Abby had spent the entire day trying to find something – anything – that would help Gibbs in figuring out who had broken his boat. "It's clean, Gibbs. Completely clean, with the exception of your prints from where you picked it up. Damnit!" Abby slammed her hands down uncharacteristically on the evidence table.
It was a technique he used in interrogation and it caused him to hesitate a moment before stepping closer to her. "Relax, Abbs. It'll be okay."
"No, Gibbs, it won't, because they obviously know what they are doing. They haven't left a trail at all."
"Anyone who has ever seen a crime drama knows not to leave prints, you know that. You tell me all the time."
"Then how… how are we going to figure this out?"
"Give me a couple of days, let me look over a few of the last cases we've done and see if anything suspicious jumps out. Can you do me a favor?"
"Anything, you know that." She looked hurt that he would even have to ask if she would do something for him. She thought she had made it clear long ago that she would do anything.
"First, I want you to go home and get some sleep. Then, tomorrow, when you are well rested, can you pull up a list of people I've put away who were released from prison over the past 30 days."
"60 days. They might've taken some time to get settled first, plan a little."
"Fine, 60 days. But now it's time for you to promise me that you'll go home and get some rest."
"How am I supposed to sleep when you've got a crazy person after you? How are you supposed to sleep?"
"Like I always do, with my eyes closed."
"Not funny."
"My door is locked, I've got my gun. Go home Abby." Gibbs leaned in and kissed her cheek before making a quick exit. He would have security check in to make sure she left within the hour.
Gibbs stared at the bloodied motel room and took a long sip of his coffee. It was going to be a long day, he could feel it.
Tony stepped up beside his boss and his eyes widened at the sight. "A lot of blood loss, you think it's all from this guy?"
"Dunno," Gibbs grunted. "Must've been quite a fight."
"That's putting it lightly." Tony stepped side to let McGee and Ziva both get a look.
"I'll go down and see what info I can pull from the front desk," McGee offered.
"What, can't handle all the blood, McGoo?"
McGee just rolled his eyes and headed down the hall.
Gibbs pulled on a glove and felt around their victim's pockets for a wallet. "It's our Marine. DiNozzo, shoot and sketch. David, bag and tag."
While Tony chattered on about the vague similarities to a movie he'd seen a few years back, Gibbs gave the body a once over. He'd obviously been beaten badly, but at the same time he'd put up a fight. His knuckles were raw, and it looked as if his hand was broken from landing a hard punch. Whoever he'd been up against, hadn't gotten away cleanly.
"Oh, oh my."
Gibbs looked up at the sound of Ducky's voice and moved back so both Ducky kneel beside the body.
"This young man was in quite the fight. Does he have a name?"
"PFC Ernest E. Maldonado."
"Poor boy," Ducky fussed before inserting a liver probe. "He sure put up a good fight. I won't know cause of death until I get him back at the table, but I have a few suspicions."
"Time of death?"
Ducky angled the liver probe. "I would say roughly 8 hours ago."
Gibbs glanced down at his watch. "That makes it 0100. Alcohol involved?"
"Quite possibly, I'll have Abby run the tests. Have your team collect multiple blood samples from around the room. I don't believe he's lost quite enough blood to cover all this. You could possibly come up with a second set of DNA."
Gibbs glanced over to Tony and Ziva to make sure they'd heard. He got a quick nod from both of them.
McGee arrived just in time to hold door open for Palmer to wheel in the stretcher.
"I've got a credit card and a phone number, but that's it. The manager is contacting security and they will email footage from all their security cameras. Digital," he clarified. "They upgraded a few months ago, when they started having issues with the old VHS system they used to use."
Once their Marine was loaded into a body bag, Gibbs held the door for Ducky and Palmer to head back to autopsy, sending McGee along with them to get started as soon as the security footage to arrive. With the body out of the way, Gibbs pulled on a fresh set of gloves and began poking around the small room, going through everything he found.
"This look like it'd fit our Marine?" Gibbs pulled a shirt from one of the suitcases.
"Maybe if he dropped 40lbs of muscle," Tony commented.
Gibbs gave a little nod and then opened the second suitcase where he found clothing more suitable to their Marine. "I don't think he was staying here alone."
