OF SISTERS AND GIRLFRIENDS
"Dammit, I'm 21 years old, not 10, Ant! I'm not stupid!" Katriona cried.
"I know how old you are, 'Rio, and I know you're not stupid. I also know college guys and how they think."
Abby sighed as she puttered around the kitchen. She and Tony have officially been "together" for about 6 months, but she was still uncomfortable putting herself in his family business without being invited.
Katriona DiNozzo, Tony's little sister - 'Rio, as Tony calls her – had come to live with Tony 2 years ago. She was attending Georgetown University – on scholarship – where she was now a junior. A junior wanting to go to her first real frat party.
Having researched Georgetown ad nauseum with Tony and Katriona, Abby knew they didn't have traditional "fraternities" with on campus housing, and pledging and such, they were more like clubs, centered around activities or charitable organizations. Tonight's party was being hosted by 'Rio's International Studies group.
Listening to brother and sister argue, Abby admitted to herself that she wasn't sure who she'd side with. On the one hand, Katriona had a point. It's not like this was your typical, drunken "free-for-all." It was a send-off party for students in the group who were leaving to study in foreign countries. They were friends and classmates, the few of whom Tony and Abby had met were good kids, serious students into their studies. On the other hand... in their jobs Abby and Tony had seen a lot of bad things happen to good smart kids...
"Look, I'm not forbidding you to go! I'm just saying... (sigh) be careful. That's all. Be aware of what's going on around you. Stay alert."
"I will! I always do! I'm not staying that late anyway, I want to get some work done on my paper." Rio hugged her brother and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Tone," she mumbled into his shoulder.
Tony hugged her back. "I just worry."
Rio sighed and rolled her eyes. "I know. But you and the team have taught me well. I'll be careful. Trust me...please?"
Giving his sister a kiss on the top of the head, Tony walked into the kitchen, immediately taking Abby in his arms. "Who knew having a little sister could be so exhausting," Tony sighed into her ear. He noticed that while she hugged him back, she wasn't saying anything. "Abbs? You ok?"
Shrugging, Abby sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just..." she struggled to explain.
Releasing her, Tony put a hand on either side of her face. "You're allowed to let me know if I'm blowing it big time with 'Rio, you know. We've talked about this before. You're in my life just like Katriona is, you have a right to speak up. I want yu to speak up, let me know when I'm being an over-protective ass." He leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the lips.
Abby smiled into the kiss and reached up to give him a Gibbs-slap on the back of the head. She giggled when he pretended offense. "You're being an over-protective ass," she teased, "but I love you anyway." Abby put her hands on Tony's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "But I can totally understand your concerns. We see some pretty gruesome stuff in our line of work, sailors and marines on liberty, out for a night of fun with friends, and the worst happens..." Seeing panic flare in Tony's eyes she hurried on, "but like 'Rio said, she's smart, she's careful. More careful than most young people thanks to her NCIS family. She'll be ok. And she knows she can come to you if anything happens.
Tony smiled down at Abby, loving how she could put his mind at ease so naturally. "You're right," he said, pulling her close. "I love having such a logical girlfriend," he joked.
"You would so crash and burn without me," she teased with a smile and a kiss.
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The argument bothered Tony all day, to the point of distracting him from his work. Which meant his partners' work was interrupted.
"I don't know, what do you think, Bish?" he asked Ellie Bishop, who was seated on top of her desk. "You've got older brothers. Was I out of line about the party?"
Ellie gave a thoughtful pout. "Not necessarily. I mean, it's natural for you, as the much... older..." she said gently, "brother to be concerned about a much...younger..." she emphasized, "sibling. Like you, my brothers made sure I could fight my way out of anything." Just as Tony was beginning to feel somewhat mollified, Ellie continued, "then again, it's not like we're talking about some party state university. I mean, it's Georgetown, one of the most prestigious universities in the country, known for its' academics, not its' parties."
Always one to enjoy tormenting Tony, McGee piped up, "I don't know Bishop, I remember some pretty wild parties while I was at MIT."
"All-night raids in an RPG are not parties, McElflord!" Tony snarked with a grin. Gibbs happened to choose that moment to breeze in.
"I worry more about Abby dating you DiNozzo, than about your sister at a college party," he said frankly, pulling his gun and badge from his desk. "Gear up. Dead sailor in Rock Creek Park." He strode for the elevator, stopping in front of Tony, taking in the worry in his SFA's features. "She's a good kid, Tony. Smart," he said quietly, confidently. "She'll be fine."
