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They enter the building quietly, with their guns drawn. Dinozzo is the first to break down the door. "NCIS! PUT YOUR HANDS UP!"
A frail, little old lady, stood with her arms trembling and held high. "W-who are you youngsters?"
Tony and McGee turn to each other as they lower their guns. Tony whispers to McGee, "She can't be calling Gibbs a younster..."
Gibbs ignores the whispering and calmly tells the lady, whose name is apparently Mrs. Crane, to put her hands down. "Where is she, Mrs. Crane?"
Mrs. Crane only shakes her head. "I'm not supposed to tell you. Those other men, the mean ones with the fancy badges, told me I had not choice but to allow them to come here."
"What men, Mrs. Crane?" Ziva steps forward, her ninja instincts on high alert.
"They called themselves the ICE? No, that's not right. The ICA? No..."
A lightbulb goes off in Tony's head. "The CIA?"
"Yes, yes. That was it. They took the poor girl downstairs. Strange creature though. She was wearing black and moaning about how she needs something called a cow..."
"Caf-pow." Gibbs motions for the team to follow him down the stairs but suddenly turns back to Mrs. Crane. "You stay here."
"Boy, you federal types sure are bossy." The team ignores her and creeps slowly down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs is a long hallway. They have no difficulty finding the room in which Abby is held because it's clearly labeled with a handwritten sign and pictures of black roses and skulls: "Abby's Lab".
The team pauses and Gibbs tries the door, but it's locked.
Tony and McGee start arguing about what to do. Gibbs watches on in silence, perplexed as to what to do himself, not that the Great Leroy Jethro Gibbs would admit that.
Finally, while the men are still bickering, Ziva simply walks up to the door and knocks on it twice. The bickering immediately stops and everyone stares at her in shock.
After about a few seconds, a panel (about eye-level) slides back and a pair of very familiar eyes are staring at Ziva. She gasps in shock, as does the other individual and then she does what any other angry female would do at the moment she sees that her ex-boyfriend has kidnapped her current crush. She jabs her fingers into his eyes, causing Ray to howl in pain and move away from the door. They hear a scuffle on the other side and a "hi-ya!" that sounds just like Abby. Then, keys in the door rattle and it swings open to reveal Abby turning away from the door and back to Ray, whom she is currently training a gun on.
The team silently stares at Abby in wonder. "Hi guys! Boy, I've missed you like crazy. Especially you, Gibbs. Well... are you going to help me deal with the creep here or not?"
"Uh... right." Tony steps forward and handcuffs Ray, shoving him onto a chair in the corner. Both McGee and Tony keep their guns on Ray.
Gibbs gives Abby a big hug and a gentle kiss on the cheek. "We've missed ya', Abs."
"Aww... thanks, Gibbs. I've missed you too. Especially the way you would appear magically when I found a clue. These guys suck at that. Sometimes I wait for an hour until they come and pick up the new evidence."
At this, McGee's eyebrows furrow. "Evidence?"
"I'll explain it later, Timmy. Right now, we need to close the door. Kort's going to be coming back soon and we still have to catch him."
Everyone's eyebrows raise and Gibbs growls, moving to shut the door. The team quickly formulates a plan, with only Ziva staying mysteriously silent, unable to speak. Unable to talk to her beloved Abby after she realized just how much Abby means to her after seeing a man with a gun that had obviously been trained on Abby moments before... She wishes she could just blurt out that she loves Abby, but it is not that simple. With Ziva, feelings are never simple.
Soon enough, they hear a rattling at the door as Kort inserts a key. The door swings open and the only person he sees is Ray, handcuffed to the chair. Kort hurries over to Ray. "What the hell happened? Where's the dame? We need her, you idiot!"
Ray only shrugs. He was going to warn his companion, but after the way he was just spoken to, he decides against it. Kort is completely unaware when he feels the cold, hard metal of a gun barrel being pressed to his head. Gibbs growls, "Drop the gun, Kort. NOW!"
Kurt complies and puts his hands up. Gibbs swiftly handcuffs him and hands him off to Tony and McGee who walk him up the stairs and to the NCIS car. Tony mentions they will come back for CI-Ray in a second.
