A/N: My apologies this is taking so long. I have not given up, life has just been running me ragged. See alternate ending for Kibbs fluff to tide you over ;) and thank you all for being patient and sticking around for so long!
ABBY
"The signal's patchy, Gibbs, it's probably 'cause you're out in the sticks, I'm sure Kate can't be far..." She trailed off. She sounded absolutely unconvincing even to her own ears.
He just growled. Being forwarded to Kate's voicemail had them all concerned, but the fact that when her cell did ring there was no answer was almost worse. Abby was trying to keep her own panic out of her voice.
It was obvious Gibbs was incredibly worried, even though he was also obviously trying to hide it, and Gibbs was not a man who got worried over nothing.
The last time she could remember him being like this was when Ari had abducted Kate nearly a year ago. He'd been agitated then; he was frantic now. She hoped dearly that this would turn out to be a false alarm.
"OK, you must be close now, if this trace is accurate you're almost on top of it- I mean, her." She wanted to kick herself. Gibbs' anxiety was catching, and she'd promised herself she was going to stay positive, for his sake if nothing else.
"I can't see her, Abby."
She was tempted to snap at him to look harder, but bit her tongue. "I'll call her cell, that should help you find her." Got it right that time. The fact he couldn't see Kate was discouraging, but she would keep hoping until he confirmed the worst.
"You dialling yet?"
She bit back another retort. "Just typing the number in. OK, it should start to ring any second."
There was silence, then she could hear Kate's distinctive ringtone, albeit distorted through the phone line, and Gibbs muttering and swearing as he apparently navigated some surprisingly rough terrain to reach it.
"Shit."
Abby screwed up her eyes. This could not be good. "No Kate?"
"No Kate, and her cell was thrown in the rose bushes by the pool house."
She winced.
"Abby... there's blood."
His voice cracked and Abby swallowed hard, then took a deep breath, forcing her voice not to wobble. "How much?"
There was a pause, and she thought she heard him swallow too before he continued. "Not a lot. But..."
He didn't need to finish the sentence. Blood and a cellphone deliberately discarded meant nothing good.
"It's probably not hers." 'Probably' might be pushing it, but she had to put the possibility out there. As she spoke, she typed furiously. The sooner everyone involved got this information and started looking for Kate, the better.
"Someone's taken her, Abs."
It was a sound conclusion, and she couldn't think of a good argument against it. Taking another deep breath, she forced herself into work mode. If Gibbs was right, and it seemed likely that he was, the best thing she could do right now was to use all her skills and ingenuity to figure out the why, who, and how. Then they might find the where, and then they could get her back.
"Why would they kidnap her?"
"We were getting too close, that's why."
She chewed on her lip. "You think they know she's a Fed?"
There was silence at the end of the line. He obviously did think that, and it wasn't a happy thought. Getting on the wrong side of the powerful, unscrupulous people they'd been schmoozing was not a safe pastime.
"Abs, I need... I need..."
"We'll find her, Gibbs." She injected as much certainty into her voice as she could. "I already sent an alert to McGee and DiNozzo, I've told the director, the FBI have been informed, we are all over this..."
She heard him sigh. "Keep me updated."
There was a click as he disconnected, and Abby gave herself a few seconds to regroup, then went back to her computer. Although she felt powerless, she wasn't. She had skills, and she was going to use them.
"Hang on in there, Kate. We're gonna find you."
