A/N: All I have to say is that, right now, I'm incredibly annoyed. I'm sorry if any of my anger or anything is reflected in this.
This chapter is dedicated to my best friend in the entire world. Abby, I love you!
Previously: Gibbs kissed Abby, which has caused him to avoid her. During this child-like 'hide and seek', NCIS finds a dead body just down the hall from Abby's lab. Gibbs is still taking every precaution to avoid his lab rat. Abby goes missing after finding a crucial piece of evidence. Gibbs feels as though it's his fault, as she was still trying to get back into his good graces. Still, thanks to Abby's notes, the team soon discovers who their culprit was both in Carol's death and Abby's kidnapping. McGee pulled it all off and is working with an old nemesis from Season 1, a certain Dr. Ari Haswari. Gibbs gets a call from Ari and is told he has a total of 60 hours to find Abby alive, but only 24 of them will guarantee her unharmed. When we last left Gibbs, he was entering the impending darkness of the barn where they kept Kate in "Reveille".
Gibbs' eyes quickly adjusted to the dark even as the door shut noiselessly behind him. He fumbled for a moment in an attempt to pull his small penlight out of his pocket. Taking extra care to keep his keys from jingling, he shone the small light around to get his bearings. There was the door he had just come in, along with two others. He searched his memory for a description of the surroundings and the placements of the buildings and decided the door directly in front of him was the right one. After burning the image into his memory, he put the light away, determined not to give himself away.
After listening intently and hearing nothing but his own quiet and shallow breathing, Gibbs crept noiselessly to the door. It had a finely polished brass handle that would easily reveal prints, with or without printing powder. He found his instincts taking over as he pulled the tiny light back out of his pocket. He knew exactly who he was up against and he had both of their prints on file. If he could get prints from the scene it would be much easier to convict them in court. As he shone the light onto the door, his hopes crashed. McGee and Ari were much too smart for that sort of thing; the handle had been wiped clean. He almost put the light away again, but thought better of it. As he drew in a deep breath, preparing himself for whatever could be waiting for him behind the door, he cursed his stupidity.
He was unsure of how long he crouched by the door and it was of no concern to him. All he knew was that he had waited far too long. He turned the handle slowly and quietly. As he pulled the door open inch by inch, it dawned on him that it was dark inside too. He vaguely wondered if he had been set up, but shrugged the thought away quickly. If he had been set up, Ari was just going to have to deal with him being even more pissed off. Besides, Gibbs suspected that the whole reason Abby had been taken was to lure him to them. That was fine by him, as long as they let her go.
He inched his way into the adjoining room, which turned out to be a kitchen. Pots and pans reflected the moonlight that shone through the windows, casting eerie shadows on the wall. It was a shame that what could have been a beautiful evening spent on the back porch was now ruined. Not that he blamed Abby, of course. No, Leroy Jethro Gibbs blamed himself for what had happened. After all, if he had simply pretended that nothing had happened, Abby would most likely have been out clubbing. He still would have been worried about her then, of course, but at least he would have had some sense of where she was. And if he didn't, he could always call her.
Gibbs felt a tear on the brink of rolling down his cheek and he bit his lip so hard that it drew blood. He wiped the back of his hand irritably across his bottom lip and down his pants, for once not caring about his immaculate attire. In any case, it had stopped his tears and allowed him to focus on the much more important task at hand.
Although the only thing he wanted to do was run from room to room screaming Abby's name, he forced himself to follow protocol for a potential hostage situation. It made the whole thing seem so impersonal, and Gibbs couldn't figure out if whether or not that was a good thing.
Peering through one of the doorways leading out of the kitchen, Gibbs saw what appeared to be a living room. It was even darker in there, as there were thick red curtains hanging over the windows and letting in very little light. As far as he could tell, there was no one in there and nothing seemed to be out of place. As he looked hesitantly through the other dark doorframe, he saw a room that looked a lot like the living room. The only difference was that it was full of computers and other high-tech equipment.
He stepped into the room with a soft and wistful smile. Abby would have loved to have been 'trapped' in here. If she had had access to all of this stuff, she would have found her way out within an hour. He ran a calloused hand over the plasma screen as memories of Abby washed over him.
He remembered how much she loved her job, how she always seemed so comfortably when surrounded by familiar and predictable machinery. Sometimes he thought she connected better with them than she did anything or anyone else, if only because she knew how they worked. Where ever Abby was, Gibbs hoped that she was okay. He hoped she was comfortable, safe, warm and, most importantly, alive.
He soon figured that Abby was not in here and, for some reason, it angered him. Instead of kicking and breaking something, Gibbs forced himself to calm down and breathe normally. Once he had his emotions in check, he continued to the next room. Whoever had built this house obviously had an interesting idea of how to position the rooms. One door led to a bathroom, which Gibbs ignored. The other door had nothing but coats hanging in it, including Abby's lab coat.
The clean white material stood out awkwardly with all of the dark coats hanging around it. Gibbs never thought that he would be so glad to see something as trivial as a lab coat, but he was. He carefully pulled it off the hanger and draped it over his arm. Abby would need it when he finally let her go back to work. Of course, knowing Abby as he did, he wouldn't be able to keep her away for more than a day or two, and until she did come back, she would wear it around her house.
With her coat resting in the crook of his arm, Gibbs went into the only remaining doorway. What he saw made his heart leap instantly into his throat. The tears he had managed to suppress only minutes ago suddenly spilt over shamelessly. He grabbed the doorframe to keep himself from falling over.
He had stumbled into a dining room containing a deep mahogany table with matching chairs. There was also a matching china cabinet, complete with some of the most delicate plates and dishes he had ever seen. It amazed him how all of this registered in his mind, considering that these should have been the least of his concern.
The room spun as his eyes focused yet again on the table. For some reason though, he could not look away. It was as though something was forcing the horrifying picture into his mind forever. Not that that was going to be a problem. The second he had so much as glimpsed the scene he knew he would never be able to forget it.
Gibbs didn't trust himself to let go of the doorframe, but he couldn't stand being so far from the table. What was probably only a couple of feet suddenly seemed like thousands upon thousands of miles. He dropped to his knees and shuffled awkwardly to one side of the table. A chair fell over, though he neither noticed or cared. The thud never registered in his mind, and it never occurred to him that he had shoved it aside.
The shockingly pale hand hung loosely over the side of the table. All of his strength suddenly left him, and it was all he could do to tenderly take the small, fragile hand in his own. He ran his finger over the stiff and slightly cold flesh.
After several excruciating seconds, minutes, hours or days, Gibbs began to regain his senses. It occurred to him that he was going to have to call the others. Simply the thought of this would have brought more tears to his eyes, had he not run out of them.
Something in his subconscious mind must have been working and it took over his body for him. He stood up, his legs trembling under the sudden weight. As he noticed the rest of the room, it finally occurred to him topick upthe fallen chair. The second it was back on all four legs, he sank into it.
Gibbs took one last look at Abby's dead body draped almost angelically across the table and finally punched in the speed dial for Ducky, not even realizing how much his hand shook.
