Abby was mad with herself. She had cracked cases in almost no time, saved the lives of countless strangers and yet she was finding it impossible to even get close to Timmy. She felt she couldn't distinguish between the real evidence and the evidence that had been planted, and the few things that seemed genuine were confusing or contradictory. This guy, whoever he was, had been extremely thorough. It was as if he knew how she worked and had carefully acted to leave her clueless. And she hated it.

Tony had found a lot of inconsistencies with the other kidnapping cases, so the copycat angle was going stronger. Gibbs suspected the kidnapper knew NCIS would investigate and was trying to make them look in the wrong way. And it was probably true. Abby turned off her music. As dark and oppressive as it could be, it seemed too cheerful for the moment. She went over the little evidence she had again, hoping to find something she missed, but subconsciously knowing it would only lead to more frustration.

She just couldn't forget the last time she was with Tim. He seemed really sad and she noticed but she didn't, not even once, asked if he was okay. Why hadn't she asked? She usually knew everything that was going on with her colleagues; she was always there to comfort and hug whenever necessary but not that day. She had just talked and talked about herself and how happy she was. Not caring about anything else.

Abby desperately needed to make it up for him, to tell him she cared, to tell him needed him and missed him, to tell him that he was always on her mind, that he was an amazing person. And now she was even angrier with herself. Why hadn't she said all those things when she had the choice? Why all the jokes, the teasing ? The evidence came clean, again. Nothing new on her computer. Abby sighed, trying to suppress the tears.

"I really miss him, Bert" she told her hippo. "I don't know what I'll do if something has happenned to Timmy."


Kevin smiled cheerfully at the waitress of the bar. He was meeting his sister there, to catch up and talk. Usually, he refused invitations from his sister but his new project had him in an awfully cheerful mood. Whenever he felt powerless or angry or frustrated, he only had to go to the soundproof room and play a little with his new toy. Special Agent McGee, that respectable man, reduced to a barely conscious mount of blood and tears. He decided to take that down for a song and continued to be delightful while she was with his sister, Lisa. She was really glad to see how everything was working for him. She had no idea how much.

"Bye, Kev" Lisa said, smiling. "I'm glad things are better for you."

Everything was more than better now that he could take out his anger and frustration in that stupid excuse for a person he'd locked down, and was right down tied down on a corner of the dark soundproof room. Kevin couldn't understand what Abby could've seen in him. It had been pity most likely, his girl had always been a charitable one. He thought about his "project" (as he called it) with a mischievous smile on his lips, about how everything was going according to plan. He'd heard about the investigation of the disappearance, and they were getting nowhere, absolutely nowhere. They would never get to him, never even suspect him . And it was so invigorating to outsmart the good guys!While he remained the innocent outsider, the nice oblivious boyfriend.

Ah! He loved his life. There was only one more thing to make that day perfect. He pulled the phone from the pocket of his pants and dialed the number.

"Hello, love! How do you feel about a night of groovy live music tonight? Does it sound good?"

"No, I- I can't I've got work on the lab and, I can't I'm sorry." Said Abby on the other end of the line, sounding distressed.

"And if I go pick you up from work and we go watch a movie at your place? Nice, quiet and intimate? I'm dying to see you!" Kevin added with his most suggestive tone of voice.

"I really can't. This case..."

"Please?" He pleaded, not wanting to ruin his perfect day.

"I said I don't want to see you, Kevin!" And she hung up, abruptly.

Kevin hadn't liked that. At all. How could she?

Someone was going to pay.


Abby felt better now. She'd been really close to losing it a couple of hours ago, when her boyfriend had called. He had nothing against him, he'd been real nice the whole time they'd been together, but he was also the last person he wanted to talk to in that moment. The only thought of going out partying with him, who was almost a stranger when all that crap was going on was almost sickening. No, it wasn't tolerable. He had no place. But after crying a bit of Gibbs shoulder and Tony telling her that they had two new suspects on McGee's case (a neighbor and a crazy fan of his book) she had calmed down a bit. Things seemed clearer now, everything was going to be OK. They would solve this case like they'd solved all the previous ones and she was totally overreacting.

She felt bad about yelling at Kevin who had nothing to do with that entire situation. That was her, always feeling things. She dialed the number and heard the tones going by. He probably didn't want to speak to her. But when she was about to give up the rings stopped and there was sound on the other end of the line. The first thing she heard was the phone dropping to floor and then the sounds of someone in the background, some sort of struggle.

"Hello?" she asked, uncertain "Kevin? Are you there?"

There were more strange sounds until Abby heard something she understood.

"Abby! Abby, help!"

"Timmy?"

The line went dead.

A/N: Penny for your thoughts, dear reader? Hope you enjoyed ^^

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