Hello my lovely readers! Thank you for your awesome comments on the previous chapters. I hope you enjoy this one too :) Just so ya know, I'm not going to be able to update for about a week; I finish high school tomorrow and then it's Schoolies Week, so I won't be home until next Wednesday. But, I promise I'm going to update as soon as possible :) Enjoy!!!
Chapter Seven
By 8 o'clock in the night, Tony had been through several thousand file photos, unsuccessfully trying to identify the rapist. The DNA tests from the scrapings under Abby's nails hadn't given them anything. The tech had managed to pull two sets of prints from the knife. One, on the blade, had matched Tony. This result had come up pretty quickly because his prints were already in the system. The second print, on the handle of the knife, was yet to yield a match but Tony was hopeful. It was more than likely that the print belonged to the Friday Rapist and the machine still had hundreds of thousands of prints to run it against. He left the forensic technician on the midnight shift with strict orders to call him the moment the search had a match and, with nothing else to do, left with Gibbs.
They grabbed Chinese food and beer on the way to Tony's apartment, remembering the state of Tony's fridge.
Abby was sitting on the couch with Ducky watching Tony's TV when they walked in.
"Gibbs!" Abby jumped up, wrapping her arms around the silver-haired man. She was wearing Tony's blue dressing gown but the black skull-and-crossbones pajamas she wore underneath definitely didn't belong to Tony. "Friend dropped off my suitcase from the hotel," she explained when she saw Gibbs glance at them.
She turned toward Tony. She looked tired, he noted, probably thanks to the sedatives. Tired and sad, but at the same time okay. The haunted look he had seen too many times in the other victims wasn't present in her eyes. She embraced him in a hug as he set down the beer and food. "Thank you." She whispered into his ear. Tony smiled, hugging her back.
"Oh my god your eye!" she squealed, seeing it properly for the first time. Her finger ran across the bruise softly. "Are you wearing makeup?" She held up her finger, smeared with the creamy foundation.
"Gotta look good for the cameras, you know. Did you see me on the news?" Tony replied with a grin.
"Only, like, five times today. My hero." She hugged him again then reached for the beer. She passed one to each of the men then settled back on the couch.
"Anthony, I must thank you for your hospitality." Ducky said once everyone was finished eating. "You have far exceeded the call of duty. Needless to say, I will soon be out of your hair. As much as I'm relieved that Abigail is okay, I am currently the only medical examiner working for NCIS and my services are needed back in Washington."
"No problem Ducky. You're all welcome here as long as you need." Tony said, standing up and stretching.
Ducky smiled at him. "As I was discussing earlier with Abby, she has two bedrooms in her suite back at the hotel, so we planned to head back there to spend the night. I believe we won't all fit here."
"Nah, it's late, you should stay." Tony said. "I've got a spare room, plus a couch and my bed. You guys can sleep on those. I'll take the floor, doesn't bother me."
"No, Tony, you need your sleep. You look really tired!" Abby said, her eyes filled with concern.
Tony brushed it off. "Seriously, I'm fine. Stay. I'm going to go running, make yourselves at home."
Gibbs looked at him. "It's almost 10 pm DiNozzo."
"Yeah, I used to run in the mornings but a few reporters found out about it and used to follow me hoping for an extra interview. It's nice and peaceful at night. Besides, I've got a gun." He winked at Abby, quickly heading into the bedroom and reappearing in tracksuit pants and a tank top.
"Be back in an hour," he told the room, clipping the gun onto the waistband of his pants. He was gone before anyone could reply.
Gibbs was sitting on the sofa, watching television with the sound off when Tony stepped through the door about an hour later, perspiring heavily. Abby and Ducky had since gone to bed, the doors to the main and spare bedrooms were closed. Nodding to Gibbs, he stumbled into the shower.
"Sit down Tony," Gibbs said as Tony emerged from the shower fifteen minutes later, his eyes fixed on the television screen. Tony hesitated for a second but he wasn't sure how the older man would react to being disobeyed, so he grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge then sat down on the armchair across from Gibbs.
"'Sup?" Tony asked. Gibbs turned the television off, his eyes locking on Tony.
"What did you mean before?"
Tony frowned, thinking back. "Before… you mean about going running at night? Or about how you guys are staying here? Or about –"
"When you said, you 'sure could've that kind of attitude last night' to your partner."
"Oh that? That was nothing, Dan just has this thing about stakeouts." Tony drank from the bottle, but stopped when he felt the full force of Gibbs' stare.
"Don't lie to me DiNozzo. Tell me what's going on with you and your partner. How is it that he was completely uninjured while the rapist did a number on you and got away?" Gibbs reached out, gently taking the water from Tony's hand before he could distract himself taking another drink.
"Gibbs I-"
"I've read the report DiNozzo. I want the unofficial explanation."
Tony sighed, suddenly feeling more than a little weary. His run, coupled with the fact he hadn't slept at all the previous night, and barely a few hours each night before that, left him struggling to keep his eyes open. And it definitely hadn't left him with enough energy to resist Gibbs' questioning.
"There was a false alarm. Two drunk guys yelling in the same alleyway, about five minutes before the real attack happened. We heard it, ran out with guns drawn just to shout at some idiots. When we heard Abby screaming, just after we gone back inside – well I guess it did sound a lot like the drunk guys again. Dan didn't want to get up again, he was watching the door, looking for suspicious men dressed in black. I ran outside and the rest, you've read in the report."
Gibbs sat up straight, eyebrows knotted in anger. "You had no backup? You attacked the guy by yourself?"
"I know it was stupid," Tony said, taken aback by Gibbs' fury. "But I had no choice, the guy was on top of Abby, he had a knife. I had to do something."
"I'm going to kill him." Gibbs growled, standing up. Tony looked up at him, surprised by the man's actions.
"Wh-" Tony interrupted himself with a huge yawn. He rubbed his jaw, looking sheepishly at Gibbs.
"Get some rest Tony," Gibbs said not unkindly, nodding his head to the recently vacated sofa.
"Where are you planning on sleeping then?"
Gibbs pointed to the pile of blankets in the corner Tony hadn't noticed on his way in, a collection of comforters from both beds as well as the couple of blankets kept in the cupboard.
Tony grinned. "Are you planning on walking tomorrow? Or even standing straight? Because that's gonna ruin your back." He stood up, walked over and flopped down on the blankets. "You take the couch. Trust me, you'll appreciate it in the morning."
"What about your back?" Gibbs pointed out.
"My back can take it." Tony smiled up at him. "I'm young Gibbs."
Gibbs stood in silence. None of the underlings he'd ever trained at NCIS would ever dare speak to him like that. Or live to tell the tale anyway. A comment like that warranted a slap to some part of the body at least.
Before he could reply, however, the daring detective was fast asleep.
TBC
Please review if you have time, I'll update as soon as I get back :)