Chap. 2

AN: Thanks to all the readers, for adding the story to your favorite/alert list and to the reviewers for the reviews.

Tony, Chris and Sam spent the weekend together. Now it was Monday morning and the bullpen was quiet, and Tony was setting at his desk, thinking. A rumor has been circulating in the office for a few days already. A rumor gaining weight as Abby and Gibbs were right now in Vance's office.

Abby Scuito was not very happy. She has been convoked in Vance's office, and what he was telling her wasn't making her happy in the least. She tried to get help from Gibbs but even Gibbs couldn't make Leon change his mind, even if Gibbs did know better about what was best for Abby.

But the director was adamant, Abby was getting help in the laboratory, because there was too much work for one person and she couldn't keep working by herself. Vance assured Abby that the "Charles Stearling" accident would not be a recurrence; all candidates' profiles would be examined. She was going to conduct the interview and choose herself the new Forensic Scientist who would work with her.

In defeat, Abby and Gibbs came down to the bullpen.

"So is it true?" asked McGee.

"Yeah, Timmy, I'll have a new co-worker! Can you believe that?"

"Abs, maybe you could use this help. You're always

overworked."

"Tony! Even if I'm overworked I still prefer working alone!" Abby argued.

"Abby, you do not need to anger yourself."Ziva tried to calm Abby. "Did Director Vance already choose someone?"

"No. I'll be doing the interview and select the one I want to work with."

"That's a good thing, Abby," Tony tried again, seeing that Abby was just getting even more angry. Not that he could blame her but it was always better to have a calm Abby then an angry one.

"And how is that a good thing? I'll have a co-worker!"

"Okay, that's the second time you yelled at me, Abs. I'm just trying to cheer you up."

"Sorry, Tony. It's just…I don't know, I have a bad feeling about it."

Gibbs hugged Abby, and kissed her on the temple before saying, "Don't worry, Abs. Everything's gonna be alright."

Abby could only hope so; she was having a very bad feeling about it.

The rest of day passed quietly. The team working on cold case as Abby reviewed the files of candidates, who applied recently for the forensic scientist position.

Among them was a file of a young woman; she was working for the Plant Biochemistry Center. She graduated with a Ph. D. in Biochemistry and Chemistry.

Putting the file on the stack to interview, a name could be read on it, Christina M. Mitchell.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssss

That night, Tony went to Chris's apartment. During the evening, Tony told Chris about the available position that just opened at NCIS.

"Are you kidding me? Because if you are, that's not funny!"

"No, I'm not. I know that you wanted to get a job like that for a long time."

When they met, Chris told Tony how much she found her job boring. She was analyzing, identifying and listing all the plants being gathered around the world. And botanic had never been her favorite subject, but she needed the work and that was the only position available when she moved to Washington DC.

She had told him that she wanted to work at a forensic position. She had applied to several governmental agencies, the police department and NCIS among them.

And Chris was a fan of Abby's work, even before knowing Gibbs. She had always wanted to meet her.

"So, do you know who Ms. Suito is gonna be interviewing?"

"No, Chris, I don't know."

"Could you put a word for me? I don't want you to obtain me the job, just an appointment. I want a chance to prove her I'm the one for the job."

"I'll see what I can do tomorrow."

"Oh, Tony, I love you!"

"Good to know you love me for that." Tony snorted.

"Oh Tony, you know why I love you." Chris replied, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

While making out with him, Chris could only think that she really needed to tell Tony the truth, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

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On Tuesday morning, Tony went to see Abby in her lab. He could see the stacks on her desk.

"Hey Abby, how are you this morning?"

"Hey. Fine and you?"

"Fine, fine…"

"What's going on, Tony?"

Tony replied awkwardly, "Nothing! Just want to be sure you're okay, you know… with you having to find a new co-worker and all…"

Abby gave Tony a big hug. "Thank you Tony. And you were right yesterday, I could use the help."

"Did you already look over the candidates' files?"

"Yeah, and don't worry, none of them will try to frame you for murder this time!"

"Haha, very funny," Tony said, sarcasm dripping from every word. Luckily, Abby didn't seem to notice. It was just that he wasn't that fond of thinking about it. "Anyway, could I get a peak at them?

"You really want to go through them?" Abby asked, raising her eyebrows. "Well, okay. Go on and assure yourself that nobody will harm the team"

Tony didn't know how to react. Letting Abby think he wanted to be secure regarding the future forensic scientist or explaining to her that he wanted to know if his girlfriend who nobody knew about had a chance to have an interview? 'Let it be the secure part.'

"I'll just look if any names ring any bells."

Abby showed him the stack of people she was going to interview. Looking through them, Tony was glad that Chris was among them and that he didn't have to do anything about it.

He was already embarrassed about having to lie to Abby about his relationship. He wanted to speak to her about Chris but he was afraid of losing the magic of their liaison if he did talk about it. But it was killing him, keeping silent to the woman he considered a sister.

"Well everything seems fine! I got back to work. See ya later, Abby!"

Abby watched as Tony ran out of her lab. She knew there was something Tony wasn't telling her and she only knew it was a woman. She didn't to want to snoop, didn't want to give into the temptation of her suspicions; she wanted Tony to be able to talk to her about it.

She'd wait until he was ready to tell her but in the meantime she was happy that he found a woman to make him happy.

SSSSSSSS

The following week, Chris got an interview with Abby. She was nervous about it even if Tony had tried to relax her the best he could.

Tony gave her a few tips to get on Abby good side and was she ever grateful. She wanted to make this work more then most anything.

