A/N: Okay, I know you all want TATE action, so Ch. 14, 16, and 18. I haven't quite decided the outcome of one of their coversations, but I think I may have to put them together. Who knows? And yes, Gibbs has to talk to Abby. But he won't! Silly! Just out of curiousity- does anyone think that they know who's kidnapped? Or- even better- who does the kidnapping? And Abby, Kate, (once again- not the show characters), Sarah, etc.- no cheating!
Kate walked into Abby's lab and found her examining the list of numbers from Agent Carol's pager. They were displayed on Abby's projected big screen and she was glaring at the results. She noticed that her pigtails were in place again and took that as a good sign. And don't worry- Gibbs will talk to Abby, and she'll be... Well, Abby- she wonders what the hell he did.
"Have you found anything yet?" asked Kate hopefully, making her jump.
"Don't do that!" cried Abby as she turned around to give Kate a smile. Kate smiled back; her make-up was fixed and, except for the almost gone redness in her left eye,
"Sorry... So what did you find?" she tried again.
"Absolutely nothing. The only repetitive calls came from her husband and daughter. It looks like someone just randomly singled her out," Abby admitted, not bothering to hide her disappointment.
"Can you think of a motive?" attempted Kate one last time.
"Sorry, I've got nothing. Besides, that's your job! Nice try though..." Abby answered.
Kate pulled the plastic evidence bag out of her pocket and grinned mischievously. "I'll help you make your job easier if you'll help me make mine easier," she replied, waving the bag just out of Abby's reach.
Abby laughed. "You're as bad as me! What is that?"
"The bullet from Carol's body..." Kate told her. Abby's mouth fell open and she jumped for the bag.
"C'mon Kate! Give it to me!" Abby begged as she jumped again. Once again she found herself wishing that shoes weren't a requirement. Kate was wearing heels that were a good eight inches high, which meant that Abby was a good six inches shorter, even with her Army boots on. She glared at Kate's designer shoes that had most likely cost around a hundred dollars. Abby's most expensive pair of shoes was her Doc Marten Army boots, which she had bought on clearance.
"Give me a motive..." teased Kate.
Abby sighed reluctantly. "Just remember that this is a guess... and only a guess, okay? Don't bank the case on me alone." She was slightly amused at how much Kate had changed since she came to NCIS. She was becoming more and more like... Abby. Kate nodded and waited for her friend to continue. "I think that Carol found something out about another agent... Maybe whoever killed her was involved in illegal activities. Maybe they're an informer for another agency or something... Maybe it's something like a conspiracy! At any rate, now that person's gone and killed her. I think our best bet's going to be to assume that it was an inside job and that we need to find out whatever Carol did," guessed Abby. "Oh my god! It could easily be someone like..." she paused and thought. "Well, for all we know, it could be Gibbs or Tony or... Or Ducky! Or McGee or some random person that I haven't ever heard of..." Abby trailed off and her brows furrowed with concentration. "Wow... Whoever it is has to be one hell of an actor... or actress!"
Kate had to laugh. "You think too much Abbs..."
"Wait a second Kate. You didn't kill Carol, did you?" asked Abby worriedly.
"Abby!" protested Kate, feeling slightly hurt that Abby could even joke about that. After all, they were best friends.
"I was just checking... Of course, you could be lying to me..." Abby realized.
"Abby, if I did kill Carol and I got a hold of the bullet that I used to kill her, would I really be down here to give it to you?" she asked reasonably, knowing that Abby was just being her paranoid self.
"Oh, yeah... Sorry Kate!" she apologized guiltily.
"Sometimes I wonder about you Abbs..." replied Kate as she set the bullet down in front of her friend.
"Thanks," muttered Abby begrudgingly.
"I owe it all to you Abbs," Kate reminded her with a genuine smile.
"Yes... That's the part that worries me. I mean, hey, soon enough you're going to be coming to work decked out in full Hot Topic© gothic clothes with dyed black hair worn up in pigtails..." Abby looked Kate up and down thoughtfully. "Actually Kate, I think we might be able to a lot with that look... And you and I could go the mall on weekends shopping for Newlydeads CDs and coffin stuff and- So yeah..." she mused.
Kate laughed. "Abby, don't even think about it!" she warned.
"Aw, come on Kate... I'll trade clothes with you for today and then you can see how comfy they are," Abby pleaded. Now she was really curious about how Kate would look as a fellow Goth.
"Well, at least you're back to your normal, cheerful self..." Kate sighed.
"McGee hasn't been in here since you guys came down to the crime scene. He left just after you walked past. You know, I can't believe I didn't notice that something was hinky... I mean, I never oversleep! It had to be a sign that something was amiss at work. Oh my god- what if this was just some random killing spree. What if you or Gibbs or Tony or Ducky or even McGee had come down here and had been in the range of fire? I could be helping to investigate the death of someone on the team!"
"Then let's be glad no one needed you at the time... What about Gibbs? Has he been down here yet?" she asked hesitantly, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Gibbs had been lying to her earlier.
"Not since I got to work..." replied Abby as she sank back into her chair. She was starting to feel slightly morbid and depressed again. "Why do I always end up talking to you about my personal problems? Is my life really that screwed up?" she wondered.
Kate sat down next to her and wished that she hadn't brought up the subject. "Your life is not screwed up Abby. And at least you have a personal life... Do you know what it's like to go home to an empty house, wishing that you had someone to share it with? I go home every night and hope that, one of these days, someone's going to be there to call me just to ask me how my day went and then take me out for dinner," Kate confessed. She managed a small smile, for Abby's sake. "You have no idea how lucky you are."
"If this is lucky, than I would so much rather be you right now. You don't have to worry about doing something wrong and undoing everything you've worked so hard to keep together," Abby murmured wistfully. She grinned abruptly. "How ironic is this? I want your life and you want mine... Maybe we should trade clothes," she decided thoughtfully.
"Yes, well, we both know that's not going to happen. And now that today's pity party is officially over, we really ought to get back to our jobs... Gibbs is going to kill us if he finds out that we're having a girly moment on our normal hours," Kate decided reluctantly. "Oh, and I'd put a rush order on the bullet if I were you- the sooner that we know whose it is, the sooner that Gibbs is going to be down here to sort all of this out for you," advised Kate with a wink as she got up to leave.
"I'm sensing that you weren't just talking about the case, were you?" Abby laughed. "And would you please tell Gibbs that I say for him to get his sorry ass into my lab before I change my mind and decide he's not allowed inside anymore?" she requested with a wink.
"Oh yeah- that reminds me! What are you and Gibbs hiding from the rest of the world?" asked Kate as she whirled back around.
"Hiding? What do you mean hiding? Gibbs and I are hiding something?" Abby gave her a confused look.
"As I told Gibbs earlier, I'm not Tony. You've passed your sharp senses on to me, and I know something's up!" she protested indignantly.
"Well, when and if you find out what we're hiding, would you please let me know? Because I am seriously just as clueless as you are!" Abby told her honestly. She stood up and stretched, then pulled on a pair of latex gloves.
Kate watched her quietly for a minute; Abby's body language suggested that Abby really had no idea what Kate meant and was clearly telling the truth. Abby was also her best friend, so Kate decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. "I'll let you know," she promised as she left Abby's lab.
