Disclaimer: The characters from NCIS don't belong to me. I'm making no money off of them so please don't sue me.
Outside Abby's Apartment Moments Later
"Gibbs!" Abby shouted as she ran down the stairs. She finally caught up to him in the parking lot.
"Abbs? Did you forget something?" While she had managed to put on a pair of stuffed hippo slippers before leaving her apartment, she hadn't put on any additional clothing.
"What?" Abby asked, confused
"Never mind" Gibbs sighed, "You should go home."
"You came to see me."
"It's fine. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Gibbs tuned away and began walking towards his car. "When you're not so busy."
"It's nothing." Abby said, echoing the words he spoke to Hollis less than an hour before. He felt a sharp pain when he realized how untrue those words were.
"I'll see you tomorrow Abbs." He looked down and got in his car.
"I'm not busy." Abby yelled, "It's a slumber party..." She tried to explain
"Just go back inside." Gibbs said again
"Gibbs" Abby said with a choked sob. Gibbs closed the door and started the car, ignoring her for the first time in his life. He left her alone in the parking lot, with tears falling down her face.
When he arrived home, Hollis was sitting on his front steps waiting for him.
"I'm sorry" She said, "I shouldn't have been so... I know there's nothing between you and Abby... i just"
"I'm going to work on the boat for a bit." He walked passed her and into his house. She followed him to the basement.
"Where did you go?" Hollis asked, attempting to sound casual.
"Drove around." Gibbs answered without looking at her. He poured himself a drink and began sanding the side of the boat.
"We OK?" She asked him quietly.
"Yeah." Gibbs said, still sanding the side of his boat.
Abby's lab The following Day
"Look. Look." Ziva said, holding an old fashioned magnifying glass up too her face.
"You're right." Abby finally said, "Your pores look smaller."
"Ah ha." Ziva said triumphantly, "I knew it. You should do the mask next time."
"You mean instead of crying in the bathroom the whole time?" Abby half smiled
"Yes." Ziva nodded. After a long pause Ziva patted Abby awkwardly on the should, "If you need to talk..."
"Thanks Ziva." Abby engulfed Ziva in a large hug that was interrupted by a loud throat clear.
"Hollis" Ziva said, stepping back.
"Ziva, Abby." Hollis nodded, holding out a large Caf-Pow to Abby. "Jethro thought this might speed up the results."
"Unfortunately, my mass spectrometer doesn't respond to caffeine." Abby grabbed the drink, "I'll page you with the results."
The Bullpen
"Anyone know what's wrong with Abby?" Jenny Shepard walked into the bullpen. She was met by Tony and McGee staring at her with their eyebrows raised, "Besides that."
"I'll go talk to her." Tony said, getting up and heading towards the elevators. He was surprised by a smack on the back of his head,
"I think you've done enough of that, DiNozzo." Gibbs said, "Grab your gear, we've got a Marine who was seriously wounded at Columbus Square park in Georgetown." The elevator doors opened and Gibbs saw Hollis and Ziva walking out together. Hollis looked uncomfortable and Ziva seemed angry. Gibbs felt uneasy as he watched them. "Ziva, get the truck, show Hollis where everything is and take McGee. Tony, you're with me." Tony swallowed uncomfortably and followed Gibbs out.
Columbus square park
Tony stood on the side of the car shaking violently. The ride over had been totally silent. They hadn't even discussed the case. Gibbs drove fast, even for Gibbs and Tony had actually feared for his life more than once on the journey.
"You NCIS?" Said a uniformed police officer,
"Yeah." Gibbs answered
"The ambulance left about five minutes ago. Marine looked to be in pretty bad shape. Paramedics said their were at least five stab wounds, probably more. Unconscious but breathing."
"He wearing a uniform?" Tony asked
"No." the cop answered, "I was in the Corps for ten years. I recognize a Marine when I see one. Dog tags confirmed what I already knew. I called you guys. His name's Sergent Malcolm Rice."
"Thanks officer..."
"Grey"
"Officer Grey." Gibbs shook the mans hand, "My teams on the way. Where's the crime scene?" At that moment the NCIS truck squealed into the parking lot with Ziva behind the wheel.
McGee got out of the truck quickly and grabbed his gear from the front seat. Hollis excited the back of the vehicle and ran into the bushes to vomit.
"What the hell did you do to special agent Mann?" Gibbs demanded
"Boss, she volunteered to sit in the back." McGee said
"I drove my usual way." Ziva said, "She must have a weak stomach."
"Get to work!" Gibbs barked, "Officer Grey, could you please show my team the crime scene.
"Yes sir!" Officer Grey led the team to the crime scene.
"You doing alright?" asked Gibbs, walking over to Hollis.
"So is this like the NCIS form of hazing?" She asked
"Ziva's driving?" Gibbs handed her a bottle of water, "She actually gotten a lot better."
"I've seen groundhogs drive better."
"Yeah" Gibbs laughed, "You should have seen her before. Let's meet up with the rest of the team." The walked towards the semi wooded area at the back of the park.
"Boss!" Tony called, waving wildly at Gibbs and Hollis, "Got a hinky crime scene."
"Hinky?" Hollis asked
"Marine Lt stabbed repeatedly but there is a suspicious lack of blood in the area." said McGee
"This is not our primary crime scene." Said Ziva
"I've got blood drops." Tony said looking at the ground, careful not to disturb the surrounding area.
