Her Past in Shadows
By: Raven612
Chapter 3: Knives and Pens
A/N: Third chapter already! Hope this chapter goes over well, getting the storyline established now and the story promises to become much more exciting from here on out! Though, as I go, I find songs hard to find that go with chapters so I may or may not have some chapters not in songfic form, most likely some chapters will not be in songfic form, we shall see, but go on and read now!
….
Alone at last, we can sit and fight.
And I've lost all faith in this blurring light,
But stay right here we can change our plight.
We're storming through this despite what's right.
….
The words pounded out of Abby's speakers as Gibbs walked in holding a folder; he dropped it on her table and covered his ears. "ABBY!" he yelled trying to get her attention as she bopped on her computer chair going over some data. "ABBY!" he screamed again and went to stand next to her. She jumped when she noticed him and quickly turned down her music.
"Something new?" he asked noticing that the music pumping through her computer was different from what she usually listened to.
Abby's face lit up, "Actually, yeah Gibbs, it's a new band my friend Savannah is having me check out, they're alright if you're into punk and alternative stuff, not really my genre's. Did you bring me something?"
Gibbs grinned and put her Caf-Pow! next to her arm, Abby took it with both hands and slurped noisily as she watched him turn and pick up the folder he had when he entered her lab, "And I've got this for you, photos from a surveillance cam of our suspect, they're blurry, I need them cleaned and an ID on him, you have an hour."
Abby nearly spit her precious Caf-Pow! out when he gave her that time limit, "What? Are you crazy? These photos are so fuzzy it'll take at least a half hour to get them cleared up and then who knows how long they'll run through the program before we get a match, Giiiibbbs an hour is too short."
Gibbs cocked his brow at her, "You can have McGee help you, but I want it done in an hour, we're bringing him in today Abbs, we're not going to have another Marine wife killed by this man."
Abby furrowed her brows at him and sucked on her drink, "Fine, send in Timmy," she frowned and scanned the photos into her computer.
Gibbs smirked, happy that he won, went up to her and gave her a kiss on her temple, "That's my girl."
Abby couldn't help the smile the spread across her face and was almost sad when she heard her lab doors closing. She double checked to make sure he was absolutely gone before she cranked her music back up.
….
One final fight, for this tonight.
Woah...
With knives and pens we made our plight.
Lay your heart down the ends in sight.
Conscience begs for you to do what's right.
Everyday it's still the same dull knife,
Stab it through and justify your pride.
…
McGee was greeted with the same loud music that Gibbs was greeted with mere moments ago. He plugged his ears as he walked into the pounding beats. Abby had her back to him and was tapping her foot as she cleared up the best photos with their suspect's face.
"ABBY!" McGee shouted as he came up close behind her.
Abby jumped and spun towards him, she gripped her Caf-Pow!, almost ready to fling it in his face; she had forgotten he was coming to help her. She clicked her mouse and lowered the volume to her music once again.
McGee took a step back, "Whoa, Gibbs sent me down, you okay?"
Abby smiled and set her drink down, "I'm fine, you just scared me, I'm almost done getting some shots cleared up to run through the program; how is the rest of the case going?"
"Uhm well, it's going, we've hit a lot of road blocks, if this doesn't work then Gibbs might be forced to have some agents go undercover, this guy is really crafty."
Abby set her jaw and looked very serious, "Don't worry Timmy, we'll ID him in just a few minutes and then you guys can go and catch him!"
McGee grinned, though he loved her positive attitude, McGee wasn't sure if they'd ID the man whom they suspected was killing off Marine and Naval wives, he has already escaped Gibbs and his team for the past two weeks, proving to always be at least one step ahead of them all the way, "I hope we ID him today, so far all the other photos have been useless and he hasn't left one single print."
Abby sipped her drink, then looked up after clearing up a pretty clear shot of the suspects face and began running it through their facial recognition program, "I think we have a good one here, I feel very good about this one Timmy," she smiled and tapped a few buttons bringing the volume of her music up a few levels.
…
One final fight, for this tonight.
Woah...
With knives and pens we made our plight.
Woah...
And I can't go on without your love, you lost, you never held on.
We tried out best... Turn out the light,
Turn out the light.
…
McGee was flipping through a magazine Abby had laying on her table while Abby herself worked on some side projects, trying to get caught up with the melee of work that had poured in over the past few weeks. She hardly noticed McGee was still with her until Tony walked in.
"Find anything?" he asked as he stepped up to McGee.
Abby grinned, happy to see her best friend, "Tony, I haven't seen you in hours," she lunged at him and hugged him tightly.
"Well, nice to see you too Abbs, but I'd like to breath now," he coughed and eased out of her grip.
Abby stepped back, still smiling, "Did you come to see if we have a match?"
