Chapter 6
Liz sat at her desk and mulled over the information they had gathered so far. It certainly appeared as if Walker wasn't guilty of the crime he had been convicted of. She looked over the top of her computer at DiNozzo busily playing a computer game whilst Gibbs was absent.
"Hey Tony, what's the procedure for getting Walker a new trial or his conviction quashed" Liz asked him.
"Take it over to JAG and get them to re-open the case." Tony replied without looking up from his alien annihilation. "Why, you think Walker is going to walk?" he queried looking up briefly.
"Looks like it to me" she said as she stood up and crossed to Tony's desk, watching him play his game for a moment. She grinned, a glint of mischief in her eyes as her hand shot out and snatched the control away from him.
"HEY!" Tony said trying to wrestle it back from her, but Liz moved too fast, dodging out of his way, but managing to keep the monitor in view at all times, as she manipulated the game controller.
"Let me play or I tell Gibbs" she said as she wiped out an alien. "Gotcha" she muttered as she went after another one. Tony stopped trying to wrestle the control away from her and watched her fly along the game.
"Watch out for the one behind the door" he muttered, impressed with the way she was handling the game.
"Got him" Liz muttered, sitting herself on Tony's desk without missing a beat.
"Not bad, for a girl" Tony said trying not to sound impressed with her.
"Shut up" Liz said good naturedly, at his sexist comment not rising to the bait.
"There's an acid pool coming up, you have to jump it to get…" Tony started to say only to shut up when Liz swung her leg out, stopping a fraction of an inch from his crotch.
"Shut up and let me play DiNozzo" she muttered "Girls play Alien Annihilator too" she warned him. "Just tell me if the boss walks in" she warned him with a glare "Or next time my foot doesn't stop" she finished with a pointed look down. Grinning as Tony shot his chair back so that her foot was out of reach.
"You don't play fair" Tony muttered at Liz, refusing to let her know that he enjoyed the sparring with her.
"Nope I play to win, just like most girls" she said as she killed two aliens in a row.
McGee watched the two silently, enjoying the by play between them. He sat back in his chair for a moment, his eyes flicking over to Liz's desk, as he remembered Kate for a moment.
Liz was nothing like Kate, although Kate had always given as good as she got it was always in a very feminine way, with feminine ideas behind it. But Liz was more like one of the guys, she really didn't care if Tony made a sexist remark, she just came back with a smart reply but never took offence. In some ways it made Tony's comments meaningless, the point for Tony had been to get a rise out of Kate, something he rarely managed to do with Liz.
McGee looked at the two of them and grinned, neither of them was paying attention to the entrance, if Gibbs walked in now he really would kill them both. At that thought McGee looked at his watch and frowned, it had been nearly an hour since Gibbs had left and he still hadn't returned.
"Where is Gibbs?" McGee called out to the other two just in case he had been in touch and no one had told him.
"Gone for coffee, Probie" Tony called back, his tone sarcastic "or were you asleep when he said where he was going?" he continued. McGee sighed and wished the grieving Tony would return for a day, so that he could have some relief.
"Yeah but that was nearly an hour ago" McGee replied back.
"Maybe he went to see Abby" Liz called out, "have you checked with her?" McGee could have slapped himself, glad it had been Liz who had sated the obvious and not Tony.
McGee reached for his phone and dialled Abby's lab, but after letting it ring for some time, he hung up with a frown. He reached for the phone again and dialled the morgue, knowing that Abby was often there with Ducky.
McGee spoke briefly with Jimmy for a moment before hanging up the phone, genuine concern on his face.
"Guys I think there might be a problem" he said as he crossed to stand in front of Tony's desk.
"Why? You lost your dummy again probie?" Tony asked, not looking up from the screen.
"Tony" Liz said in warning.
"No, both Ducky and Abby have taken off after Gibbs though" he said, noticing that that got their attention.
Liz stared at McGee, the control in her hand forgotten in her concern over what he had just said. Tony stood slowly, his eyes scanning Gibbs's desk as if he would suddenly materialise there.
"Where did they go McGee?" Tony asked quietly, remembering Abby's face that morning as she had told them just how worried she had been last night.
