It Takes Two to Tango
Ch 8
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A big shout out to all my readers who reviewed my last chapter. Thanks so much, you are all an inspiration.
This is Abby's day as she prepared to sneak out later on with Reid.
Abby was not only losing her patience with this punishment, she was also losing her sanity. No one could ever fully understand just how unreasonable and excessive it was of Gibbs to take away her second true love, after science of course, music. It has been the longest week of her life, and as the feelings of frustration grew so did her sense of bravery. She would show them once and for all that she was not a child, and that if she still wanted to do something, then she would. After they had finished up the Wynn case, she realized that she still had in her possession the key to the planetarium where the case started. Why not have a little fun, and who was she not to include Dr. Spencer Reid. She had deduced that he was as miserable as she was, I mean, at least she got to keep doing her job, poor Spencer was grounded to the Tech office.
After goading Spencer into going, she just had to firm the loose edges. The most difficult part was getting around Gibb's new security system. After the whole Paloma cartel going after his family, the usually unlocked Gibbs house was now a fortress. No one could break in once the alarm was set, but that also created the problem on leaving without being caught. "You just wait! I will be in and out before the old man is any the wiser." Abby muttered aloud, forgetting that she could be overheard since there was no music to mask her audible ramblings.
"You calling me old Abs?" Tony asked as he entered her lab. "And out of where, I might ask? If I remember correctly, you are STILL grounded for one more week." Tony said with a smug grin. He never liked to see Abby in danger, but if she was in trouble, it took the heat off of him for awhile.
"No, just mumbling to myself about how fast I will be out of Gibb's fortress when this is over. Believe you me, I do not want to extend this any further. Do you know just how hard it is on me not to have any music? I was tempted to file a grievance to Vance against Gibbs about cruel and unusual punishment, I even asked Cynthia the actual steps to file one. But, as usual, no one can keep their mouths shut and Vance caught wind of the whole idea and…"
Flashback to two days ago….
Abby was in her lab reviewing the latest DNA sequences from the Wynn case. She was troubled that there was such a small amount of DNA to work with and she knew that she could not risk any errors. "Damn, Gibbs and his stupid rules! I could work so much better if I had my music, if only…
"Only what Miss Scuito?" Director Vance asked as he entered the lab and had overheard her talking to herself. Abby did not realize that Cynthia had forewarned about him about Abby filing a grievance and he was here to nip it in the bud.
"OHHHH!" Abby threw her hands in the air. "See, see just how discombobulated I become with out my music, if Gibbs would…" Abby started her tirade, hoping to win some sympathy votes from Vance.
"If Gibbs would what? Give you back your music? Oh, no Miss Scuito, I can assure you that as long as Gibbs is leader of this team, then you will adhere to his discipline. I would also strongly suggest you table any idea you had of a so-called grievance. If you think this is unfair, then maybe I need to step in and continue the discussion you and Gibbs had at the hotel before you left." Vance said as the toothpick in his mouth snapped at the pressure he had inadvertently been applying.
"You…you know…you…you wouldn't.." Abby stumbled as she never thought that Leon Vance had even entertained the thought of their unusual punishments.
" You seem to forget, Miss Scuito, that I am also a father, and if I ever found out that one of my children had ever pulled such a hare brained stunt, they might not still be sitting easy today. So which do you prefer? Music?" Vance said as he pulled his lips tight, trying to cover the slight smile that was trying to break through his tough mask.
"Oh, no sir. I am good to go in my quiet lab. Just getting back to work, sir!" Abby said as she turned to get back to work on the DNA.
Leon just shook his head and left the lab, he hoped that this little warning would keep Abby on the straight and narrow for a while.
Present time…
"And so you see Tony, I am just venting steam! NO biggie! SO what can I do to help my favorite big brother…" Abby said with a grin as she turned back to her microscope.
"Oh, nothing. Just checking on you, McGee seems to think that you are cooking something up, or you would have been causing more trouble than this, but I just came down to assure him that you would not even think of crossing Gibbs again….Right?" Tony said as he nodded his head up and down, trying to get confirmation that all was good from Abby.
"Oh, when I get my hands on McGee…" Abby started, but was interrupted by McGee as he and Ziva entered the lab. "And speaking of the devil, here he is." Abby said as she marched over and punched McGee hard in the arm. She knew that if any one had any suspicion that she was doing anything hinky, then the whole plan was bust.
"OWW! HEY! What was that for?" McGee asked as he rubbed his sore arm.
"That was for sending Tony down here to check on me. Seriously, guys, do you think that I want another round of daddy Gibbs, I mean I think I am a little smarter than that. When was the last time any of you had the belt applied to your ass? Well, anyone except Tony." Abby said with a smirk.
"Hey, I resent that. I have been trouble free for many weeks not, do you know what that means?" Tony said with a grin. "Ow!"
"Yeah, it means that you are due to do something again any time now, Dinozzo! I have been in the bullpen waiting on my team, but when they wander off and fail to return in a timely manner, I think that maybe it is time, we revisit some rules? Anyone?" Gibbs asked as he watched the three agents turn and quickly head back upstairs.
"Trouble, Abby?" Gibbs asked as he placed her caf-pow on the desk and took a sip of his coffee. He had really thought that Abby would have balked at the punishment, or at least tried to circumvent his decision.
Hastily walking around to the other side of the work bench, she wanted to put some space between her backside and Gibbs hand. " What? Trouble? PSHH! I have kept it good since our last encounter, don't want another one again. In fact, I have to get to work, Vance has me working on some new programs for the other forensic techs here, so…" Abby walked into her office in an attempt to dismiss Gibbs, before he read her face to closely and could see the nerve building up.