"I did, so…whatchya got for me Abbs?" he asked using his best Gibbs impression, but then his face grew serious and the back of his head began to tingle, he hunched his shoulders, waiting for the slap that was coming to him.
"He's not here, Tony," Abby reported in an equally surprised tone, "weird," she muttered.
"Very weird," McGee agreed rising from his chair and going to look cautiously around the corner into the hall to see if their boss was coming.
Tony shivered, "So, got a match yet?"
Abby was still stunned that Gibbs hadn't shown up when Tony made his earlier comment, she was about to tell him no when her computer beeped signaling a match, but she didn't go to it right away, she turned to see if Gibbs was coming, McGee looked to her and shrugged his shoulders, "Very weird…" she commented before going to her computer.
"He should be here, why isn't he here?" Tony was anxious; sure that Gibbs would stride in momentarily.
"Maybe he went to get a coffee?" McGee suggested from his post by the entrance.
"No, Gibbs always knows when to show up so he should be here right now," Abby said, her match forgotten for the moment.
"His gut never lies, never leads him astray…what is wrong?" Tony scratched his head and looked almost like a lost child.
Abby took out her phone and hit her number two speed dial, she pressed her phone to her ear and tapped her foot impatiently waiting for Gibbs to answer.
"Get something Abbs?"
"Gibbs! You're okay!"
"Yeah, what do you have?"
"Where are you?"
"The bullpen,why, is everything okay?"
"I don't know, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, did you find something or not?"
"I did and that's why I'm worried. You're always here when I get a match but you're not down here right now and so I got worried. Your gut always brings you here just a second before I get my matches, but you weren't here when I got an ID on our suspect…" Abby continued with her rant but Gibbs cut her off.
"I'm on my way."
Abby stared at her silent phone in shock, "What is wrong with his gut?"
Tony and McGee looked a little worried, "Maybe it was distracted? I saw a red head come in before I came to check on you two lab rats."
McGee nodded, "Oh yeah, Kristy, she's the new mail woman…for some reason she decided on a route that goes through the bullpen, you think she knows Gibbs likes red heads?"
"She might," Gibbs answered as he came up behind McGee and slapped him on the back of his head.
McGee jumped more so from surprise than from pain.
Abby narrowed her eyes at Gibbs, "Gibbs, you're not going after another one, are you?" Abby tried to hide her jealousy with a fake smile, but she could feel the corners of her mouth start to fall into a frown.
Gibbs narrowed his eyes at her in return as he came up next to her, "We here to talk about my private life?"
Abby continued to stare at him, jealousy and annoyance evident in her expression.
"No boss, Abby and McGee got a match to our suspect," Tony stepped in as he sensed the discomfort emanating off of Abby, he looked around the duo to the screen with the name of their suspect flashing on it, "James Connoway."
"What?" Gibbs snapped breaking off the staring contest with Abby.
Tony pointed to the screen, "Our suspect, his name is James Connoway."
Gibbs turned to the screen to see for himself, "Let's go get him."
McGee had already gone to the bullpen after learning the suspects name so that he could pull up the guy's file and be ready to read it off when Tony and Gibbs came back. Abby was still annoyed and so kept standing still, waiting for Gibbs to say something.
"Good job Abbs," Gibbs said and bent to kiss her temple, but Abby pulled away. Gibbs let out a sigh and left the lab, Tony on his heels; Tony did throw an apologetic look over his shoulder as he left the lab.
"New mail woman, eh?" Abby turned to her computer and pulled up the data NCIS had on Kristy.
…
One final fight, for this tonight.
Woah...
With knives and pens we made our plight.
Woah...
And I can't go on without your love, you lost, you never held on.
We tried out best... Turn out the light,
Turn out the light.
…
The last chorus of the song pumped out of Abby's speakers, but she didn't notice when the song began once more. She had gone through previous evidence from the case, her jealousy at the other woman forgotten for the moment, to help link the man to the murders. Other than the fact that they had surveillance footage showing him just outside the base every time the murders were committed wasn't enough to hold him for long. Abby was just beginning to get frustrated when her phone rang; she looked at the ID and noticed it was Tony.
"Hey Tony, what's up?"
"Hey Abbs, just calling to see if you wanted to join us for a drink tonight?"
"Does that mean you got the right guy?"
Tony chuckled before he answered, "Yeah, even though he was a crafty sucker, he wasn't very brave, the minute we slapped the cuffs on him he was confessing."
Abby frowned as she closed up the folders she had open, "That seems a little too easy."
"We've got a written statement from him already, Ziva and McGeek are taking care of the rest, so you in for the drink?"
Abby smiled and arched her back, working the kinks from it as she switched off her computer, "Sure Tony, meet you in a minute."
