had to get some work done. Ziva was gone and they did have other cases that didn't just disappear. Tony stayed with Abby, allowing McGee to return to the office as his computer and hacking skills would help track Ziva more than Tony's good old fashioned police work. Tony had done his shift and now it was McGee's turn for a few hours with their favorite Goth.
Gibbs had been in the office all day going back and forth from autopsy seeing what Ducky was able to figure out about the dead Mossad agent, the Directors office trying to figure out some way to get Ziva back and his desk. Ziva was a member of his team and he would be damned if he lost another member of his team.
McGee turned his computer off and gathered his things.
"I'll be there to take over at 23:00."
McGee nodded. "Yes Boss."
"Did you know Ziva can sing?"
McGee shook his head in the negative and sat down next to Abby on the couch, looking across at the television screen. It was muted, but he could tell what was going on. Abby was almost as good at sneaking up on people as were Gibbs and Ziva herself. Ziva was sitting at her piano and from the way her mouth was moving it looked like she was singing. "No. I didn't know that."
"She can dance too. . . And you've heard her on the piano."
McGee continued staring at the screen. All of a sudden the camera shook violently, perhaps from a sneeze, and that alerted Ziva to Abby's presence. Ziva's mouth flew open and she ran toward Abby, the quick and choppy movements of the camera showing Abby's less than graceful fall from the couch and her attempt at an escape, but Ziva was quicker. McGee smiled as he could almost hear the laughter.
The screen went blank and Abby absent mindedly ran her hands through the long, thick fur of the puppy sleeping on her lap. "I never understood why she went into becoming a . . . a trained killer when she had such gifts."
McGee and Abby looked at one another. "Israeli sense of duty." They chorused.
Abby smiled. "Yeah."
McGee's head snapped toward the door as he heard something enter the lock. His hand flew to his gun just as the door opened. Gibbs raised an eyebrow and McGee removed his hand from his weapon. "Sorry Boss." McGee apologized before mentally kicking himself for apologizing to Gibbs. "Didn't know you had a key."
"He has one to your place too McGee." Abby said.
"You do?" McGee asked.
Gibbs remained by the open door and nodded. "Oh yeah."
"He has one to Tony's and Ziva's too." Abby added sadly. Ziva's apartment had probably already been emptied and put on the market by now.
Gibbs looked at McGee and nodded toward the door. McGee gathered his things and gave Abby a sad parting smile. Abby smiled back as best she could and sighed when Gibbs re-locked the door behind McGee. She appreciated all Tony and McGee were trying to do for her, she really did, but they weren't helping. She knew Gibbs wouldn't talk or try to get her to talk about Ziva until she was ready and for that she was grateful.
"What are you going to name her?" Gibbs asked as he sat down on the other end of the couch, giving Abby all the space she needed.
"Harley." Abby replied, still mindlessly stroking the puppy's fur.
"It's a girl, Abs."
"I know that Gibbs. For our first date Ziva and I dug out my old Harley from storage and spent the weekend just . . . driving." Abby smiled. She would never forget the feeling of Ziva's arms around her waist as she drove, or her own arms around Ziva's middle as the Israeli took a turn driving the old motorcycle. That was when she knew they had something special.
"Abby I know you want to keep part of Ziva with you, but you need to prepare yourself for the fact that-"
"That it's just going to take a little more time to get her back." Abby interrupted as she brought her hand to the necklace she was wearing – Ziva's necklace. "You promised you would bring her back Gibbs. . ." She looked away from Gibbs and down at the puppy. "And it's either Harley or Archangel, so-"
"Why Archangel?"
Abby shrugged. "It was Ziva's sniper name. Remember?"
Gibbs nodded. "I like Harley better." He said, taking something out of his pocket and reaching over to fasten it over Harley's little neck. It was a little black leather collar with a blood red glitter centerpiece that had a silver skull right in the center.
Abby smiled. "Me too." She agreed. A few moments of silence passed between them before Abby spoke again. "She drugged my drink . . . yesterday afternoon before she left. I'm not sure what with."
"You going to test it?"
"No." Abby shook her head. "I trust Ziva. No matter what's going on she would never do anything to hurt me. She did what she had to do and truthfully . . ." She looked over at Gibbs. "It was easier that way."