Gibbs was never the one to take to being dismissed, and he wanted to make sure that Abby knew that. Her walked in the lab, and cornered her against her desk. He leaned into her back, and whispered into her ear, "If you ever want to file something here at work, come see me first, I have a nice accordion file that has the slot for the letter P filled, I sure I can reacquaint you with it." Gibbs said as he gave her a brief peck on the cheek and a swift, hard SMACK! to her lower cheeks. "Are we clear?"
"Crystal, sir!" Abby answered as she was tempted to rub the sting out of her backside, but she decided to wait until Gibbs was gone. Luckily, it was after Gibbs had left, that her phone had vibrated a message from Spencer. He was looking up plans for Hotch's alarm and wanted to know if she needed any help. Answering back with the type Gibbs has, she was relieved because now she would not have to lie to McGee to try to teach her how to bypass an alarm system.
The rest of the day Abby tried to remain under the radar as much as possible, she opted to stay in her lab and keep it clean. This behavior was sending off a red flag to McGee. He knew that Abby was internally going crazy. He knew her more intimately than most knew during his first six months, and it was after that failed attempt at a relationship, that they knew they were meant to be friends, and eventually siblings. McGee was staring off in space, clueless to the fact that Tony and Ziva had already left for the evening. Gibbs noticed the trouble expression on the young mans face.
"Problems, McGee. I can hear your brain churning all the way over here." Gibbs said with a grin. McGee was usually the quiet one in the family, he was more cautious and methodical. But, as he matured as an agent, the one thing that Gibbs had noticed that he had developed was the ability to follow his gut, and Gibbs could see that his gut was telling him something.
"Um, well Boss, I mean.. I just.." Tim stuttered because he did not want to cause Abby any more trouble, but this feeling that something was up, was eating at him.
"Spit it out McGee!" Gibbs said as he tried to toughen this young agent up.
"Well,sir. It is Abby." McGee started.
"Abby, what's wrong with Abby? Did she do something?" Gibbs asked as he also felt that she was taking this all too well.
"No, No sir, she has not done anything specifically, it is just this feeling that I have that there is something more going on. I mean, I know that I am the milder one of the group, but I had the same amount of anger and fear that you and Tony had after her last fiasco. When we realized that she had just dumped her cell and ran off, I started to think back to just how many times Abby has been in danger, and just how close we have came to losing her. I still can remember the cold, painful squeezing of my chest when she had been kidnapped and had the Mikhal stalking her. If she had only come to us sooner, then we could have stopped it, but instead in her usual brash way, she tries to go on her own and then after we get her back, we see just how serious Mikhal was about having Abby to himself. God, Gibbs, we found a loaded gun and a suicide note that Mikhal had written as he had prepared to murder Abby and then himself." McGee was flustered at just how open he had been with Gibbs. "Sorry, prob…"
"Tim, what is the rule for sorry. If your gut is telling you that something is….as you young people say, hinky, then trust it." Gibbs said as he stood and went to stand in front of Tim's desk.
"I already sent Tony to see if anything was suspicious, and she found out and punched me in the arm. Maybe I am wrong, but worry that she does not think things through and then when she doesn't, … I want to smack her myself." McGee said as he hung his head down.
Gibb reached over and not so gently pushed Tim's chin up so that they could see eye to eye. "Like I told Dinozzo at the hotel, NEVER APOLOGIZE for watching out and stepping in as you see fit with Abby, or Ziva. That is what Big Brothers do, so if she does something that is dangerous or out of line, don't feel like you have to wait on me, take care of things yourself. I can assure you that I will never punish you for taking care of your sisters. Head on home, I have Abby duty for the rest of the night, so you can rest up and see you tomorrow." Gibbs said as he switched off McGee's lamp, signaling for him to go home. McGee grabbed his bag and walked towards the elevator, a sense of relief that he felt justified by Gibbs.
Gibbs rang Abby and told her to be at his desk in 10 minutes, they were leaving. Abby quickly shut down all her babies and tried to quell the butterflies in her stomach. She just hope that Gibbs stuck to his regular routine of boat, bourbon and basement.
After finishing supper, Abby excused herself. "I think I am going to call in a night, Gibbs. I just want to take a bubble bath and hop in bed and read my latest Forensics Update Journal." Abby proceeded to grab her pajamas and tucked her phone in them. As she turned on the water, she texted Spencer that it was still a go and completed her bath. Walking past Gibbs into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, Abby made sure he saw that she was dressed for bed. "Good night Gibbs." Abby said as she made her way upstairs. She turned on her side and stayed there until she saw the door creep open as Gibbs was peeking in on her one more time before he retired to the basement.
Abby waited until she had heard the basement door, creak closed that she quietly dressed, stuffed her pajamas with excess pillows and tiptoed down to the back door. She knew which floor boards creaked and knew that if she attempted to leave out the front Gibbs would hear. She quietly called for a cab at a convenience store 2 blocks down and typed in the bypass code that would allow her to override the alarm, but have it reset in five minutes after she left. Gibbs could double check the system and see that it was still alarmed. Stopping only to slip on her boots, Abby headed to the cab stop, none the wiser that the ever so Penelope Garcia and David Rossi were just getting ready to bust her bubble.
THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE ALERTS AND FAVORITE ADDS!
NEXT UP:: TROUBLE !