"Why do you think they were here together? Lovers?" Ziva asked. "Maybe there were rumors about Maldonado, and whoever the second man was, he lured him here."
"Nah," Tony dismissed. "They were here for a few days. If this was supposed to be some wild sexual getaway, there'd be lube in the nightstand, condoms. I've checked, there is nothing."
"And you know this how…? Sweet-cheeks." A small smirk pulled at the corner of Ziva's lips.
"Because it makes sense, my little love-muffin." Tony teased back, using their nicknames from when they had been under cover together.
"Tony's right." Gibbs couldn't help but notice the way Tony preened at the slight praise. "If it was some sort of hate-crime, usually we'd fine some sort of message or statement to go with it. This looks like a knock-down, drag-out fight."
It took two hours before Gibbs was satisfied with what they had collected. While his agents loaded the car, Gibbs spoke with the manager and the cleaning lady who'd found the room. He was sure McGee had done a fine job, but there was something in his gut telling him that the day was far from over. He tossed his coffee in the trash and walked briskly to the car. The sooner Abby had the evidence the quicker he would have answers.
They left the hotel behind, and headed back to the Navy yard. Gibbs sent Tony down to Abby's lab with the evidence and had Ziva start with the phone calls. McGee was well into the 144 hours of security footage, so Gibbs headed down to the deli for a fresh coffee and a Caf-Pow! for his favorite person. He stood in line and placed his order. It was $2.11 (with his discount) for both beverages, and handed over a crisp five dollar bill, walking away before the change could be counted back. When his drinks were up, he grabbed them and walked back towards NCIS, glancing down at the bullet resistant glass window that lead to the lab. His legs felt heavy as he waited in the elevator, but he always felt slow when his gut told him it would be a long day.
It was all forgotten when he stepped inside her lab and Abby's eyes widened at the sight of him (more so the Caf-Pow! in his hand, he figured) and she smiled happily at him. "Gibbs!"
"Think you've got enough work to keep busy? I'd hate for you to be bored down here in your lab. Never know what sort of trouble you might come up with."
"Trouble? Me?" Abby bat her eyelashes and gratefully accepted the Caf-Pow!. "But honestly, I think I've got enough here to keep me from trouble for days. Really, so no need to worry about little old me."
Gibbs smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her into a half hug. He kissed her temple and then let her go, and turned to leave. "I always worry about you." He was gone before he could hear her reply.
Abby smiled to herself and turned back to the table piled high with evidence. It was early in the day; she had a lot to get through if she wanted to be home at a decent time. She started by organizing it into boxes that she could stack out of her way until she was ready for it. Her first task was testing the blood. Ducky had explained that with the amount of blood they found made him suspect that the victim wasn't the only one to bleed.
She danced around her lab, talking to her machines as she went, encouraging speedy results. "You know how Gibbs' likes to wrap cases up quickly. We've got a killer to catch. Work, work, work!" She pat Bert on the head and straightened his collar before spinning away to pull up a new piece of evidence for processing.
She only had time for a quick lunch. She grabbed a sandwich from the deli and managed to convince Gibbs to take ten minutes to have a bit to eat with her, handing him half of her sandwich. They talked about the case, and Abby gave him a run down on everything she'd been over so far.
It wasn't long after lunch that her computer beeped and she moved over to the screen to pull up the results. "That was quick, someone is on their game today," she praised. "Wait, what…?" Abby scanned through the results three times before shaking her head. She kept her eye on the door as she dialed Gibbs. Usually he'd be walking in about now, but somehow she suspected that even Gibbs hadn't picked up on what she discovered.
"Hello?"
"Hello? Since when did you start saying hello? Anyway, I need you…" She hesitated. "I need you in the lab, Gibbs."
"Okay. Uh, bye."
Abby looked at the phone before hanging up. She wasn't sure she'd ever heard him say hello or goodbye on the phone or in person. When it came to work he didn't have the time for such pleasantry, and in person she usually launched into whatever she wanted to talk about before he even had the time to say hello.
She read over the results twice more to make sure she was sure of what she was looking at before Gibbs arrived. She heard the elevator ding, and she turned to face the door, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet waiting for him.