She arrived at the NCIS building, promptly on time, passed security and found herself at Abby's lab a lot quicker then she had hoped. She was so nervous.

She could hear loud music blaring; she knew it was the first test from what Tony warned her about. Abby wanted to be sure that a future co-worker could handle her music. It didn't bother Chris; she liked all sort of music. Going to her, she presented herself with a warm smile and shook Abby's hand.

"Good morning, I'm Chris!"

"Good morning to you too. Call me Abby."

"All right Abby. Good choice of music, I like this group." Chris paused. "It's Collide, right?"

"Yes. Glad you like it!" Abby was clearly pleased. "So tell me more about you."

"I graduated with a Ph D. of biochemistry and chemistry from Stanford. I always oriented my study toward the forensic. I've always wanted to work in this area."

"Okay, I can see that in your file, but what about yourself personally?"

"Oh." Chris and Tony both agreed to keep their relationship hidden during all the interview period. Chris didn't want to have this job because of her relation. If she got this employment then they would come out to the team. And that was still a pretty big if. "I'm a single mom… and well, I'm seeing someone at the moment. It's pretty serious."

"Oh, that's so cute. How old is your child?"

"Sam is four, and one wonderful little boy!" Chris hesitated but then decided to tell her partly the truth. "To be honest with you, I know about you…your work I mean. Because of your results on the importance of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase gene for the distinction between immature stages of some forensically important fly species."

"Wow. Well, thank you! Listen, I already have seen a lot of people but to be honest too, you are the first one I feel at ease with, your scientific background is more than okay, and you seem fine. I still have to see two more people but let just say that you have a very good chance to have the job."

"Thank you Abby. Please, let me know as soon as possible of your decision or I'll die from the stress." Chris replied with a laugh. She said good-bye then she headed to the elevator.

Waiting for the elevator, Chris was on a little cloud. She couldn't believe that she had such a great chance to obtain the position. The door of elevator opened and as soon as she looked in, Chris lost all her composure. There, in the elevator car was Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

"Ms. Mitchell." Gibbs was shocked when he saw her but didn't let it show.'God, she looks a lot like Shannon.'

"Hello Ag –" Chris interrupted herself. 'I'm not supposed to know him!'

"Agent Gibbs." Gibbs presented himself.

"Well, Agent Gibbs, you're not going get out?"

"No, I was waiting for you."

Chris was a little worried. And judging by the look on his face, she had good reason for it. "Me… why?"

"I conduct the second part of the interview; step in Ms. Mitchell."

Getting in, Chris was now really anxious. When the elevator began to move, Gibbs stopped it and spoke.

"So why don't you tell me a little about yourself." It wasn't a request. It was an order.

"I didn't know an agent was qualified to assess the forensic scientist." As usual, when Chris was worried and feeling attacked, she was abrasive.

"I'm qualified to find out if you're a danger to my team and Abby is a part of it." The tone in the team leader's voice left no one to debate.

Trying to calm herself and the situation, Chris's response was to appease the agent. "Listen, I'm just a scientist fascinated by the forensic. All I want is to work with Abby, I really appreciate her works."

"I don't believe you, you seem to me hiding something," Gibbs said bluntly, voice sharp.

"And how did you arrive to this conclusion? We just met," Chris snapped. 'Damn it, Chris; calm down. You're suppose to be trying to appease the situation.'

"My gut." He paused. "I'll keep an eye on you." This was a warning and she knew it. But, what the hell did it mean?

"Thank you Agent Gibbs, I'll keep that in mind," she said crisply. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have my son to pick up from the kindergarten." With that Chris started the elevator again, and as soon as possible got out.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Enjoying the fact that she had the whole day since she took off for the interview, Chris took Sam to the park for the afternoon.

Watching her son play, she tried to calm herself down; that unscheduled meeting with Gibbs had put her emotion on row. Finding solace of having a good chance in obtaining the job, she decided to call her dad. That always put her in a good mood.

"Hi, Dad, it's Chris. I may have gotten a new job," Chris blurted out as soon as her dad picked up. "I can finish the boring one. The analysis of thousands of plants…and hello passion for a work that each day is different and challenging. And I'll help to solve crimes!"

"Sweetie, calm down will you?" Her father said, with a chuckle. "I know you always wanted to work with forensics." He paused, becoming serious. "But don't get carried away since as I understood it, you do not have the job yet. And please tell me that's not at NCIS."

"Daaad…. I know what I'm doing okay?"

"Did you see him?" His voice was sharp.

"A little bit," Chris admitted, keeping her eyes on her son. "Let's just say he didn't welcome me."

"I don't like it, Chris."

"You know I love you right, Dad? You're my dad; you're the one who took me home from the hospital. The one who stood up at night with me when I was a baby, you and mom. You're the one who followed me through my life and you know, both of you mean the world to me."

"I know that…both of us do." He paused, voice heavy with emotion. "That's not what we are worried about. You should tell him the truth."

"Dad, I will. We already talk about it when we learned the truth. When we learned that Shannon and Kelly were dead, we discussed it. We decided that I'd choose the right time to go to him and tell him myself."

"So, why not now?" 'God, why did he have to make sense?'

"First, I want to get to know him. And secondly, I want to know if he likes me, if he could love me without knowing I'm his blood, without knowing I'm his daughter."

TBC….

So did one of you expecting this? I already know where I'm taking the story but let me know what you think!

AN: there is really a paper about it, do not own it! Belong to Michelle Harvey and her team