Half an hour passed before McGee was calling Gibbs on his cell phone, suppressing his panic until it was fully justified.
"Yeah, McGee?" Gibbs answered.
"Is Robyn with you?" McGee asked quickly.
Gibbs' jaw clenched. "No. You mean she's not at school?"
"No. The person that I talked to said she left over an hour ago."
"Okay. Well, we are just going to have to find her."
"Boss?"
"Yeah?"
"You don't think she heard…do you?" McGee asked, his voice thick with worry.
"I don't know…" Gibbs' phone beeped as DiNozzo was calling him. "Just keep looking." Was all the advice he offered McGee as he clicked over while grabbing his gear and began rushing to his car.
"Hello?" Gibbs said into the receiver.
"Frost wasn't at his house. All his stuff was gone, so we thi- Ziva, watch the road!" Tony screamed.
Gibbs heard Ziva say in the distance, "I know how to drive, Tony."
"He's still in town." Gibbs said quickly, ignoring their bickering.
"How do you know, boss?" Tony asked, becoming quiet, listening for his answer.
"Because, wherever he is, so is Robyn."
There was silence for a while. "She heard?" He asked, his voice so quiet that Gibbs barely heard him.
"That's the theory."
"We're on it boss. We'll get him."
"I know we will, DiNozzo. Look everywhere, and find him soon." Gibbs hung up as he jumped into his car. He shoved the key into the ignition, turning it sharply and listened to the engine roar to life. He peeled out of the parking garage, wasting no time.
As he drove, he dialed Robyn's number, putting the phone to his ear. It rang 5 times before going to voicemail. He repeated the process 3 more times, getting the same result with each attempt except on the final one. That time it didn't even ring. It went straight to her voicemail. She had turned her phone off.
Cursing loudly he dialed the number to the Forensics Lab and heard Abby's voice after the second ring. For that, he was extremely grateful.
"Hey Gibbs!" She said, practically hearing the smile through the phone.
"Abby, Robert Frost isn't at his house. I need you to narrow down the places where he could be. Can you do that for me?"
"Of course, Gibbs." She answered. He heard the smile leave her face. "Is everything okay?"
"We think Robyn is looking for him. She might have already found him." Gibbs explained quickly.
"Oh God…. Okay. I'm on it."
Gibbs hung up. The first place he drove was to his own house, just making sure that she hadn't just gone there after school. With little surprise, he saw that she wasn't there. He even checked the retirement home she had been talking about. No luck there either. This seemed to be the final confirmation that Robyn was in fact doing something stupid.
. . .
Everyone had looked everywhere they could think of. Finally, the call from Abby came in.
"Gibbs. I think I might know where Frost is."
"Where, Abby?" He asked in what was bordering on a shout.
"He has recently been trying to sell a house that's practically gone off the grid. Nobody has bought it, but the listing for it is gone from everything. The woman who owned it died, so no one is really missing it. Since he is a realtor, it makes sense that he would be hiding out there. The address is 421 Mountain Gate Drive." She said quickly.
"Thanks, Abby." Gibbs said, but still unable to find relief.
"Gibbs. Please don't let her get hurt." Abby begged. Abby and Robyn especially had become close friends.
"I won't Abbs." Gibbs said, his voice soft as he flipped his phone shut and spun the car around, speeding towards the address. He called the team while he was on the way there and they were all heading towards it as fast as they could.
. . .
It felt like it took forever to get there. Gibbs stomped on the breaks when he saw the numbers 421. The front right tire skidded onto the grass. He jumped out of the car, seeing McGee already at the door, gun drawn. He looked back at Gibbs who gave a quick nod as he was running up the lawn. McGee kicked open the door and quickly cleared the room before Gibbs came thundering in. They split up. The house was a good size, being in a rich part of town. It didn't take long before Gibbs found the two of them. It was the sound of a struggle that drew him to the area. As he stepped in the doorway of the room, aiming his gun at Frost, he saw the cause of all the noise.
There wasn't any furniture in the room so the blood stains on the floor were easy to catch, even at a glance. Gibbs was just in time to see Robyn hit Frost as hard as she could in the gut which caused the same knife that had killed Sara Frost go flying out of his hand. It skidded across the floor behind him, hitting the wall. Frost then, in a fit of rage, shoved her, causing her foot to land in a small puddle of blood. Her foot slipped out from under her and she landed hard on her back. Frost scrambled to get the knife; his fingers wrapping tightly around the handle and turned to face Robyn who was now already back on her feet.
"Drop the knife!" Gibbs shouted before the two of them got too close to each other.