"What… what did you need me for?" Gibbs looked around the lab before focusing his gaze on Abby.
"Okay, well, that isn't your usual greeting, but it'll do." Abby gave him a curious look and shrugged before turning back to her computer screen. "I've been running a billion different tests all morning, but I've come up with something interesting when it comes to all that blood from the crime scene. You were right; it wasn't all from the victim." Abby paused for dramatic effect, hoping Gibbs would comment about his famous gut, but he kept quiet, his eyes fixed on the screen. "Of course you knew that, but what was a real shocker is that, the rest of the blood came from someone related to our Marine. As in, his brother. Did we even know he had a brother? Maybe he didn't know he had a brother. A brother isn't mentioned in his file. It's like a made-for-TV movie, Gibbs. Two guys get in a fight, guy a kills guy b and then finds out later that his father wasn't always the happy family man and that really he's just killed his brother. Gibbs?" He'd never let he ramble that far, especially if it didn't relate directly to the case. "Gibbs?"
"He didn't do it."
"The brother? Maybe not, but his blood was at the crime scene."
"But he didn't do it."
"Do you know who did? Because personally I find it a little hinky that there is no mention of a brother, and yet the DNA says brother." Abby shrugged. "And you know how I feel about my forensics. I didn't mess up."
"Petty Officer O'Brian. He didn't do it," Gibbs stressed.
"Gibbs?" Abby tilted her head slightly.
Abby wasn't sure what Petty Officer O'Brian had to do with it. "But our current victim, PFC Maldonado… he has a brother. One he either didn't know about, or didn't want anyone else to know about." Abby waited for a response. She watched silently as Gibbs moved over to the big plasma screen on the wall, pacing in front of it, talking quietly to himself. When Abby took a closer look, she noticed that his cheeks were flushed and he looked uncomfortable.
"You feel okay, Gibbs?" She stepped in front of him, stopping him to press the back of her hand to his forehead. "You're really warm."
Gibbs ducked away from her touch and continued to pace back and forth.
Quietly she moved back to her desk and picked up her phone, pressing speed-dial for autopsy.
"Autopsy," Ducky answered.
"Ducky…" Abby glanced over her shoulder at Gibbs before whispering into the phone. "Something isn't right with Gibbs."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
"He's sick, I think. He feels really warm, but he's… he's not making any sense. He's been talking about Petty Officer O'Brian, but we closed that case almost a month ago."
"I'm on my way dear, don't let him go anywhere."
Abby hung up and moved back to Gibbs. He was sweating as he paced in front of the monitor. "… O'Brian couldn't have killed him; he was on the Barry while it was docked here. Colonel Shelly was in Norfolk. He couldn't have done it…"
"Gibbs?" Abby spoke softly. "Why don't you come sit down in my chair, okay?"
Gibbs nodded and allowed her to maneuver him toward her desk. "Gibbs can you tell me what's wrong?"
He looked at her as he sat down and Abby felt as though he were looking right through her. "O'Brain. He didn't kill Colonel Shelly." Gibbs looked irritated as he tugged at the collar of his shirt.
"I know Gibbs, we found DNA to prove that Lt. Michaels killed Shelly, not O'Brian. We closed that case a few weeks ago."
"I… I… No!" Gibbs shoved Abby back as he stood again and resumed pacing.
Abby cried out as the corner of her desk dug into her side as she landed against it. She managed to get her feet underneath herself and then pull herself back up to a standing position.
"Abigail, are you alright?" Ducky walked in just in time to see Abby stumble as Gibbs pushed past.
"I'm… I'm fine." She looked to Gibbs. "Something isn't right, he'd never… he wouldn't ever… push me."
"Why don't you call Anthony down here, just in case." Ducky spoke quietly. He'd never seen Jethro so visibly agitated without a good reason. And Abby was right, he'd never push her.
Abby nodded and picked up the phone.
"Alright Jethro, let's have a look, shall we?" Ducky used a loud, firm tone as he ushered Gibbs back to the chair at Abby's desk.
