Title: The Truth in the Lie
Author: Shannon - shannyfish
Disclaimer: I do not own "NCIS" or its characters, CBS does. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The case of a missing marine leads Gibbs down into the past and questions if the truth he knows is true. Takes place during Season Six.

Warnings: Spoilers for Season Five Episode "Judgment Day".

Chapter 2 – "Secret Plans"

Author's Note: Okay, this is my first "NCIS" fanfic...I've mostly stuck with "Bones" lately...though I am still working on my epic fanfic. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

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Abby's Lab

"You know Gibbs is going to fire both of us," McGee commented aloud.

"He wouldn't fire me," Abby argued. "I mean, really...if you think about it, Timmy. We're doing Gibbs a favor." She smiled brightly at him before looking back to her computer screen. They'd managed to get footage from Heathrow Airport, though it hadn't been exactly through the most legal channels.

McGee moved closer to Abby in order to assist in spotting their missing captain. "You know what we should do? We should look through Captain Macklyn's record and see if he's been on any assignment under the director."

"Why not just ask Leon directly?" Gibbs asked. Gibbs didn't miss the look on surprise on both of their faces as they snapped their heads in his direction in unison. Obviously, they weren't expecting him.

"Because he wasn't the director we were talking about," Abby said as she got off of her chair and approached Gibbs. She laced her arm through his and turned him around. "But I don't have anything right now, Gibbs. Your radar must not be working a full capacity today."

"Why do I feel like I'm being kicked out?" he asked as he eyed Abby and stopped, not allowing her to move him further.

"Because I'm kicking you out," she told him putting her hands on her hips.

Gibbs tilted his head and looked around Abby, he pointed at McGee. "But he's still here." Gibbs straightened and stared right at Abby. "There's something you're not telling me."

"Why would you say that, Gibbs?" Abby asked as she tried to put on her innocent persona.

"Because I know you and McGee well enough to know that you're hiding something from me. Now, all I want to know is if it has something to do with Captain Macklyn or if it's something between the two of you?" Of course, Gibbs wasn't sure which subject he'd find more irritating that they were hiding. At the same time, he really didn't want to know much about their relationship, though he did want Abby to be happy. McGee happy would piss off Tony, so he supposed that he wanted both Abby and McGee to be happy.

Abby looked back over and McGee and then back to Gibbs. "Yeah...it's personal," she lied with a smile.

"You're lying..."

"No, I'm not..." Abby replied.

Gibbs looked between the two of them. He knew that Abby was lying, but he didn't know why. He had a feeling that it had to be for a good reason. Maybe she didn't have everything in yet and didn't want to give him just a piece of a bigger picture. Either way, he didn't like it. Though he didn't think he was going to get through to her to telling him at the moment. "Okay," he gave in. "When you've decided to tell me, then let me know." He turned and headed back the way he'd come.

Abby turned around with a bright smile. She was proud of herself for getting Gibbs to leave. "I did it, Timmy!" she exclaimed.

"You lied to Gibbs," McGee said in shock. They were going to get into so much trouble later. Gibbs would have them digging their own graves for keeping this secret from him.

"Technically, I was obeying Ducky's orders," Abby added putting her hands on her hips.

McGee tilted his head slightly and squinted a bit as he tried to think how that would go over. They were so dead. Dead and buried. "Yeah," McGee said slowly and lowly. "I really don't think he's going to go for that."

"But it's the truth," Abby insisted as she walked towards him. "You were there."

"Ducky meant for us to drop the whole thing, Abby."

"That's not how I heard it."

"How did you hear it?" McGee asked, but knew that he'd regret asking that question later.

Abby sat down in the stool next to McGee. "Well, I heard it clearly as Ducky just not wanting us to tell Gibbs yet because we don't have solid proof. And solid proof being like Jenny on tapes...or...or maybe...well I'm not sure yet."

McGee frowned. "What if Ducky's right? If we're chasing shadows?"

"Do you really think that J. Shepard is just a coincidence, McGee?" Abby asked as she turned and stared at him. "If she's out there, don't you think that she'd want us to help her? I mean, she really might need our help!"

"Then why wouldn't she just ask for it?"

Abby rolled her eyes and turned back to the computer in front of her. "Hello! She's supposed to be dead! She's probably just trying to keep her cover. She knows that we're smart enough to connect the dots and follow the bread crumbs straight to her!"

"But she's in Europe."

"I have a passport," Abby said with a shrug.

McGee's jaw dropped. "You have a passport? How's that supposed to help us? What are you proposing? That we run off to Europe to possibly chase down Director Sheppard, Captain Macklyn, and that girl."

"Her name is Sophia, McGee... Use her name, it's polite," Abby said gently as she eyed him and then went back to her computer consol.

"You know...if Gibbs doesn't kill us first, then we're definitely going to get fired if we go with that plan," McGee told her.

Abby turned back to him with a bright smile, "Not if they don't know."

"How are we going to manage that, Abby? Where are we going to get money for a flight?"

"I think you doubt my powers, McGee!" Abby told him, trying to feign insult.

McGee frowned. "Now I'm scared."

Abby grinned. "You should be."

..............................