Tony gave his boss a small smile, trusting his boss's intuition. "I know... thanks, Boss."
Gibbs smiled back and gave Tony a light slap to the back of his head. "That's for breaking Rule 12 with Abby," he growled, continuing to the elevator.
Rubbing the back of his head, Tony followed at a run, jumping in just before the doors closed. "Still?" he whined. "I thought we were past all this."
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Katriona fanned her face with her hand as she wobbled her way toward the bathroom. She didn't know why she'd suddenly started feeling so warm. Outside the occupied bathroom, she sagged against the wall, doing her best to remain upright as a wave of dizziness washed over her. What the hell was wrong with her? She hadn't had that much alcohol. Truth be told, she didn't really like the taste of most liquors, and could usually make a bottle of beer last several hours. So she was pretty certain she wasn't drunk. All she'd had for alcohol tonight was a glass of champagne in a toast to the seniors in her International Studies group that were going to be starting their year abroad next week. She'd stuck with diet soda or bottled water since then.
The bathroom door finally opened, and Rio staggered her way in. As she used the facilities, a hand on each side of the walls next to the toilet to keep from falling over, she worked her jaw open and closed. Her ears must be blocked because the music was muffled and tinny. But her ears didn't pop.
Finished, she almost fell across the few steps to the vanity. Katriona grabbed on to it as the world began to zoom in and out like a bad music video effect. Her reflection in the mirror was blurry, so with a shaky hand she rubbed her eyes to clear them, but she was still blurry in the mirror.
With a sob, she hurriedly washed her hands and splashed water on her warm face. How could this have happened? Her racing mind became more addled by the minute, and she tried to pinpoint exactly when she'd been drugged. She'd done everything right, she thought. Didn't accept a drink from anyone, never left her drink unattended, made sure her sodas and water had all been unopened and sealed bottles. But yet somewhere, someone had managed to slip her something. Oh my God, her brother will never let her live this one down. She won't be able to leave the house ever again.
Digging in her purse for her phone, Katriona stumbled out of the bathroom. She wasn't sure if it was tears or the drug that made everything fuzzy. People talked to her as she passed, but everything sounded like it was wrapped in cotton, all muffled and garbled. And her fingers were shaking, she couldn't pull out her phone. She started to panic. There wasn't enough air in here! Drunkenly weaving her way to the front door, she hoped the fresh air would help her. Her fingers finally found the phone, making her cry harder in relief. Help was so close!
It took her shaking fingers several tries to unlock the homescreen. She missed the step walking out the door and fell to her knees. "Noooo," she wailed as the phone flew out of her hand into the grass.
Crawling after it on her hands and knees, Rio could feel the dizziness and exhaustion rush over her in waves. "Please, please, please, please," she whispered, praying to stay awake long enough to make the call. Relieved, her trembling fingers found the phone. She stayed awake long enough to hit one contact.
She sagged to the ground unconscious, unaware that someone had answered and that she barely managed to squeak out a whimpered "help me," before it all went black.
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Abby held her cell phone tightly as she paced her lab, all jittery and biting her lip. She wasn't sure what to do. Well, she knew what to do – save Rio, duh! - but not sure who to tell. Gibbs would storm the campus like it was the beach agt Normandy in WWII. The poor students wouldn't know what hit them. McGee would plot scenarios and outcomes, then spilling the beans before Tony even asked. Tony. Yeah, it is his sister, he'd be the logical one to tell. It would be the right thing to do. BUT... if she told Tony, Gibbs' actions would seem tame. In other words, there'd be nothing left of the university after Anthony DiNozzo came to rescue his little sister. Abby stopped pacing and sighed. Tony might break up with her for this, but... she picked up her lab phone and dialed.
It was fairly quiet that night in the bullpen. Everyone had a report to write on the case. They all looked up when Ellie Bishop's desk phone rang. "Bishop... oh hey Abby. I thought we had everyth..." She stopped talking and looked around guiltily, noticing the rest of the team had gone back work. "Um, yeah, sure. I'll... be right down to … help you with that." She hung up and sat in her seat for a moment, unsure how to handle this. She was still just a probationary agent, after all. She could probably get in big trouble for this... well, Gibbs always tells her to trust her gut, so...
Ellie pressed a button and printed out her report and walked over to Gibbs' desk with it. "Here's my report. If I need to fix anything, I'll do it tomorrow."
Gibbs didn't even look up. "Ok, tell Abby I said for her to go home, too."
