"Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs! Hey Fornell! Guess what?" Abby accepted the Caf-Pow! but rather than take a moment for a sip, she set it on her desk and moved to the evidence table. She looked at them, waiting for a response, but when all she got was a blank stare, she continued. "I pulled evidence from just about everything, I've been here since five, all this evidence was out of control, but I-"
"Abby, the short version, please." Fornell interrupted.
"Right. So I found a glove print on the gun used to kill Shelly. Then, when digging through all the evidence, I found a glove in one of the trash bags. I tested the leather print and it matched. So I dug around the inside and found some DNA. Care to guess who it matched? Probably not. It matched Lt. Michaels. So not only do you have proof that he was holding the gun, but there is gunpowder residue on the glove. He pulled the trigger."
"Thank you!" Fornell clasped his hands together in thanks and then turned to glare at Gibbs. "I suppose you want your guys to bring him in?"
"Nah, you can bring him in. I just want to have a little chat with him in interrogation."
"No." Fornell's hands went to his hips. "No, this is my case. I get to break him. Our directors agreed that I was lead on this case."
"You couldn't even run this case. You think I'm going to sit back and let this guy walk because you can't follow through and break him?" Gibbs shot back.
"Hey!" Abby threw up her hands. "What are we, ten? You guys can work together; I've seen you do it before."
Fornell shrugged and turned towards the door. "Have David and DiNozzo haul him in. I guess we can work something out."
Gibbs followed him out the door. "I'm not sitting out while you interrogate."
"Yeah, yeah," Abby heard as the two men headed for the elevator. "We'll figure something out. Maybe bad cop, good cop."
"Good work, Abbs." Abby praised herself, mimicking Gibbs' voice. They had been so caught up in who'd get to break the suspect they'd forgotten about the fact that she'd been able to do the work of both labs.
"Hey Abbs?" Gibbs stepped back in the lab. He'd almost made it to the elevator when he realized they'd been too concerned about who would do the talking to thank Abby for her hard work.
"Yeah?"
"Good work. Dinner at seven."
"Great! See you at seven." Abby perked up.
"Go home. Relax." Gibbs stepped up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. "You've worked more than enough the past few weeks. No one should be this tense." He massaged her tense shoulder muscles, pushing his thumbs in just the right spot.
Abby let out a little sigh of pleasure before she could stop herself.
"Go home, Abbs. I'll see you at seven." Gibbs gave one last squeeze and then left. He was glad to have the elevator to himself for a few minutes to compose himself. He knew he was walking a tightrope when it came to his close relationship with Abby. There was that fine line of personal and professional relationship, and every time he resolved to keep their relationship on the professional side, she'd do something to screw up his plans like show up at his house or ask him to bowl with her and the nuns. And then he'd be right back where he started, wanting to involve her more and more on the personal side of life.
"See you then!"
"Gibbs?"
"In here." Gibbs called from the kitchen.
"Did you see this when you got home? It was tucked into the screen door." Abby held up a small white envelope.
"No. I didn't." Gibbs reached for it, but Abby held it just out of reach. "Hey!"
"Maybe… Maybe you should open it outside. I mean, you never know what…"
Gibbs softened his look at the instant panic that swept across her pretty face. "No one has sent me the plague, Abby." Although he didn't look worried he took a few steps away from her to slide his finger under the seal and carefully open the letter.
"Well..?"
Gibbs smiled. "Fornell dropped it off. Emily has a ballet recital and I've been invited." He held up a pink invite with a child's writing on the inside.
"Oh." Abby let out a sigh of relief. "He couldn't have given it to you earlier?"
"Maybe Emily wanted to drop it off. I've only been home twenty minutes. I probably just missed them." He handed it to Abby. "See, no white powder."
Abby shot him a glare and took the card.
Gibbs gave her pigtail a little tug, only satisfied when the corner of her mouth turned up in a small smile and then returned to finish heating up dinner.
"Just because it's Fornell, doesn't mean its safe." She stuck out her tongue, more irritated that he made her smile when she was semi-irritated with him than the fact that it could have been something dangerous.
"True, though I suppose the food is safe since he ate it yesterday."
"You think you'll go?" Abby followed him into the kitchen and put the invite on the fridge, using the magnet that held up the take-out menu for a local Chinese place.
