A/N: Wow, apparently my threat of discontinuation was taken seriously. As it should have been- Abby, Kate, Tony, Lee and Kay would've been able to finish reading it, and they're the only ones who can physically thwack me. Anyways, I really appreciate the reviews! Please read my other story (it's complete... I just have to type it all up... ::sigh::). I promise to post it all! Just like this one (I'm on Chapter 25... Yay! Of course- it's not typed...) I really ought to try to TYPE all of my updates... Oh well. In any case, I have the rough draft of my literary analysis on The Tragedy of Julius Caesar due in my World Literature class tomorrow, and- of course- I haven't even really started it! Yeah, I know- I'm a procrastinator. And yet I have straight As... Except for History- I have a C... I suck at history, all of the names sound the same to me! But as long as I keep a C, I can get into my choice college and move onto the NCIS Crime Lab.! No, I'm not joking, that's seriously where I plan to work. If you really care, you can visit my blog or email me... Whatever. Anyways, now that I'm done babbling, I go off to seek out Julius Caesar and all of his assassinators. And, maybe when I'm done, I'll type up things! Whoowt!
Gibbs was sitting restlessly at his desk when Kate finally returned from wherever she had been, with Tony following close behind her. He was tempted to ask where they had been, what they had been doing and what they were thinking about as he had tried to concentrate on his work, while still remaining very worried about Abby and her condition. But he knew better than to ask; he didn't want to set Kate off again.
Tony shot Gibbs a glare, before looking back at Kate with a worried look. Gibbs really wanted to know what had happened, so he decided to ask anyways. After all, Kate and Tony already thought of him as a cold and heartless bastard- why not keep up the ruse? "DiNozzo, what the hell is going on?"
Tony gave Kate a sympathetic look; "I told you..." he mouthed to her.
She rolled her eyes at him. It didn't seem like Gibbs cared, but he sure as hell was being a bastard. Still, she soon discovered that she couldn't blame him. After all, it was Gibbs, and he liked Abby, so he was definitely going to take this harder than all of the rest of them combined. And, because it was Gibbs, he would take it all out on them because he didn't know what else to do. Oh well- at least she had Tony. A week ago- hell, an hour ago- that thought wouldn't have been anything near comforting, but now it was the most amazing thing ever. Oh the irony...
"DiNozzo? Hey- Tony... Pay attention!"
Kate smirked at him, knowing all too well that he hadn't heard Gibbs because he was 'otherwise occupied'- because of her. Tony shook himself slightly, giving Kate a glare, both for her smirk and because it had been her who distracted him... "Sorry boss, I was just-"
"Drooling over Kate? So I noticed..." Gibbs acted as though he couldn't see the look Kate was giving him.
"I wasn't drooling!"
Kate groaned. "Oh the people I put up with..."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Gibbs raised an eyebrow curiously.
"Well, we've got Tony the Skirt Chaser-"
"Hey!"
"We've got you the Marine... And we've got Ducky who's just... Well, Ducky..."
"What about me Caitlin?" Ducky chose that moment to appear in the bullpen, a very unusual event, but one that they all welcomed. Ducky turned to Gibbs. "Jethro, have you seen Abby recently? She was supposed to be doing a full tox. scan on the blood from Carol's body... I was wondering if she was at another of her parties..."
Tony, Kate and Gibbs all looked at each other helplessly. Sure, the three of them had taken this exceptionally hard, but imagine how Ducky would react? After all, Abby was like the daughter he never had. Kate and Tony looked away quickly, hoping that Gibbs would get the message and realize that they had decided that this was his job.
Gibbs sighed loudly. "Duck, she's gone..."
Ducky frowned. "Gone where exactly Jethro?" He gave Gibbs one of his exceptionally rare looks that warned him not to mess around. Kate had never seen Ducky with a more deadly look on his face.
"Ducky, she was kidnapped... By McGee, who took her to the terrorist." Gibbs clenched his fists at his sides as he tried not to think about what the terrorist was probably doing to Abby.
"Abby was kidnapped?"
Gibbs nodded.
"By McGee?"
He nodded again.
"And McGee took her to the terrorist?"
"Yes..." Gibbs hoped that Ducky wouldn't blame this on him... He had already established that one on his own.
Kate had never really even seen Ducky get annoyed, so when a look of pure hatred and fury appeared on Ducky's face, combined with clenched fists identical to Gibbs', she was scared to even breathe, never mind move.
"Jethro, why are the three of you just sitting here instead of going out there and attempting to find her?" Ducky began pacing the floor looking angrily at his feet.
"Duck, there's nothing we can do right now... We have no clue where she is- if we did, you know I'd be there in a heartbeat. We were just about to formulate a plan."
Gibbs looked pointedly at Kate and Tony, silently pleading with them to help him, if only just this once.
Kate spoke up, trying hard not to let Ducky scare her. Tony gave her an encouraging smile and she took a deep breath. "Gibbs, couldn't we go to where Ari took me? I know I could get you there, if I just had the chance and-"
Ducky looked at her, as though only just realizing that Gibbs wasn't the only one he was talking to. "Kate, we can't ask you to do that..." Ducky chastised her gently.
Kate was glad that she hadn't had the wrath of Ducky turned on her. "Ducky, I want to...I want to help find Abby! I don't care what it takes."
Ducky was taken aback. "Kate, no one said you would care... But do you really think that that will be necessary?"
"Well, do you have a better plan?"
Ducky looked at her sympathetically. "No, I don't..."
Gibbs decided that now was a good time to interrupt. "Ducky, if this is what Kate wants to happen, it's her choice."
Tony and Ducky exchanged exasperated looks. Would Gibbs ever learn?
"However," continued Gibbs. "She will most definitely not be coming with me..."
Kate gave him a look that was a mix between horror and disbelief. "Oh yes I am... How else do you plan to get there?"
"Kate- you, Tony and Ducky are going to stay here. You can give me directions..."
She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "I'm coming with you!"
Tony saw this as his moment to intervene. "Kate, honey, I think you should listen to Gibbs..." He gave her a please-don't-hit-me look.
She turned to glare at him. "No way! I'm going to go too!" She faced Gibbs. "I'm coming!"
"Kate, as your friend and your boss, I have to insist that-"
"No way; no way in Hell!" Kate was getting frustrated with him. "If you won't let me come, I'll never tell you where it was."
Gibbs looked at Tony and Ducky for help, silently pleading for one of them to intervene.
Tony moved towards Kate and looked her squarely in the eyes. "Kate, stay here..."
She shook her head defiantly and Tony whispered something in her ear that not even Gibbs could hear.
She sighed dejectedly. "Fine... I'll stay... But I swear, so help me God, if you get hopelessly lost and Ari does something to Abby, I will never ever forgive you." She glared at Gibbs.
Gibbs knew better than to retort, so he just nodded solemnly. "Kate, I'm leaving in ten minutes, can you write directions for me?"
She nodded, still at least vaguely annoyed with Tony for using her own feelings against her.
Gibbs got up and headed for the elevator.
"Hey boss? Kate didn't give you the directions yet... You just going to wing it?"
"Yeah, thanks DiNozzo, but I'm going to get some things from Abby's lab..."
"Oh... right."
Gibbs turned back to the elevator and shook his head before getting in and descending to the last place he wanted to be... Abby's lab.