Later...

Abby's Lab

Tony and Ziva entered Abby's lab as called by McGee and Tony was curious when he didn't spot neither Abby nor McGee. "Is it just me or is this odd?" Tony asked Ziva.

"Well, Abby and McGee are odd," Ziva replied.

"Good point."

Ziva sighed. "Weren't we promised lunch?"

"We were!" Tony said and moved deeper into Abby's lab and finally spotted her pacing in her inner office. "Hey Abs! Where's McGeek?" Tony called and then cracked a smile at his own joke.

Abby exited her office and approached them. "He went to go get food," she explained. "We promised food."

"You did," Tony agreed. "The question is, why are you bribing Ziva and I down here?"

"You know we might have just come down if you'd have asked," Ziva suggested.

Abby made a face and then looked around. "Call it an incentive for putting your lives on the line."

"What's going on?" Tony asked suspiciously. He started to look around the lab. "Is this some kind of NCIS version of Punk'd?" he asked.

"What is Punk'd?" Ziva asked.

"Oh, you'd like it..." he told her and then went on to explain the premise of the show. "See? Isn't it genius?"

Ziva smiled. "It sounds like a show that you'd like to enact."

"You have to admit," Tony said. "It would be amusing. Think of all the things we could do to McGee. Something new everyday. Post it on youtube, we'd have our very own Punk'd web show, NCIS style!"

Abby frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Tony!" she scolded. "That's not very nice! Timmy went out and got you food and you're plotting against him?"

Tony shrugged. "Not my fault. I'm bored." He leaned against one of the desks. "Anyways, you said that we're putting our lives on the line...we might as well have fun torturing McGee while we're doing it."

"I heard that!" McGee said as he entered with three bags of food and a drink carrier. "I went a long way to get this."

"And we completely appreciate it," Tony said helping McGee with the bags of food and immediately started to look through it all.

"In my office!" Abby said as she pointed. "It's much more of a private place to talk." When McGee didn't move, she pointed again. "You too, McGee."

Once food and drink were distributed and Abby had locked her glass door, she sat at her desk with her food. "Now, we've called you together here in order to discuss something very important."

"It's more like a hunch," McGee corrected.

Abby frowned. "I like to think of it as a call for help."

"Who's calling for help?" Tony asked as he took a bite of his burger.

"Director Shepard," Abby said matter of factly and then frowned again when Tony started to choke on his burger. "You okay, Tony?"

After coughing enough to be able to get the food down and breathe, he sipped some of his soda. He looked up at Abby like she was crazy. Of course, this wasn't the first time the thought of Abby's mental state had popped into his mind. "You think that Jenny's alive?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," Abby responded.

"Why?" Ziva asked.

"Abby thinks that Captain Macklyn was helping her. We found a picture of a little girl, too." McGee looked to Abby before looking back to Ziva and Tony. "Look, we haven't told Gibbs, yet. Ducky short of went off on us for even think of Jenny being alive, let alone the fact that we think that she has a daughter in Europe."

"Probably at a boarding school," Abby added. "I'm still trying to track down the exact one."

"Gibbs is going to kill us all," Tony said.

"But if she's alive!" Abby said.

"But she's not," Ziva said. "Ducky declared her dead. There was a lot of blood, Abby. No one could have survived that..."

"Look, I don't care if you guys believe us, I just need you to cover us while we're gone," Abby said.

"Where are you and McGeek going?" Tony asked. He smirked. "Going off to Vegas to get married? C'mon now...you know you want me to be the best man..."

Abby smiled brightly. Tony always amused her in some way. "No. Timmy and I are going to go wherever the boarding school is, so we can look for Jenny."

"We think that it's in England. Captain Macklyn landed in Heathrow. We're still going through tapes to confirm that he arrived. We also want to see who may have picked him up," McGee explained.

"That doesn't seem smart," Ziva said. "What if you run into trouble?"

"I'll have McGee," Abby said.

"Exactly," Tony said. "What will happen if you guys run into trouble?"

"Funny," McGee responded as he glared at Tony for a moment.

Abby looked at Tony and Ziva. She was trying to figure out if they were going to tell Gibbs. Of course, that would be a bad idea either way, since it would be almost as bad as if they just didn't tell him and he found out. "Are you guys going to help us? Please?" she asked hopefully. She thought that this was important. Not only for Jenny or even Captain Macklyn, but for Gibbs. That's what she was really doing this for. She knew that there was something between Jenny and Gibbs, even if it had just been in the past. He had hurt badly after her loss. It seemed like that was all that Gibbs survived, more and more loss.

"Yeah," Tony said reluctantly. "We'll help you."

"We will?" Ziva asked. "You know Gibbs will kill us."

Tony shrugged a bit. "You're Mossad, you should survive, right?"

Abby immediately hugged Tony gratefully. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she shouted happily. "You won't regret this!" she said before straightening up.

"Oh, I'm sure I will," Tony replied. "Just do me a favor and don't get arrested. I think it'll be harder to bail you two out."

"Can't make any promises," Abby told him. "But we'll try."

"Can we try really hard?" McGee requested.

Abby just shrugged.

....................................

TBC...