Finally, with no other distractions, Ziva is forced to notice Abby or appear rude. "Hi Abby."
Abby meets her eyes and quickly closes the gap between them, crushing Ziva in a tight hug. "I've missed you, Ziva."
"I've missed you too."
Ziva suddenly meets Gibbs' eyes over Abby's shoulder and he glimpses the pain, longing, and love in Ziva's eyes before her usual mask goes up. Gibbs quickly covers his surprise as amazement hits him. Ziva is in love with Abby. He's surprised now that he didn't see it before. This explains why Ziva was the most upset of the team, besides him, that Abby was missing. This explains why Ziva would work on the case all night until Gibbs ordered her home. This explains why she was so quiet and tense lately. This explains why Abby's eyes lit up every time Ziva walked into her lab besides Gibbs and why they often had movie nights without the rest of the team. They wanted to be together, just the two of them.
When they get back to NCIS Headquarters, Gibbs decides to push things along a little for the two women. It's clear they haven't admitted their feelings for each other. "Ziva. Why don't you take Abby home. I don't think she's in any condition to drive right now. Get some sleep, Abs."
Abby only nods numbly and smiles nervously at Ziva. Ziva grabs her bag without another word, but not before glaring slightly at Gibbs, who only smirks at her in a knowing way.
The two ride in complete silence to Abby's apartment, although Abby is dying so say something, anything. When they arrive, Abby turns toward Ziva. "Um... Ziva. I was wondering. I'm really tired and I want some tea. Would you come up and make me some?"
The question was so uncharacteristic of Abby that Ziva was caught off guard, but she simply nods. "Sure. I can do that, Abby."
The two take the elevator to Abby's apartment and Abby drops her stuff the moment they walk in. "Ummm.. I'm going to take a shower. I haven't had one at all since..."
"Okay. I will make your tea, Abby." She hears the shower start running shortly after and tries to quell whatever images attempt to penetrate her mind. Abby is only a friend. Just a friend. She does not feel that way about you. Nevertheless, Ziva decides to make Abby a stack of pancakes because Ziva remembers from her own days living with Ray that the man cannot cook at all. Abby must be starving.
She does not hear Abby walk into the room until she turns and sees her sitting at the table. How long has she been watching?
"Mmmmm... I just love pancakes. Thanks Ziva!" Abby digs in with relish, rambling on about how Ray and Kort cannot make food to save their lives and the little old lady didn't do much better either.
Abby soon grows sleepy, even though she hasn't finished her pancakes. Ziva knows she probably has had little sleep since she was kidnapped, the way Ray and Kort work. She helps Abby up from the table, taking her arm and guides her to the bedroom. "Come on, Abby. Time for bed."
Abby mumbles something incoherent about coffins and snuggles into her pillow as Ziva pulls the covers over her. Ziva stops to admire Abby's peaceful, innocent expression as her dark hair curls gently against her soft skin. If only... Ziva is just about to leave the room and has already turned toward the door, when she feels a hand reach out and grab her forearm.
"Stay..." Abby mumbles it, but Ziva understands.
"Abby... I cannot..."
"Stay. I'm scared, Ziv." Ziva only nods, even though Abby cannot see because her eyes are still closed.
"I need some pajamas." Even though it's only around one in the afternoon, Ziva could use some sleep as well. She has not slept peacefully since Abby was kidnapped.
"Second drawer." Ziva moves toward the dresser and pulls a pair of cute, black and white pajamas with skulls on them and pink stars. She quickly goes to the bathroom and when she comes out, Abby is almost asleep.
She silently whispers. "I will be on the couch, if you need me, Abby."
"Mmm.. No.. Stay." Abby reaches out with her hand and Ziva sighs, not sure if she can handle this. She knows Abby will not sleep, however, until Ziva does as she asks, and Ziva does not want Gibbs yelling at her tomorrow. She silently crawls into bed beside Abby and puts her arms around the other woman. She is suprised when Abby moves closer and rests her head in the curve of Ziva's neck. Abby's soft body melds to Ziva and her gentle arms wrap around Ziva's waist.
"Night."
"Goodnight, Abby." She only whispers, "I love you" once she's sure Abby is asleep.
Please review. Did you guys like Ziva and Abby's treatment of Ray?