"O'Brian…"
"Yes, yes. I know. You can tell me all about it, but I would like to have a look at you first." Ducky grabbed hold of his wrist and watched the clock on the wall as he made a mental note of Gibbs' racing pulse. Next he pulled out a thermometer and placed it between Gibbs' lips before looking at his eyes, noting how dilated his pupils were. The thermometer beeped and Ducky frowned. "You must be dreadfully uncomfortable with a temperature of 102.6. Can you tell me how you feel Jethro?"
"I… I don't know." Gibbs knew he didn't feel well, but for some reason he couldn't quite come up with the words to describe how he felt.
"It's alright, Jethro. We'll take care of you. Anthony," Ducky looked up when Tony walked in. "I think you'd better help me get him to the hospital. This isn't the flu."
"Oh my God, is he going to be okay?" Abby twisted her fingers together nervously and bounced on her toes.
"How long has he been like this?"
"Um, he started acting strange maybe 10-15 minutes ago? He seemed off when I called him. He didn't seem focused on what I was saying and then I noticed that he was sweating and just… he wasn't himself. That's when I called you. What's wrong with him, Ducky?"
"I'm not sure. Let's get him to the parking garage. Anthony, will you run ahead and pull a car around?"
"On it," Tony replied automatically. He looked between Gibbs and Ducky. "On it, Ducky."
Abby helped Ducky as they walked Gibbs to the elevator. He was leaning heavily on her, and Abby noticed as his footsteps began to slow. "Come on, Gibbs." She tried to keep her voice from shaking. "Just a few more steps."
"O'Brian…"
"I know, bossman. I know."
Abby sat upright in the hospital chair and stared straight ahead. Her toes were taping lightly on the floor, and her fingers twisted nervously, tapping on the armrest of the chair as they waited for word on Gibbs.
"Relax, my dear. He's in good hands." Ducky wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug.
"I know, I just… I hate this, you know? The waiting."
"I know, it shouldn't…" Ducky paused when a doctor stepped into the waiting room carrying a clipboard.
"You're here for Agent Gibbs, yes?"
"Yes!" Abby jumped up and both Tony and Ducky joined her.
"I'm Doctor Stewart, the attending physician here in the ER. We've run a tox screen, and found a high level of Doxepin Hydrochloride in his system. Do you know if he has a history of depression or anxiety?"
"He does not. I'm his primary physician."
"Well, without knowing exactly how much he's taken, or when, we went ahead and pumped his stomach, though there wasn't much that came up. But at this point, all we can offer is supportive care for any symptoms. Depending on his dosage, it will be out of his system within 8 to 24 hours."
"Can we take him home?" Tony asked.
"I wouldn't recommend it."
"Would it be harmful to his health? He didn't take that… Dox-uh…"
"Doxepin Hydrochloride," Ducky supplied.
"Thanks. He didn't take that… that medication. I'm concerned for his safety." Not to mention your own when he comes to and realizes he's in a hospital.
"We can assign security to his door if you like."
"I can stay with him." Ducky suggested. "If it's just a waiting game, I'm sure he'd much rather be in his own bed, and I can monitor his symptoms."
Stewart glanced at his pager as it went off. "Well, I guess it'll give me a free bed. Ok, I'll discharge him into your care. He's hooked up to an IV to give him a little extra fluid as he was a bit dehydrated. He can go home in an hour or so. But bring him back immediately if you are unable to wake him, or he suffers a seizure as that can be dangerous."
Abby stepped forward. "But he'll be okay?"
The doctor hesitated a moment as he took in her short skirt and skull and crossbones tee. "Yes. Yes, he'll be fine."
"Can I see him now?"
"Yes, he's just around the corner in the first exam room."
Abby didn't wait for the others; she hurried down the hall and turned the corner. She found Gibbs' room and went in quietly. She rested her hand on his cheek and found that he was still warm.
"Here, I've brought a cool rag." A nurse walked in with a rag and bowl of water.
"Thanks." Abby took the rag and dipped it in the cool water before sweeping it lightly across his forehead and down the side of his face. She then moved it to the other side of his face, running it down along his neck before returning it to the bowl again. "Gibbs?"
Gibbs blinked up at her, but said nothing.
"You're going to be okay, okay?" Abby returned the cloth to his forehead. "The doctors pumped your stomach, and you'll feel better soon. I promise. Just focus on feeling better."