"Jimmy doesn't know, Ducky got a call from Gibbs about 20 minutes ago and rushed out, then Abby phoned about 10 minutes later and hung up on him. Jimmy tried to call her back but got no reply, so he assumed she went after Ducky and Gibbs.
"Why the hell didn't that idiot Palmer call us?" Tony railed at McGee, his worry making his tone harsh.
"Don't know Tony" McGee said quietly, letting the other agent vent on him, knowing that Tony didn't handle things like this too well since Kate's death.
Liz watched the two for a moment before speaking.
"How would Abby know where Gibbs is if Jimmy didn't tell her?" she queried knowing the answer, but trying to get them both to focus on something other than their fears.
Tony and McGee looked at her for a moment
"Cell phone GPS" they both declared simultaneously, heading for the stairs at a run.
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Ducky felt his heart stop at the sight of Gibbs sitting on the bench, a petite red head all but holding him upright.
"Are you his Doctor friend?" the woman asked Ducky, her tone full of concern. Ducky just nodded as he knelt in front of his friend.
"Jethro? Can you hear me?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm and professional. Ducky watched as Gibbs slowly raised pain filled eyes at him, Ducky noted with clinical detachment the confusion swimming in them.
"Ducky" Gibbs whispered, unable to manage more he closed his eyes again. Ducky watched as Gibbs bent forward clutching his stomach, his knees rising slightly in the automatic position of acute stomach pain sufferers everywhere.
Ducky reached over and felt Gibbs's forehead, but there was no sign of a fever, just cold and clammy skin soaked with perspiration.
With more strength than he seemed to posses, Ducky picked his friend up and laid him down gently on the grass, watching as Gibbs curled into the foetal position trying to stem his pain. Ducky quickly stripped his jacket off and bunched it up into a ball, placing it softly beneath Gibbs's head. As he bent over the agent, he caught a face full of Gibbs's breath, reeling back from the strong smell of Garlic emanating from it. Ducky rocked back on his heels for a moment, before turning to the woman who had been with Gibbs. But she was nowhere to be seen, he scanned the area for a moment to be sure, but whoever she was, she had gone.
"Bloody hell" the normally mild mannered ME cursed, knowing that Gibbs needed to get to hospital now, cursing himself for not having a cell phone.
"Gibbs!" he heard from behind him, relief coursing through him as Abby appeared, her face draining of blood as she saw Gibbs lying on the floor, in desperate agony.
"Abigail phone for an ambulance right now." Ducky commanded, not giving her a chance for fear to set in.
He heard her fumbling in her pocket for her cell phone, before he turned his attention back to Gibbs.
"Jethro" he said, his voice commanding attention. He watched at Gibbs slowly opened his eyes and peered at him through his obvious pain.
"Have you had garlic today?" he queried, as he picked up Gibbs's wrist and checked the strength of his pulse, his concern mounting at the irregular beat. He watched carefully as Gibbs struggled to make sense of the question, his mind obviously struggling with it.
"Garlic?" Gibbs queried in confusion, not sure at the moment what garlic even was.
"Yes garlic, have you had anything with garlic today?" Ducky asked calmly, hearing in the background Abby talking to the emergency operator.
"No Garlic" Gibbs groaned, pulling away from Ducky and trying to crawl to the trash can, but unable to even get up of the ground. Ducky quickly pulled his friend into a sitting position, pushing his head slightly forward and away from his body as once more Gibbs vomited. Ducky held Gibbs tightly, feeling the strength of the spasm as it reverberated through Gibbs's body. He watched as the vomit hit the floor, analysing the contents, which was now mostly bile, tinged with red.
Ducky tried to maintain professional distance but found he was unable to, as he stared at the blood in the vomit.
He watched as Abby came and supported the other side of Gibbs, her hand rubbing soothing circles along her lover's back.
He met Abby's eyes and tried to hide his concern from her, but he knew he couldn't, and so he just stared at the woman who loved his best friend, and prayed.
"They won't be long" he heard Abby murmur, not sure if it was to him or Gibbs.
Ducky looked over at her and saw what it was that drew Gibbs to this remarkable young woman. He saw her strength and her love in that brief moment, and he knew that if for no other reason than for her, Gibbs would fight this. Ducky just wasn't sure if he would win.