"Maybe. If we haven't caught an important case." Gibbs hesitated a moment. "It says plus one, you want to come?"
"With you?" Abby's eyes lit up, and Gibbs pretended not to notice how happy she sounded.
"If you didn't already have plans for next Saturday."
"No," Abby shook her head. "No plans. I'd love to tag along if you don't think Fornell will mind."
"He won't mind. Grab a couple beers." Gibbs nodded at the fridge before carrying the steaming plates of pasta to the table.
Dinner was easy, as Gibbs expected. Although they talked about work, it wasn't about their most recent cases; it was about old cases, ones they wished they could've solved sooner, with less bloodshed. They talked about her family and his father.
He found it endearing that Abby was so curious about Jack and how he ran the store, but once he found out that Abby had spent much of her childhood in her uncle's small country shop, he understood her curiosity. He didn't like to talk about his childhood much, but he indulged her curiosity by telling her stories of helping his father in the store.
Gibbs was taken aback to see Abby's so toned down when he picked her up at three on Saturday. He didn't know much about women, but he had three exes so he knew a thing or two. "You look nice."
Abby looked down at her dark jeans and her simple red shirt. "Thanks. I figured I'd better keep it simple if it's a ballet recital."
Gibbs gave a little shrug. "You would have been fine with whatever you decided." He was more concerned about her hair. It wasn't often that he saw it down around her shoulders, and seeing it now, he itched to reach out and tangle his fingers in her hair.
He was surprised that she sat so quietly as they drove to the recital hall, watching the world pass by out the window. It wasn't common that Abby was content to sit quietly, but she wasn't giving off any signs of stress, so he didn't worry - he could always tell when Abby wasn't feeling well, or if she was sad or mad.
They arrived fifteen minutes before the show, and saw Fornell waiting around outside. "Jethro," he greeted, "Abby."
"Hope you don't mind that I tagged along."
"Not at all. Emily will be happy to see you. I spoke to her a few minutes ago and she's very excited."
"I bet you're proud." Abby glanced over at Gibbs. She knew he had to be struggling with a bit of jealousy. Emily was the same age that Kelly had been when she passed away, and Gibbs had missed out on recitals and school events. Even though it didn't show, she knew he had to be thinking of what he missed out on.
"Very proud."
They filed into the auditorium and found seats just off to the side. It didn't take long, an hour at the most, and Gibbs and Abby stayed to congratulate Emily on a job well done.
"Abby!" Emily came flying towards her, enveloping her in a big hug. "I didn't know you would be here!"
"I was just shocked that I wasn't invited and Gibbs felt so bad, so he said I could come with him," Abby teased.
"I didn't know you'd want to come! I'll invite you myself next time so you don't have to come with silly Uncle Gibbs." Emily giggled when Gibbs made silly face at her.
"Oh thank goodness. It was rough to sit next to him for an hour, but I thought it'd be rude to sit by myself." Abby smiled up at Gibbs and winked.
"Jethro, Tobias." Diane strolled up; obviously ignoring the fact that Abby was standing right there. "And what wonderful stories are you sharing today?"
Gibbs rolled his eyes. Clearly Diane still blamed him for her divorce from Fornell. She had yelled and screamed that he had put poison in Tobias' mind, turning him against her. "Diane," Gibbs said coolly.
"Sweetie, why don't you go and get your bag from my car. You don't want to forget your school books. I'm sure daddy will be very busy tomorrow, so we want to make sure you can go over your school work if he doesn't have time for you." Diane handed her daughter her car keys and then shooed her along.
"I'm not working this weekend, Diane." Fornell crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You know that."
"Well, one can never predict when the FBI calls you for duty. You always go running."
Fornell swallowed a harsh comeback. "Things are changing around the FBI. I'm a little more in control of my schedule these days."
"Ah, so now that we're divorced you've got time on the weekends, but when I only asked for one day a week that you'd be home for dinner, you couldn't make it happen."
"You know I was working my way up the ranks back then, Diane. The FBI isn't just some desk job."
"I know, your job was always better than mine. I should have understood," she mocked.
"Look, I don't want to-" Fornell started, but stopped when Diane stated again.
"No, no you didn't want to do anything to save our marriage."
"Don't start, Diane. It's the same argument over and over again the past… ever since we first got married."