Gibbs closed his eyes again, letting sleep take over as her soothing voice wrapped around him and kept him calm.
"I've signed the papers to take him home once he's finished with the IV. How's he doing?" Ducky pulled up a chair to sit beside Abby.
"Okay. He opened his eyes for a bit, but then closed them again."
"It's for the best that he sleep it off. Tony is calling Fornell, and then will help to bring Jethro home. He's also arranging for an agent to be there at all times."
"Who did this, Ducky?"
"I don't know, dear, but I have faith that they will be found."
"Abby?"
Abby looked up at Tony.
"I need you to do me a favor."
"Okay."
"I need you back at NCIS. I want you to go through Gibbs garbage and see if you can find his coffee cup, and the food wrappers from today. The doctor isn't sure how long it's been in his system, so test everything."
"It wouldn't have been from lunch. We shared lunch."
"Test it anyway."
"But I would've gotten sick-"
"Abby!" Tony ran his hands over his face. Shouting at Abby wouldn't make things any easier. "Abby. I know, I just… it would make me feel better if you tested everything, okay?"
"Okay," Abby nodded. "Keep me updated, okay?" Abby let go of Gibbs hand and stood.
"You know I will." Tony pulled her into a hug hoping she would accept it as an apology for shouting. When her arms wrapped around him in return he knew she had. He watched her cast one last look back at Gibbs before she headed out the door. He then moved to where she had been sitting and looked at his boss. "We'll get whoever did this boss."
Tony sat with him for an hour before a nurse came in with papers releasing Gibbs into Ducky's care.
"How are we supposed to get him home?"
"Help me get him into a wheelchair and we'll bring him to the car. I'll need you to help him in."
Tony nodded. "Boss?" He gave Gibbs' shoulder a slight shake. "Boss, we need you to get up now."
Gibbs groaned and his eyes fluttered open.
"That's it, Jethro." Ducky encouraged and maneuvered a wheelchair closer to the bed.
"Maybe… maybe this isn't a good idea." The nurse watched as Tony worked to get Gibbs into the chair.
"Trust me," Tony said. "You don't want him here when he's feeling better."
It was difficult to get Gibbs to the car, but they did it and Ducky sat in the back seat with him, fussing over him the way he fussed over any of the team when they were injured or sick. Tony secretly loved it when Ducky or any of the team fussed over him. He didn't feel like he deserved it, but at the same time he'd never experienced as a child and it made him feel loved. Gibbs on the other hand, he knew, hated it when Ducky fussed over him. He'd put up with Abby fussing over him for a little while, Tony figured it was mostly because she'd pout otherwise and no one could resist Abby's pout. But whenever anyone else tried to fuss over him, Gibbs would push them away, claim he was fine and limp away to lick his wounds like the tough soldier he liked to think of himself as.
Getting Gibbs up the stairs to his bedroom was a difficult task and in the end Tony had to half carry him up to keep them from both tumbling backwards down the stairs.
Gibbs cried out in pain when Tony set him down and pushed his legs under the covers.
"Thank you Anthony, I'll take it from here." Ducky carried his bag in and placed it on a tall dresser near the door.
"I'll be downstairs. I've got some phone calls to make."
"I'll be down once I've got him settled."
Ducky watched as Gibbs writhed in pain, his muscles tense as they cramped. "Jethro," he whispered. "I need you to take a deep breath for me, can you do that?" Ducky wiped the sweat from his friends' brow as Gibbs struggled to take a slow, deep breath. "That's it. Keep doing that for me. You'll get through this, don't worry, my friend."
Within an hour the cramping had subsided and Ducky checked his temperature again. It was still high, but Gibbs seemed to be resting more comfortably. He closed the door quietly and headed downstairs to where Tony was pacing in Gibbs' kitchen.
"Director has Fornell leading the case now. Says the team can work the case, but that we're too emotionally involved to run the case. Such bullshit. BULLSHIT. Like Fornell doesn't have a personal connection to Gibbs? They've got the same ex-wife for Christ-sake!"
"Anthony." Ducky rested his hand on Tony's shoulder. "Perhaps the director is right. Maybe Fornell isn't the best to run the case, but the team; you're all too emotionally involved to be in charge."
