Hidden Enemy
Disclaimer: I don´t own any characters or anything
Summary: Someone attacks Kate, almost killing her. Why is her blood found on Gibbs´ shirt and just why is his DNA under her nails?
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5- Bits and pieces
It was 7 pm by now and they had not found a single piece of evidence that could help clear Gibbs. Ducky had come back with more information on the attack after visiting both at the hospital. He went over it with Tony while McGee took a nap under his desk. They knew that they would be in here for the whole night and longer if necessary. "From the injuries it´s not easy to say how it happened in detail, but if I´m not completely mistaken, the attacker used his left hand. He stood outside her car, next to the driver side. The first stab hit her collarbone and was deflected towards her neck, the second one missed her left lung by half an inch. The angle of impact suggests that the attacker was left-handed as well. It could have been done right-handed, but that would have taken quite some effort. Any way she must have seen her attacker -there is no way he could have hidden his face as she had parked below a lamp and the light in her car would have been on when the door was opened." He said and Tony listened up.
"As far as I know, Gibbs is right-handed. That´s the first good news, Ducky." He said and allowed himself to smile a bit. "What else? How is Gibbs doing?" He asked and started to make some notes about the things he had just been told.
"I believe that he is doing better, but I will go back soon to check on him. They will keep him for at least 24 hours for observation. Abigail told me that there was something in his blood that didn´t belong there, so they might want to keep an eye on that. He seems to have a shock on top of that, I believe the idea that he could have hurt Kate is haunting him. Especially since he doesn´t seem to recall anything from that specific timeframe. Nobody is allowed to see him for the time being, of course, there´s an exception for me." Ducky told him and then waited for further questions, but there were none.
"Okay, when you go see him, tell him we´re doing our best to figure this out. Let me know when Kate wakes up or anything happens." Tony walked straight downstairs where Abby was checking both cars now. She was lying beneath Kate´s car at the moment, only her feet sticking out. "Abby?"
She rolled out and he noticed how tired she looked. "Hey, Tony. Haven´t found much yet. I´m done with Gibbs´ car though. Just a lot of mud stuck under it. Took samples, but those will take about 12 hours to run through analysis. Anything new on your side?" She asked and brushed her bangs out of her face.
"Not much. Ducky reckons the attacker was left-handed. Maybe you can run a simulation on the whole thing as soon as we have all details figured out. Nothing new on Kate either. Did you finish that cloth?" He said and helped her up from the ground.
Abby shook her head and brushed some dirt off her hands. "It´s still running through the analyzer. I don´t think it will come out for the next two or three hours." She yawned and blinked for a moment. "I´m starting to see black spots in front of my eyes. That feels really weird." Reaching for the cup of caf-pow on the table she sighed and tossed the empty cup into the trash can near the elevator.
Tony smiled and put his arm around her. "Go get some sleep. We´re no use to anyone collapsing from exhaustion. McGee is snoring away under his desk already and I think I will hit the office floor as well now. Let me know when you get those results, okay?" He watched her walk into the lab and caught a glimpse of the futon she pulled out of her closet before the doors closed again.
When he walked into the bullpen, McGee was still asleep, so he just updated his notes and rolled up under his desk as well. On one hand he wanted to get this over with quickly, but he knew that none of them would do a good job being as tired. Details could be vital here and they needed to be concentrated to see everything. He fell into a restless sleep.
-same time, Bethesda-
Gibbs stared at the ceiling above him. He had been handcuffed to the rail of the bed and felt downright humiliated. They were treating him like he was a convicted mass murderer. He wasn´t sure what time it was, but it was dark outside already. His headache was almost gone and he felt much better after being put on an IV for most of the day. He wasn´t allowed coffee, but somehow that didn´t really matter. He still couldn´t remember anything from the time he walked out from the party for some fresh air to waking up this morning.
The door opened and someone walked in, closing the door softly behind him. The hat immediately gave the identity of the visitor away and Gibbs sighed. "Coming to visit the condemned , Duck?" He said and tried to make it sound like a joke, but his voice was raspy and gave away how he felt. Nobody had come by, not even Dinozzo, but he had already figured that they were isolating him on purpose. They were afraid that he could get information about the case somehow.
A chair was pulled up and he saw the face of his friend in the dim light next to himself. "Jethro, it is not the time for such jokes. There is nothing you can do at the moment, but I can assure you that investigations are being made at the moment." The older man said and was met by a look full of confusion and anger.
"This is a freakin´ frame-up, Duck. Someone wants me here. And some police officers investigating won´t prove a thing -let alone Balboa and that team of his. They don´t even recognize a suicide when they see one." He replied bitterly and felt helpless. He had never felt like this before, not even during his time in the marine corps. Seeing Tony in interrogation had given him a bit of hope, but knowing the common practices at NCIS, Gibbs knew that they had just sent his agent hoping that he would be more open to him.
Much to his surprise, there was a smile on Mallard´s face now. "I do believe that the NCIS team will do a good job and crosscheck each and every bit of evidence from the police." He said and still saw the doubt in his friend´s eyes. They had known each other way too long to be able to hide such feelings. "They´ve been working since they were assigned this morning. Tom Morrow made sure they were put on this, even though they are emotionally involved since their teamleader is the main suspect."
At these words, Gibbs felt tears burning in his eyes. "What?" He asked almost inaudible. "He...he let...but they..." Words failed him all of the sudden. This was a bit of news he would have never expected. All those feelings he had tried to lock up all day long came rushing back again. He felt relieved to know that his team was working on this. They were thorough, he had taught them to be.
"Yes, he did, Jethro. Your team is conducting the investigations -they are determined to find out what really happened and you know as well as I do that they will. I believe they are still working as we speak, not even bothering that it is close to midnight. I need to leave now, but I shall be back tomorrow." Ducky said and left again. The guard in front of the room just nodded at him and continued to stand in front of the door, not letting anyone pass.