They both looked at him, neither having noticed he was there. Frost quickly dropped the knife, letting it clatter onto the floor, creating in eerie sound. Gibbs looked back at Robyn. He immediately saw where the blood had come from. Her left cheek was slashed open, blood dripping down her face, off her chin and onto her once white, deep V-neck shirt, staining it dark red. Her right hand also sported a nasty cut. When he looked back at Richard, he saw that he wasn't it too good of condition either. His left eye was black and swollen shut. His lip was bleeding profusely. They were both breathing heavily like they had been running five miles.
McGee came running in at that moment, is gun also aimed at Richard's chest. His eyes flashed to Robyn, going wide for a moment in shock, but forced them over back on Frost.
"Robyn. Come, now." Gibbs ordered, gun still pointing at Frost.
"But, Gibbs, I-"
"Now!"
Gibbs had never heard Robyn so angry before. Even in the interrogation room. Then she had been angry, sure. But what he heard was blinding, unsurpassable rage. He didn't even know she was capable of it. But of course when he found out whom Shannon and Kelly's killer was he didn't know he was capable of that kind of anger either. Not making eye contact with either him or McGee, she walked just outside of the room, waiting.
Frost decided to take that moment to bail and he sprinted out the back door followed by Gibbs. His foot barely touched the grass of the back yard before he was tackled hard to the ground by a much younger and fitter DiNozzo. Ziva was behind them, gun aimed at Frost's face. Tony quickly read Frost his rights and pulled his arms back, putting them in handcuffs with the same degree of gentleness as a lion mauling a zebra, causing him to let out whimpers of pain.
"Suck it up, Dick." DiNozzo said with an air of triumph as he jerked Frost onto his feet roughly.
. . .
Robyn sat on the front steps of the house, watching as Richard was forced into the car by Ziva. She couldn't help thinking about how unfair this whole thing was. She had just needed a few more minutes…
"Out of all the stupid stunts you could have pulled." McGee's voice came from behind her. He moved to sit on the step just below the one she had claimed.
"I know…" She said mechanically.
"No you don't." He said with what was almost a laugh. "I don't even think you realize what you did."
"I didn't do anything wrong."
"You put yourself in danger." McGee corrected.
"It was my choice."
"Drinking and driving is a choice too. That doesn't make it intelligent.
"I'm not drunk."
"No, but you are angry. It's the same thing." Ziva had come up through the yard, joining the conversation.
"Exactly." McGee said simply. "You're so caught up in this that you aren't thinking."
"What is there to think about?" She said, her frustration rising steadily.
"Well, first off," DiNozzo came up the steps with his cell phone about a foot away from his ear, but everyone could hear the voice clearly.
"IS SHE OKAY? YOU GOT HER? WHERE IS SHE? TONY! DID YOU GET FROST? SHE IS OKAY ISN'T SHE?" The voice on the phone was frantic and inconsolable.
"you should start thinking about Abby." Tony finished his sentence, handing her the phone. "She's a little worried." Tony said sarcastically. It sounded like Abby was about to burst. Robyn couldn't even put the phone to her ear for a few seconds until Abby paused to take a breath.
"Abby? Hey, I'm okay."
"THANK GOD! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? ARE YOU OKAY? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA! I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE ALIVE!-"
It went on like this for a good two minutes before she finally started to calm down.
"Yeah, I'm okay. But I'm starting to worry about you a little bit." She said with a crooked smile.
"I won't believe you until I see you! Tony said that you were hurt! Is that true?"
"It's nothing serious. Really, it's just a scratch."
Before Abby could start screaming again, Gibbs came up and took the phone.
"She'll see you soon, Abbs." Gibbs said quickly, hanging up. He looked down at Robyn, tossing DiNozzo his phone.
"Well, come on." Gibbs grumbled.
"Where?" Her voice was shaky. She knew Gibbs was mad, she just wasn't what he was going to do about it.
"Hospital." He said calmly. "You need stitches." He started walking to the car.
Robyn looked around at the team for a moment, like she was looking for guidance.
"I would go. Like, right now." Tony suggested.
"Before the car starts." McGee chimed in.
"Or before he drives off." Ziva was the last one to speak before Robyn finally got to her feet and jogged to the car. She got there just after Gibbs shut his own door.
. . .
They rode in silence for a while before finally Gibbs spoke.
"You realize that was stupid, right?"
"I've been told."
"I asked if you realized it. I don't care what other people told you. I care that you understand how stupid that was."
Robyn huffed. "Well, you all found him. I don't see what the problem is."
"What if we hadn't? That is the problem, Robyn." Gibbs said, his own temper rising.
"I would have been fine."