"You let him fill your head with lies and you decided to listen to your friend rather than your wife."
Gibbs rolled his eyes. At least she seemed to have moved on from directing her anger at him, now toward Fornell.
"Emily!" Abby saw the young girl walking up and didn't want to her to hear her parents arguing.
Tobias and Diane both shut their mouths and forced polite smiles. "You ready, hun?"
"Yes, daddy. Are we going to see Sharon this weekend?"
"I know she'd like to see you."
"I wish she could have come today."
Fornell glanced up at Diane. "She was busy this afternoon, but I know she wished she could have come to your recital today." It was half true – Sharon would have loved to have come along, but Fornell wasn't secure enough in their relationship to let Diane make a fool of herself in front of them.
"Well sweetie, mommy has to go. You call me if you need anything, okay?"
"Yes, mom." Emily hugged her mother and then turned to Abby once Diane was several feet away. "Daddy promised me ice cream after my recital. Can you come? My dad will pay, of course."
Abby laughed and glanced up at Fornell. He smiled and gave a little nod. Even if she was a little unconventional, Abby was a pretty good role model for his daughter. He couldn't complain. "Well, in that case, I would love to join you for ice cream. Only, can I bring this guy along too? Gibbs might get cranky if he can't come along for ice cream too."
"Uncle Gibbs, would you like to come for ice cream, too?"
"Well, I don't know…" Gibbs toyed with the idea until Emily stomped her foot. "Abby says you'll be cranky if you don't come for ice cream."
"I guess."
"Plus, my dad will pay."
"How can I refuse that offer?"
"Come on, let's get going." Fornell lifted his daughter's bag to his shoulder and turned toward the car. "You only get one scoop," he directed at Gibbs.
"You don't mind, do you?" Abby asked as they got back into Gibbs car. "Going for ice cream with them?"
"Nah."
"Ok, good. I can't imagine what it must be like living with that woman. Poor girl."
"Not fun, I can attest to that."
Abby laughed. "I can't believe you both married the same woman."
"I didn't mind. It got her away from me."
"I find it more incredible that you two have remained friends."
"We're not friends."
"Right."
"I really like Sharon, dad. But I really like Abby too."
"They are both very nice. Sharon would like to come over for dinner tomorrow. Would you be okay with that?"
"Yes, daddy." Emily thought for a moment. "Do you work with Abby a lot?" Emily watched her father as they made the 10 minute drive to her favorite ice cream shop.
"No. Abby works for NCIS, so I only work with her when Uncle Gibbs and I share a case."
"Oh."
"Why?"
"I was just wondering."
Fornell focused on the road to keep from laughing. He could tell what his daughter was hinting at and not only was Abby not his type - he knew Gibbs had lay claim over her long ago. Even if Jethro wasn't sleeping with his forensic scientist, there was no way Gibbs put up with her sleeping with him. He never mentioned his observations to Gibbs – never asked why he was so protective of her, or why she was the closest thing to a real relationship he'd had the past eight years. He knew better than to try and get Jethro to open up about his private life, and he valued his own life enough to keep his mouth shut.
Fornell wasn't surprised to see Gibbs and Abby already there. Gibbs drove like a speed daemon on a good day, even when there wasn't a case involved.
"Abby!" Emily bounced ahead. "What kind of ice cream are you going to pick?" She took Abby by the hand and led her inside.
"Emily likes her."
"Most everyone does." Gibbs nodded and smiled at the sight. Abby and Emily were an odd pair – the tall Goth, and the young girl in her leotard.
"She wanted to know if I worked with her often, if she'd be around more."
"Oh?"
"Don't worry, I've no intentions of trying to poach your scientist."
"Tobias, why are you telling me this?"
"I'm just letting you know that you aren't the only one who appreciates Abby's company."
Gibbs hesitated as he stepped inside the ice cream shop. Of course he wasn't the only one to enjoy her company, everyone loved Abby. Gibbs shook off Fornell's comment, unsure if he wanted to read further into it – Fornell was seeing someone, so Gibbs was fairly certain he wasn't interested. And if he was trying to hint at something, Gibbs didn't want to hear it.
"What'd you order?" Gibbs stepped up beside Abby, resting his hand against her lower back as she reached out to accept her ice cream.
"Mint chocolate chip."
"With gummy bears," Kelly added.
