Chapter 5
After spending a couple hours at the crime-scene, searching through the piles of small debris left by the bomb, the team returned to the NCIS building. It's been an hour since all forensic evidence was brought down to Abby for testing. Gibbs finally enters the Forensics Lab to talk to Abby. Gibbs is holding a Caf-Pow for Abby.
"Tell me you got something for me Abs."
"I do."
"You gonna tell me or what?"
"Under one condition."
"What condition?"
"You scratch my back…" Abby points her back to Gibbs. "I can't reach where it itches and it's driving me crazy."
Abby lifts the back of her shirt up to expose her bare back to Gibbs. He places the Caf-Pow onto the table. Gibbs places his hand on Abby's back and begins scratching.
"Nice cross tattoo Abs."
"You say that every single time you see it."
"Maybe I just really like it."
"Move your hand up more."
Gibbs moves his hands upward over Abby's bare back and continues scratching.
"Just a little to the left."
Gibbs now moves his hand slightly the left and continues scratching.
"You got it! That's the spot!" Abby exclaimed. "Just keep scratching."
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"And you're not?"
"It's not like I haven't scratched your back before."
"You know I love it when you scratch my back, or even just caress my back with your fingers." Abby stated. "Cuz you're just so good at it. When you scratch or caress my back, or give me a massage… It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside."
Gibbs keeps scratching Abby's bare back for a couple minutes. Abby finally steps away, pulls her shirt down and walks over to the table. She grabs the Caf-Pow and takes a sip.
"Ok… Let's get to work. I'm ready to go."
"So what can you tell me?"
"From all the pieces of the bomb that were found, I can tell you this… This bomb is the worst device I've ever seen in my entire life. A 10 year old could've made something better. This bomb is too simple. It's a very pathetic bomb if you ask me."
"Abs?"
"The amount of explosives used wasn't even enough to launch debris across the street. It was very weak. Also… The trigger device… It wasn't on a timer, motion sensor, nothing like that."
"How was it detonated?"
"It was detonated by means of a radio transmitter…"
"That's a common means of detonating."
"But this transmitter was weak. Everything about this bomb was weak. The person would've had to have been across the street in order for this bomb to go off. If the person was any further, it wouldn't have worked."
"Why would someone make an extremely simple, weak bomb?"
"I do not know. But all the bomb really did was destroyed the inside of the recruitment station." Abby stated. "Gibbs…"
"Yes Abs?"
"I don't think this bomb was meant to kill anybody."
"It was probably some punk kid who went to the recruitment station and got rejected. So he decided to blow the place up."
"Coming to conclusions already, Gibbs?"
"No… Just trying to think of possible reasons why someone would place a weak bomb in the recruitment station and detonate it when no one is close enough to get hurt."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Try to see if you can figure out where the parts came from."
"Already did that."
"And?"
"The parts are untraceable. No serial numbers. No distinguishing markings. There's nothing here that allows me to trace the parts."
"I have the team searching the recruitment records for rejections in the passed year. Maybe we'll get a hit there."
"Sorry for not being much help Gibbs."
"You helped plenty… Coming down here just to scratch your back was worth it. You definitely earned that Caf-Pow." Gibbs winks at Abby.
Gibbs walks to the door and leaves the lab. Abby is left with a big smile on her face.