"What a fucking nightmare. I knew something like this would happen. I knew it! But he wouldn't fucking listen, because he's Gibbs and he likes to think that nothing will ever happen to him because he's Gibbs. God, just once I would like to smack the shit out of him to make him realize that he is not untouchable."
"Get in line, Tony. I've been waiting to slap some sense into him myself for quite some time."
"He'll be okay?" Tony dropped into a chair at the dining room table with a sigh.
Ducky moved past him to put the water kettle on to boil and pulled out two cups, rinsing the dust from the inside after glancing at the single mug that Gibbs always used. "He'll be fine. Have you heard from Abby?"
"No, I called to check in an hour ago. She went through all the garbage cans in the building where Gibbs might have walked by and tossed his coffee cup. She's been labeling them and running tests. He didn't have coffee when he was in the lab with her when he started getting sick. I've bagged up his garbage, the bourbon, anything he could've been drugged with here."
"She's holding up okay?"
"She's trying. I think she's keeping herself busy enough to keep from thinking about him much. McGee and Ziva are in the office checking phone records and whatever else Fornell has them doing. I told them to keep an eye on her."
"Her lab is her sanctuary," Ducky commented as he poured the steaming water, making them each a cup of tea. "She'll be fine until she's got some quiet time to process. It's then that I worry about her."
"Hopefully he'll be back on his feet by then." Tony sipped his tea.
"He's Gibbs. He'll pull right through, I'm certain. It's just a tough 24 hours for him-"
Both men jumped up when they heard a crash upstairs. They raced up the stairs, Tony with his gun in hand. They paused in the doorway and Tony holstered his gun when he saw Gibbs writhing in pain, the alarm clock knocked to the floor.
Ducky pushed past Tony as he stood frozen in the doorway. "Will you fetch a glass of water, Anthony?"
"Yeah… yeah."
Ducky sat beside his friend and spoke softly to him. "Jethro, settle down."
Tony returned quickly with the water and then stepped outside the room to let Ducky take over.
"Here, have a sip of water. It will help flush the medication from your system."
Gibbs eagerly accepted the water before falling back on the pillow. "When… when will it stop?"
"Hopefully by morning, let's get you to the bathroom. Should I call Anthony in to help?"
"No." Gibbs shook his head.
With Ducky's help, Gibbs shuffled to the bathroom and then back again, collapsing on the bed as soon as it was within reach. His legs cramped again and he muffled a moan by throwing his arm across his face. He was vaguely aware of Ducky's calming words, telling him to breathe deeply and then helping him to drink a little more water.
His body felt weird, like he was floating and although he could feel the pain in him limbs as his muscles tensed, he felt disconnected from himself, from everything.
Then, as suddenly as the muscle cramps had started, they disappeared. He felt the bed dip beside him, opposite where Ducky was sitting. A familiar shape appeared and Gibbs sighed at the sudden wave of relief that washed over him.
"Shannon." A smile tugged on his lips before he realized her could see through her and he sobered instantly, and a look of panic crossed his face. He wiped the sweat from his brow and looked to Ducky. "Am I dying, Duck?"
"Heavens no, it'll be a rough night, but you'll be just fine. We just need to wait it out, I'm afraid. Try and get some sleep." Ducky pressed his stethoscope to Gibbs' chest and listened to his heart beat. It was faster than normal, but at this point Ducky wasn't worried about any further complications. All they could do was wait.
Gibbs wasn't convinced, the pain he felt throughout his body - he was certain he wouldn't make it. His muscles ached and even he knew he was burning up. Suddenly he found himself wondering where Abby was, though he couldn't quite come up with her name. He couldn't remember her words, but he remembered her husky voice as she spoke to him and how he had felt calm when she was near. "I'll never see her again," Gibbs looked back to where Shannon had been, but had since disappeared. "I don't want to be alone. I need her. Where is she?" It came out as a choked cry.
"I know Jethro. I know you miss her." Ducky patted his hand. It felt like déjà vu, going through Jethro's grief over Shannon and Kelly a second time, the first being after the explosion that left him with retrograde amnesia and sent him packing to Mexico. "You'll feel better in the morning, I promise."
"No..." Gibbs writhed in pain, his muscles cramping. "I just… I need her."
TBC…