"With gummy bears," Abby agreed.
Gibbs raised his brow and then ordered a scoop of vanilla. "Gummy bears? As if you need more sugar."
"What's not to love? Little gummies, shaped like bears. Mm, I'm a little bear and I'm red and gummy and taste so good!" Abby picked up a small red bear and squished it gently; imply it was talking before pushing it into Gibbs' ice cream.
Since the tables inside were full, once they all had ice cream in hand, the small group headed outside to stand and eat their ice cream. Emily told them all about how things worked backstage at her recital, and how her friend Nicole had been so nervous she'd felt sick to her stomach.
They stood around talking awhile longer before Emily was ready to go home. She was chilled from the ice cream and her leotard was getting itchy. As Emily buckled herself in the back seat, Fornell put her bag in the trunk of his car. He hesitated before getting in the driver's seat, looking over to where Gibbs was teasing Abby about something as they walked towards Gibbs' car. Abby was pretending to be mad at him, and Gibbs had wrapped his arm around her shoulders and was pulling her in close. He rolled his eyes and ducked into the car when Abby grinned before hitting Gibbs in the chest with her purse.
He didn't understand why his friend wouldn't just kiss her. It was obvious that's what she wanted.
Abby circled around to the passenger side of the car and froze. "Um, Gibbs?"
Gibbs was right behind her and pulled up just in time so that he didn't crash into her. "What – oh, a flat." He was surprised; he hadn't noticed any difference in driving when they drove from the recital to the ice cream shop. "It's okay, I've got a spare."
Abby tossed her purse in the car and then went to help Gibbs with the spare. As Gibbs set the spare in place, Abby rolled the original back toward the trunk and then lifted it in. She moved it around, looking it over to see if she could find the spot where it had leaked air – to see if it was a nail or something else they had driven over.
" Gibbs?" Abby leaned in closer to the tire for a better look.
"Yeah?" Gibbs used an old towel to wipe his hands.
"I don't think this was an accident." Abby pointed to an inch long gash in the tire.
Gibbs leaned in for a better look and sighed. "No, I don't think so either."
"Gibbs," Abby paled. "Is someone after you?"
"No. It's probably just some kids that are bored. Decided to mess with the nice car." He gave Abby's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I'll drop you off and then go get a new tire. Don't worry."
Abby glanced around the parking lot looking for anyone suspicious, "You think whoever did it is still around?"
"They're gone by now. Come on," Gibbs opened the passenger side door for her. "Let's go."
"You're sure," Abby asked as Gibbs slid into the driver's seat. "You're sure that it was just some kids or a random attack?"
"Abbs, if someone was going to follow me, they would have had more time to do this while we were at the recital. Why follow to an ice cream shop?" Gibbs put the car into drive and gave her knee a little squeeze before pulling forward out of their parking space. "It's alright."
As he drove back to her apartment, Gibbs wondered if there was anything he could say that would relax her. He watched from the corner of his eye as her fingers twisted nervously in her lap. Her lip was caught between her teeth and she looked as though she was trying to come up with an idea of what to do.
He pulled up to her apartment complex and pulled up beside her car. She didn't say anything as he got out to walk her to her door, but she glanced back at his car before they stepped inside her building. "You want to come in for some coffee?" Maybe if she kept him from leaving, she could keep him safe. The whole thing didn't sit right with her.
"No thanks, I'll be alright." She hated when he read her so easily. "I need to get to the shop to get a new tire before they close."
"Oh, right. Well, okay. Call me, you know, if you need anything or… whatever. And lock your door. Please."
"I'll be fine." Gibbs leaned in to kiss her cheek gently. "I'll see you Monday." He turned on his heel before he changed his mind, and left, smiling to himself when he heard her door shut and the deadbolt click.
It only took twenty minutes to get a new tire and have the others looked over. The shop offered to take his old tire off his hands, but he declined and headed home. He carried the flat down to the basement, pausing to lock his door when he heard her in his mind making the request. Down in basement, with the tire propped up a piece of ply wood over a couple of saw horses, Gibbs inspected it the best he could with a flash light. It was doubtful that he'd be able to pull any prints off of it, and he wasn't going to ask Abby to look at them – she was worried enough as it was.
He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed a familiar number.
"Yeah, Fornell."
"I need a favor…"
TBC…