Tony grinned as he flipped his phone shut.
Abby was happy that the day was over and that she was going to be joining some friends for a well deserved drink. Though it was a Tuesday night, she knew they wouldn't stay out long. She put her rain coat over her arm and hooked her umbrella to her elbow and exited her lab, deciding to go and see how the agents were doing with closing up the case for the day. Abby met Ducky at the elevator.
"Ducky, are you going to join us for a drink?"
Ducky grinned and stepped into the elevator with her, "I'm afraid not Abigail, I don't much care for bars and what they hold inside of them, too smoky, I prefer the comforts of one's own home."
Abby frowned, "Come on Ducky, you have to come out with us at least once," she pleaded.
Ducky chuckled at her, "I shall join you when the next occasion arises, but tonight I am afraid my services are needed elsewhere. The county coroner called and it seems he's called in an old favor."
Abby smiled and hugged him as the elevator dinged on the parking garage level, then she smacked her head as soon as the doors closed, she had completely forgotten that her hearse broke down just a few blocks away. When the doors opened to the bullpen she ran out and up to Gibbs' desk.
"Gibbs, I have an emergency," she chewed her lower lip as she waited for him to address her.
Gibbs slapped his file onto his desk and looked up at her, "What's wrong Abbs?" he rose from his chair.
"It's my car Gibbs; it broke down this morning a few blocks away from work. Can you help me fix it?" she looked pleadingly at him.
Gibbs sighed and grabbed his coat, "I'll take a look. Did you walk here?"
Abby smiled, "Yes, and it was fun to be out in the rain this morning."
Gibbs looked skeptical for a moment, but soon a small smile was pulling at his lips. Abby smiled in response and linked her arm in his and pulled him towards the elevator door, "Meet you at the usual spot," she called over her shoulder to Ziva, McGee, and Tony.
They all smiled and nodded, jealous that they had to finish up paperwork before they could leave.
…..
"Mind telling me about your attitude earlier?" Gibbs asked as they set out towards Abby's Hearse. He had offered to drive them, but Abby insisted on walking, though it was no longer raining.
Abby chewed her lower lip, she had hoped he wouldn't bring that up, "What are you talking about?" she tried to play dumb.
"Don't play dumb."
Abby sighed; she wasn't sure how she was going to answer the question without giving away her true feelings, "Sorry, I guess I was just worried that you didn't show up to the lab like you usually do when I get something."
Gibbs didn't really buy her answer, "Is that all?" he was hoping she would say she was jealous of the possibility that he might like another woman, though it wasn't true, but if she admitted it to him then he would know a little about how she felt towards him.
"Well I guess so, I mean your gut always leads you to my lab or Ducky in autopsy whenever we find anything and when you didn't show up today I got worried, but then you ended up being fine…what were you doing, Gibbs?"
Gibbs gave her a stare, "I was going over the phone records of the dead wives, trying to find something that would link them all to one another, but I found nothing."
"Oh," Abby felt slightly sheepish, but perked up when she saw her car still on the side of the road, "there she is Gibbs, please say you can fix her."
Gibbs rolled up his sleeves and opened her hood, nothing looked out of the ordinary, "Try to start it," he called to her.
Abby saluted him and slid into the driver's seat. The engine puttered a few times before it actually turned over and her car started. Gibbs slammed the hood down and went to her window. "Gibbs you're a miracle worker."
"I didn't do anything, I think your engine was overheated, it just needed to cool down."
Abby jumped out of her seat and hugged him tightly, if she hadn't been distracted by the rain earlier she may have figured out that her engine was overheated. "Need a lift Gibbs?" she asked and raised a brow in a seeming condescending manner.
Gibbs smirked, "Sure," happy that Abby seemed to be back to normal; Gibbs slid into the passenger's seat and allowed Abby to drive him back to NCIS for his car.
"Will you come out tonight?" Abby called as Gibbs started towards his car.
"Maybe," he called back over his shoulder.
Abby frowned, "Please?" she signed.
"We'll see," Gibbs signed back and got into his car.
Abby smiled and waved as she drove away.
Both were unaware of the man a few rows away, watching them. The stranger got into his own car and followed Abby to her apartment. He parked in the vacant lot across the street and waited for her to exit her building again.
"I finally found you," he whispered to himself and glanced to the pistol lying on the seat next to him, a slow sadistic smile spread across his face.
A/N: So what did you think? I set it up a little for the chapters that will be coming, but I'm forcing myself to take it slow with this story because I tend to jump right into the conflict then jump right back out, but I'm going to make this one proper, lol. Anyways, please review and let me know how you liked this chapter, myself, I'm not too sure how I feel about it, I mean I like it, but it feels odd to me, like maybe there's some OOCness, I don't know though so you tell me, please!