"Ziva, DiNozzo." Gibbs called, "Photograph and mark the blood trail, McGee sketch, Hollis, interview the kids who found him." Gibbs took off by himself carefully following the blood trail, while his team followed in his wake.
He eventually found his way back to the Sargent's Car. The door was still open
and they found a large puddle of blood on the seat.
"How does a combat Marine get stabbed in the front seat of his own car in the middle of the day?"
"I've got another question for you, why is there a base for an infant car seat in the back seat. Let's find out if he has a kid and if so who has the baby?"
"He wasn't necessarily here with the baby." Hollis said
"You haven't spent a lot of time around babies, have you?" Gibbs asked
"What makes you say that?" Hollis asked
"Ugh fresh baby vomit." said Ziva holding her nose, while looking into the passengers side window. "Tony and McGee are still working on the blood trail. I thought I might be some help to you."
"Still wet." Gibbs said as Ziva photographed the spit up. His phone rang, "What do you have for me Abbs." Gibbs answered, walking away from the car. Hollis followed him with her eyes wondering what Abby was saying to him that he was listening to intently. "Yeah do it." Gibbs snapped his phone shut and looked at his team. "Sargent Rice has a 5 month old daughter. He's separated from his wife of five years, Georgia Rice. He has full custody and she has supervised visitation. We're issuing an Amber Alert. Tony, Ziva, you're with me. Hollis, McGee finish photographing and sketching the crime scene and get this car to Abby ASAP."
"Abby just sent Rice's file to my PDA. I've got the ex's address." Tony said, happy to have enough information to get back into Gibb's good graces.
"Go." Gibbs said before getting in his car and speeding off without another word.
Auto Lab NCIS:
"Sargent Rice is still in surgery. He's holding on." Jimmy Palmer said to Abby as he walked in.
"Thanks for finding out for me Jimmy." Abby hugged him and took the Caf-Pow from his hand, "And thanks for bringing me this."
"Um actually that was for..."
"It's just so sad. Single dad. Crazy mother, Missing baby." Abby interrupted, taking a large gulp of Caf-Pow. "This much blood it's a wonder he's still alive."
"Her doctor faxed over her records, schizophrenia." Corrected Ducky. "Full onset at 30 coinciding with pregnancy. Not unheard of but very rare indeed."
"Abby." Hollis Mann walked into the auto lab, "Do you have anything yet?"
"I would like you to bare in mind that you gave me the car less than an hour ago." Abby said as she walked over to a large table containing her samples. "I did find a bottle of pills, label says Clozapine it's used to treat schizophrenia. Prescription is for the Georgia Rice. Doesn't look like she's taken any of them.
"Anything else?"
"Two long blond strands of hair on the passenger seat, same shade and length as the Georgia Rice. I also found several bloody finger prints on the door handle. I'm running the prints through Codas. The blood type matches the Sargent's. I'm running the DNA now." Abby walked over to the car, "It looks like Sergent Rice was sitting in the drivers seat. His wife was sitting in the passengers seat. She stabbed him, opened the front door than opened the back door to take the baby out. Same finger prints are on the car seat base."
"Can you tell which one of them took the car seat out?" Hollis asked
"Not from the prints. They both had access to the car seat at various times. But I talked to Ducky about sergeant Rice's wounds and we have a theory." Abby answered
"In order for him to make it as far as he did on foot..." Ducky interjected, "He must have been putting pressure on his wound to stop the bleeding."
"You need two hand in order to get the seat off of the base." Abby said.
"She took the baby."
"And he tried desperately to get her back." Abby finished. They looked at each other grimly.
Georgia Rice's Apartment
Gibbs knocked on the door of a modest apartment and grew apprehensive when he heard the sound of a baby wailing inside. Gibbs knocked again, louder this time.
"Mrs. Rice?" Gibbs called loudly. "Federal Agents. We're coming in." Gibbs tested the door and found it unlocked. He opened the door slowly with Ziva and Tony behind him. The car seat sat in the middle of the floor. The baby sat strapped inside screaming loudly with tear running down her face. Next to her was a full diaper bag and an empty bottle.
"DiNozzo" Gibbs whispered, "Get the baby out of here." He nodded to Ziva and they drew their guns.
"Kitchens clear!" Ziva shouted
"Bedrooms clear!" Gibbs called back
"Bathroom.." Ziva paused, "I found her." Gibbs joined Ziva in the bathroom. Georgia Rice lay in the tub with her throat slit.
"Call Ducky." Gibbs said walking out into the hallway. He could hear the baby still crying. He followed the sound and found DiNozzo standing in the hallway holding the car seat by the handle and swinging it,
"Please stop crying." Tony repeated over and over again.
"For Gods sake DiNozzo take the baby out of the car seat." Gibbs sighed as Tony put the car seat down. "Go help Ziva." Gibbs knelt and took the baby out of the car seat. He rocked her back and forth until she stopped crying.
"Boss." Tony said, coming out into the hallway. "The team is on the way. Abby sent a car seat with Ducky. Here's the diaper bag."
"I'm going to teach you how to change a diaper."
"Thanks Boss."
"She left the baby fed and as far as I can tell, recently changed." Gibbs changed the babies diaper with efficacy only a marine could accomplish.
"We found a letter addressed to her husband and the baby. Her name is Maggie."
"Maggie for Margarette." Said Ducky entering the hallway.
"Abby sent this." Jimmy held up a car seat, "Social services is backed up. The baby is going to have to go back to NCIS."
"Get to work. I'll take the baby back to NCIS." Gibbs took the car seat from Jimmy and excited the building without another word.