Thank you to everyone who read the first chapter, and to those who left such kind reviews. A special thanks to Binglejells for the beta'ing.
II
"A package was delivered an hour ago, addressed to me. This video was..." Gibbs couldn't stand there listening to whatever she was saying, no matter how important it might be. He had to move, had to do something. Talking wouldn't find Abby; action would. Taking one last look at the video screen, he turned and walked to the door.
"Agent Gibbs..." the director called after him, but he didn't even pause.
"I want that tape downstairs immediately," he ordered as he walked out of the room.
"No answer from Abby yet," McGee informed when Gibbs came into sight.
"There won't be one."
"No reason to be so pessimistic, Boss." Tony took a bite of the sandwich he had purchased when Gibbs was gone to check on Abby.
"Abby's not going to answer her phone because she can't." Cynthia approached Gibbs and handed him a DVD. Gibbs slipped it into the plasma screen. "The reason she can't is because she's been kidnapped."
Everyone froze as Abby's image filled the screen. When Ziva banged her hand on the desk it was enough to break to silence. Tony, McGee, and Ziva all started talking at once. Gibbs silently gave them to the count of ten before letting out a shrill whistle.
"Are you all finished? There's work to be done, but if you would rather stand around and..."
"No Boss."
"Sorry."
"Where do we start?"
They all looked to him as if he had the answers. He was just as lost as they were, but he couldn't let them see that.
"DiNozzo, Abby's car is missing."
"I'll send out a BOLO."
"When you've done that, go talk to Cynthia and the Director to find out where the package came from. Collect whatever it came wrapped in and take is to the lab. Tell..." He almost said Abby, but stopped himself in time. "Tell whatever excuse of a lab-rat they've managed to find that I want a complete analysis on it."
"Right away." Under other circumstanced Tony might have argued that Gibbs should be the one to talk to the Director. Now, he didn't care as long as he was doing something. Quickly he called in the report on Abby's car, and with one more look at the picture on the plasma he left to go find the Director.
"McGee," Gibbs barked.
"Video analysis sir?" Mc Gee questioned even as he removed the DVD from the plasma screen.
"Yes. And don't call me sir."
i Yes, ma'am/i Abby's impish voice echoed in Gibbs' memory.
"Uh..." McGee opened his mouth to apologize, but just in time he remembered rule number eight. Pressing his lips together he inserted the DVD into his own computer.
"Ziva, you're with me." Without waiting for a response, Gibbs turned and walked to the elevator. Ziva slid in as the doors were closing.
"Can I ask where we are going?"
"You can ask," Gibbs replied tersely.
"I understand this is a difficult time, Gibbs, but you could at least tell me what we are doing."
"I don't want you understanding, and I'll tell you what I damn well want to tell you." Gibbs pressed the down button three times in rapid succession. He scowled at Ziva and she glared at him, but didn't say a word. There was no discussion when they reached the car either. Gibbs let himself into the driver's side and paused just long enough for Ziva to get into the car before peeling out of the parking lot. Muttering curses in three different languages, she slammed the door closed and fastened her seat belt.
"I thought you were just here," Ziva commented when Gibbs slammed to a halt in front of Abby's apartment building.
"I was." Gibbs climbed the steps to the front door, and for the second time that day let himself in.
"And we are here again because?"
"Because we are now looking at a possible crime scene."
II
"Tony, thank goodness." Ducky stopped in front of Tony's desk, panting slightly. He had grown frustrated waiting for the elevator and had climbed the stairs. "I was just in the lab looking for Abby. Today is Tuesday, and unless there is something pressing to accomplish we always have lunch together on Tuesdays. There was a horrid little man in the lab, and he told me the most preposterous story about Abby being kidnapped."
"It's not a story, Ducky." Tony slapped the side of his computer when it didn't give him the information he was looking for. It was better then looking at the doctor's face when realization sunk in.
"Oh dear lord," Ducky moaned.
"We received intel a little over an hour ago. Gibbs..."
"Is wondering why you're standing around doing nothing but moving your mouth." Gibbs walked into the room, followed by Ziva. Both were carrying cardboard boxes full of items from Abby's apartment. He thrust a box full of computer equipment at Tony and glared at him. "Take this to McGee. Any info he pulls off it, you follow up on. I don't care if it's the name of the hairdresser who does her hair. You follow any lead."
"Abby dyes her own hair Boss," Tony mistakenly remarked.
"DiNozzo," Gibbs warned.
"I'll take this to McGee." Ziva took it on herself to follow Tony out of the room.
"Is there... is there anything I can do to be of assistance, Jethro?" Ducky asked when they were alone.
"No offense, Ducky, but I sure as hell hope we don't need your kind of help. Not unless the person on your table is the bastard who is currently holding a gun to Abby's head."