Ellie pursed her lips and nodded. "I will... do that. Night, Gibbs." She walked to her desk and gathered her things to leave, double-checking that she had her gun and badge.
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Katriona feebly struggled under the heavy, obviously male body lying over her, unable to do more than cry with a sweaty hand covering her mouth. She was barely holding on to consciousness, and her limbs felt like they were made of lead.
Through her struggles with her attacker, neither noticed that the music and laughter from the party had stopped. All Rio could feel were fingers running over her zipper. "No, no... stop..." But her voice was muffled by the hand over her mouth. Her struggles increased a little as she felt her shirt pushed up and zipper pulled down. Between the drug and the panic, she was having trouble getting air. She knew if she passed out, they could do anything to her.
There was a loud CRASH across the room and the hand over her mouth disappeared. Rio gasped for air and tried to scream, but it came out sounding like a mewling kitten.
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In the hallway outside the bedroom moments before:
Letting go of the ear she'd dragged the poor, young man around by, Abby gave Ellie a determined nod.
With a grim nod, Ellie raised her gun and kicked in the door. She was angry but still surprised when it sprang open under her foot. "Wow!" She looked at it in awe as she walked in. "It really works! You know, Tony's been giving me pointers, foot placement, pressure, that kind of thing, but I've never had the strength to actually do it before." After a glare from Abby, she pulled her gun back up. "Oh, right! FEDERAL AGENTS! Nobody move!" She smiled proudly at Abby, this being the first time she's ever gotten to say that.
Outside the House:
The team was waiting by the Charger as Abby and Ellie walked out with two handcuffed, shirtless young men. Gibbs had to chuckle when he heard the guy Abby was leading by the ear, whining. "That's my girl."
"OW!OW!OW! Lady, you're breaking my ear!"
An angry Abby replied, "I could be breaking another body part, so consider yourself lucky!" The women handed their charges over to the waiting police as Rio ran past to her brother. Tony glared at Abby, then wrapped his little sister in a warm, protective hug.
With a sad sigh, Abby walked to Gibbs for a hug and kiss on the top of the head. Then she turned with a scowl toward McGee. "Timothy Farragut McGee! You pinged my cell!"
Tim grimaced. "No, no I did not ping your phone. I … pinged … Ellie's," he pouted.
As Tony led his sister to be checked out, Abby turned again into Gibbs' chest sadly. "He hates me, doesn't he?"
Gibbs hugged her, kissing her temple. "Nah, He loves you. He's just focused on Katriona right now, as he should be."
"I don't think so, Gibbs. I screwed up, big time."
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Later that night in her lab, Abby finished shutting down the equipment and walked into her office to grab her coat, when the elevator dinged and Tony strode into the lab. She hurried out to see him. "Tony, I'm so..."
"Abby, I..." they spoke at the same time.
"Go ahead," she said softly to Tony.
A muscle in his jaw began to twitch as he tried to come up with the words. "I'm so … angry with you, Abby! You had no right to keep this from me, not when it involves my sister!" Tony began to pace. "It was dangerous! Anything could have happened! You could have been hurt, Ellie could have been hurt! What if you hadn't gotten there in time? Rio could have been hurt even worse..."
"Nothing was going to happen," Abby began, "I had a trained, armed federal agent with me."
"Trained agent? You know Ellie's only a probationary agent! Her hand-to-hand skills aren't that great. What if those guys had fought back?" He stopped in front of her, grabbing her upper arms as if to shake her, then dragged her into a crushing hug. "Thank God you're all ok, that you're ok..." He pulled away and put his hands on either side of her face. "I was so scared, Abbs."
"For Rio, I know, so were we..."
"For you, Abbs. God, if something had happened to you..." Tony kissed her softly. "I love you. Never scare me like that again, Abby. Promise me," he murmured softly.
She kissed him back tenderly. "I love you too, Tony. No more special agent stuff, I promise." She put her forehead against his.
Rubbing her back, he added, "and never keep anything like this from me again. Not when my sister's involved."
Abby snuggled into Tony's arms. "I promise."
After a moment, Tony sighed. "Let's go home." They walked arm in arm out to the elevator. "I think you and Ellie are Rio's new heroes," Tony joked.
"You should have seen her, Tony!" Abby said excitedly. "Kicking in the door, yelling 'FREEZE' and 'nobody move!' It was like a movie!" She continued chattering about it and Tony rolled his eyes as the elevator door closed.