Chapter Three: Sorry to Interrupt

Weird Al was blaring from the lab, a strange change from Twisted Sister and Alien Progeny and Android Lust. McGee gestured with his hand as the elevator doors open, showing Ariel the blue-painted walls and all of the scientific equipment. "It's Weird Al," Ariel said.

Abby had her back to them. "I'm glad someone recognizes this genius for what it is, because…" She turned and stopped speaking. "Oh. Hi."

"This is Ariel Rusby," McGee said. "We're talking to her mother now… I thought she could keep you company."

"Sure," Abby said. "I'm just running tests for the Langston case."

"Great." McGee's cell phone blared and he ripped it from his belt, moving towards the elevator as he spoke into it: "Yeah, boss, I'm on my way."

Abby and Ariel were left alone, Ariel looking up at the much-taller Goth. "I like Weird Al," she managed to say.

"I love Emily Strange," Abby confessed, smiling a little at Ariel's shirt.

"Me too!" Ariel began to look around.

"What'cha looking for?" Abby wanted to know.

"McGee… is that his name? He said you have Caf-Pows."

"That we do!" Abby said, and with a sweeping gesture encompassed the lab table where not one but two Caf-Pows were situated. "Gibbs must have known you were coming."

"I knew we were coming," Ariel said softly.

Abby turned from getting the Caf-Pows off the table. "Your father is Major Rusby, isn't he?"

"Was," Ariel corrected.

"Oh," Abby said, her face falling. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's all right," Ariel said, accepting one of the Caf-Pows from Abby. She took a cautious sip. "Lime! My favorite."

"Mine too," Abby said.

"How are you going to find who killed my father?" Ariel asked.

"Gibbs will figure out who it was," Abby said confidently. The song switched to "EBay." Ariel took another sip of Caf-Pow. "He doesn't let anyone get away with anything."

"Dad said he didn't want to go into the Witness Protection Program, he wasn't going to live his life in fear. We didn't even move out of Larkspur after he found out they were after him."

"Who are they, Ariel?"

Abby and Ariel both turned to see who had been speaking. It was a woman in her forties, with closely cropped red hair. "Sorry to interrupt. I'm Director Jen Shepherd. Pleased to meet you, Ariel."

She stepped forward and held out her hand for Ariel to shake. Ariel raised her own thickly bandaged hand and set it gently in the Director's.

"The Arcadian Seven," Ariel clarified, removing her hand from Jen's. "They were the ones who put the contract out on Dad in the first place, after he witnessed one of their guys kill his best friend."

"His best friend – can you tell me who that was?"

"Maxwell Russo. Captain Maxwell Russo," Ariel said. "It was three years ago that he saw Maxwell die. The hit's only a few months old. Seemed the guys in the Arcadian Seven just found out it was Dad who witnessed the murder… they'd been looking for him for awhile."

Jen processed this information as Ariel took another drink from her Caf-Pow. The Director then said, "Your father shared all this with you, Ariel?"

"He wanted to make sure I knew the truth. He didn't want me to get the information from anyone else. He said he would tell me the truth so I would know when other people were lying. He said they would make up stories about him to make him look bad."

Abby set down her Caf-Pow.

"Why did your father refuse to join the Witness Protection Program?" the director wanted to know. "That would have been the smartest decision."

Abby turned so she was looking at Jen. "Director Shepherd, I really don't think…"

"He wasn't afraid of the Arcadian Seven," Ariel shot back. "He was going to show them what he was made of… he was a good man, the best."

Tears began to roll down her face. Abby slid off her chair and went towards the bandaged girl, unsure whether or not to hug her. Then her best intentions came over her, and Abby wrapped her arms around the sobbing teenage girl.

"I'll leave you alone," Director Shepherd said, realizing that she had been too forward. She edged towards the door.

"That might be a good idea," Abby said, resting her chin on Ariel's head.

When she looked back again, the director had left. "Shh, it's all right," Abby said. "Would you like a Kleenex?"

Ariel looked up. She was no longer crying, but tears streaked her face. "Yes," she said solemnly.

Abby pulled one from the box and then looked back at the girl. "Do you want to do this?"

"You can," Ariel said definitively. "Don't rub. Pat."

Abby nodded and leaned in to pat the tears off Ariel's face. "Sorry about the Director," she said. "She only wants to help… but she's not much good with kids."

"It's all right," Ariel replied as Abby finished wiping away her tears. "I'm not much of a kid anyway."

"Nonsense," Abby said. "Everyone is a kid with the right tools."

She set the box of Kleenex on the table that was cluttered with tools, test tubes, books, files, folders, and an assortment of evidence bags from the Langston case. "Let's see what I've got."

Ariel watching, Abby began to move around the lab. From one file cabinet drawer, she removed a packet of brightly-colored ribbons. From another, a box of Blo-Pops. "Will these do?" she asked, turning back to Ariel.

Ariel shrugged. "You are the expert, apparently."

"Yes I am," Abby agreed. She began to cut long lengths from the rolls of ribbon, tying them carefully into Ariel's braids. "Here. Eat this." She handed Ariel a Blo-Pop, but then reconsidered. "Can you eat that?"

Ariel nodded, the ribbons bobbing in her hair. "Suckers are okay. For the rest…" She lifted her shirt and gestured with her chin to the plastic G-tube cover in her stomach. "Mom pumps stuff in, and somehow we keep living the good life. Occasional treats, like Blo-Pops and those…" – she nodded at the Caf-Pow – "are okay. Mom worries if I eat too many cookies, though."

"Everybody's mom worries if they eat too many cookies," Abby said.

Before either could say anything else, Gibbs strode into the laboratory. "Abby, stop working on the Langston case. The evidence from the Rusby case is coming up in twenty minutes and I want you to focus all your attention on it. Nobody rests until we find out who did this."

He looked over at Ariel, who had the stick of the watermelon Blo-Pop sticking out of her mouth. "We're going to find out who took your dad from you."

The look in her eyes seemed to say she understood.

I like reviews almost as much as I like cookies. Which is quite a bit.