What Mrs. Mallard Said -- 13

Author: GataChica

Rating: M/FR18

Warnings: sexual situations

Spoilers: Untouchable

Disclaimer: My writing is not-for-profit and I don't own the characters or anything else besides my ideas.

Abby was surprised the next day when Gibbs came down to the lab, acting as if nothing had happened.

"You got those fingerprints, Abby?"

She turned quickly. "Oh – yes. I matched two of them to people who work at the fitness center, but there are still two unknowns – nothing in any of the databases. Do you think the FBI is holding out on us again?" She avoided looking directly into his eyes.

He smirked. "Don't know; I'll check with Fornell. What about the videotape?"

She turned towards the plasma screen, currently displaying patterns of colored static. "Almost completely demagnetized, but there are a few traces left. I sent it to the AV lab; my equipment isn't sensitive enough to make anything of them. I'll let you know when I hear back."

"Great."

Abby felt that something was very wrong, because it seemed as though he was perfectly normal. "Gibbs –" She looked around and realized that he was already gone. 'That's typical,' she thought. Shaking her head, she returned to work.

As usual, Gibbs' next stop was autopsy. "Ya got anything for me?" he called out as soon as the door swished open.

Ducky and Jimmy were in the middle of the internal exam, which involved measuring and weighing the organs of the deceased; as a consequence, both wore gloves that were bloody up to their forearms. "Not yet," Ducky replied.

"No cause of death?" Gibbs stood close to the body and stared at Ducky, making Jimmy think he was impatient with the medical examiner's failure to have any answers.

Only Ducky knew what the stare was really about.

"No," he replied simply. "It may come down to the tox report, or microscopic tissue examination. Give us a bit of time, Jethro."

Gibbs shook his head. "Don't have time, Ducky. Serial killers are pretty consistent in that they keep on killing until someone stops them."

"Actually, that isn't entirely true," Ducky began. "Were you aware that 12% of all serial killers have gaps in their killing sprees, sometimes as long as several years? Of course, by that I mean gaps not accounted for by prison or –"

He looked up and realized that, as usual, Gibbs had left. "Oh, well," he muttered to himself. "Mr. Palmer, do you know what I was about to tell Agent Gibbs?"

"Uh, no, sir."

"Good, at least I can tell someone. As I was saying…"

*******************

Ducky and Abby met for lunch that day – or rather, Ducky brought their lunch up to Abby's lab and made her sit down long enough to eat it. By unspoken agreement, neither mentioned Gibbs.

"My dear," Ducky asked, "are you going to take me out to one of your clubs some day?"

She glanced at him with slight surprise but mostly amusement. "All you had to do was ask," she replied with a smile. "Any preference on the type of club?"

"What is your favorite?"

Her brow furrowed as she thought. "Chocolate Rose plays the best dance music – the kind I play in the lab, I mean. Cream & Sugar is more intimate. I'd suggest one of those – unless you want to go to a fetish club?" Her eyes twinkled, challenging him.

"Why not?" he asked, smiling in return. "What is your pleasure?"

"Oh, Ducky, we have so much time to explore that! I can teach you so many new things."

He chuckled. "Abby, there isn't a fetish or other sexual practice that has never been done before, so you may be startled at what I already know. I may not have direct experience, but that doesn't mean I am ignorant. Or unwilling to try new things."

"Really," she said, eyebrows raised.

"Yes, really." He took one of her hands in his, gently stroking her palm. "I was thinking – considering my age, we might consult a fertility specialist to find out how to maximize our chances. How do you feel about that?"

"It's a great idea! I hope, though, that we don't have to avoid sex for a long time – I've heard that sometimes –"

She was interrupted by someone clearing his throat out in the main lab. They turned and saw that it was Tony.

"Come on in, Tony," Abby said. "We're just having lunch."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't sure how much of that you intended to be heard," he said, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. "So I thought I'd better make my presence known."

"That's very thoughtful of you, Tony, but as far as I am concerned, I don't mind. I'm not ashamed." Ducky squeezed Abby's hand and saw to his surprise that she was blushing slightly.

"Yes, amazingly thoughtful considering it's you, Tony!" she teased, hoping he wouldn't notice the blush.

"You're blushing, Abbs," Tony said, teasing back. "And you didn't want to tell me anything because Ducky might not like it."

'There goes that,' Abby thought to herself. 'He's going to be insufferably nosy from now on.' "Mind your own business, Tony!" she said tartly. "If you two want to have a 'guy talk' I can't stop you, but you won't get any details from me! What did you come down for, anyway?"

He recognized her evasive maneuver for what it was, but knew it was best to accept it. "Gibbs wants to know if you have a cause of death yet."

"Let me see if my baby's ready to talk," Abby said, walking to the mass spectrometer. "Great – the tox screen is finished. Hmm –" She carried the report into the office and showed it to Ducky. He glanced at it briefly.

"Just as I suspected," he said. "The elusive potassium. An injection of potassium will cause a heart attack if the concentration is high enough. I haven't found any needle punctures, but perhaps it was concealed by hair or marks on the skin." He stood, wrapping up the rest of his lunch. "You finish eating, Abby; I'll leave this here. Jethro will want to talk to me soon, I imagine, and I'd better have the cause of death explained by then." He leaned over to give Abby a brief kiss on the lips. "Later, my love."

Abby and Tony both watched him leave, then Abby sighed and stood up herself. "I'd better get back to work, too."

"Are you going to finish that sandwich?" he asked eagerly.

Abby rolled her eyes at him. "Take it, Tony. You know, maybe Ducky should check you for a tapeworm."

"Ha ha," he replied. "Hey, since Ducky said he doesn't mind, how about more info?"

She gave him a quick but powerful head slap.

"Ow!" Tony pretended that it hurt much more than it really did.

"Don't forget," Abby said, "that I –"

"That you are one of the few people who can kill me and leave no forensic evidence," he finished, moving out of range in case of another slap. "I know, Abbs, but you wouldn't really, would you?"

She continued frowning as long as she could, but in the end his puppy dog eyes won out, and she gave in to amusement. "No, Tony, I wouldn't. But I'm not giving you details, either. Now take that food and go upstairs before Gibbs calls you."

"Right." Carrying the sandwich, he quickly exited the lab.

Abby sighed, leaning against the counter. Her hands came to rest on her flat abdomen. "Soon I'll be carrying a little Duckling," she whispered to herself. The thought of that brought a wide smile and a couple of tears, and kept her smiling for the next few hours.