"Really? Cause to me it looked like he was waiting for you to get close enough to he could actually kill you. But what do I know? I'm just the outsider who happens to be a trained field agent trying to keep you safe because you have no regard for your own life."
There was a pause.
"Well?"
"I don't know what you want me to say, Gibbs!"
"Don't tell me what I want to hear! Tell me what you're thinking!"
"Fine! You act like you're my father! You're not! I did fine without one for years, so I don't know what makes you think that I need one now!"
"I treat you like I would any one of my team." Gibbs said, trying to quiet himself down a little.
"I'm not your team." She stared out the window, not wanting to look at him anymore.
"Why are you so determined to push everyone away?"
"In case you haven't noticed, it's over. Frost is in jail, Sara is dead. The worst part is, being with NCIS has been amazing. I love everyone there, but it's over. I have to go Lord knows where and that's going to be it."
Now Gibbs understood. He had completely forgotten that once the case was over, she would have to leave. He took a deep breath looking over at her bloody face. Tears were in her eyes, but like always, they did not fall.
"You know, you cry in your sleep." Gibbs said softly.
"What?"
"You cry in your sleep." He said with a shrug. "I think it's the only reason you're still sane. Everybody has to do it sometime. Otherwise, they lose what makes them human." To his relief, he heard her laugh.
"You're one to talk." She said, finally peeling her eyes away from the window. "You don't exactly look like the crying type. Course, you never looked completely sane either."
"Exactly. Perfect example." He said with his crooked smile.
. . .
Gibbs sat with Robyn in the hospital, who was only there to get her face and hand patched up. She sat on the table where the nurse was working on her, tapping her fingers slightly, trying to ignore the fact that she was literally being sewn up. She never liked the thought of it.
"Where is your compass?" Gibbs asked curiously. Whenever she was nervous, she always fiddled with that thing. It was weird seeing her just tapping her fingers like that.
"Abby has it." She said simply.
"Hold still." The nurse hissed. She wasn't exactly a nice, young health giver. More of the old, bitter, might kill you in your sleep kind. Robyn was just happy she was just in here for stitches.
"Why does Abby have it?"
"Cause she's helping me with something."
"Hold still!" The nurse demanded again. Gibbs couldn't help but smile at the nurse's frustration and neither could Robyn.
"What is she helping you with?" He continued with the conversation.
"You kno-" She wasn't even able to finish her sentence before the nurse flung her hands up in defeat, spinning around on Gibbs.
"Would you like to be the one to give her stitches?" The nurse asked angrily.
"No, bu-"
"Well, if you would stop asking her questions, which she clearly doesn't have the capacity not to answer, then you won't have to!"
Robyn burst out laughing, but cut herself off quickly as the nurse turned once again to face her, getting back to work. Turns out, when she and Gibbs weren't talking to each other, it went pretty smoothly.
"So, what you're saying is, I don't get a lollipop?" Robyn asked, now trying her hardest to get on the nurse's nerves, which she would never dare do if she actually had to spend the night in this hospital.
"Why don't nurses wear those hats anymore? You know? The ones with the red crosses on them? They were pretty cool. I think you could bring them back. Go down in hospital history or something like that."
"You. May. Leave. Right. Now!" The nurse shouted, her face only a few inches from Robyn's.
"Okay." She said with a smile. "Next time I need stitches, you'll be the first one I call."
"Hopefully you're unconscious." The nurse skulked off, eager to get away from the both of them.
"Well, I think she was really nice." Robyn said with a smile.
Gibbs smiled slightly. "You sure made an impression."
"I do what I can."
"So what is Abby helping you with?" Gibbs asked.
"Oh, she's just doing me a favor. That's all."
"What kind of a favor?"
Robyn sighed. "She said that she might be able to use the compass to figure out who my parents are."
Gibbs looked surprised. "I thought you had already decided what your parents were like."
"Well, yeah. But on the off chance that they are still alive and maybe nice people…I just want to know. Even just their names would be okay with me…"
They walked out of the hospital together. After a while, Gibbs said, "Good. I think with the circumstances what they are, it'll be good for you to find out where you came from."
"Yeah. I think so too." She said simply.
Gibbs was just happy that she had something to keep her mind occupied. He didn't want her to think too much about all that had happened in the last few days. Hell, in the last few years. This would be a nice change for her. He hoped beyond hope that her parents were the nicest people that ever existed, and both were alive and well and just looking for their long lost daughter. But Gibbs knew better. That ending just wouldn't fit.
. . .
Meanwhile, back at NCIS, Abby was steadily working upholding her word that she would find Robyn's parents. She was getting absolutely nowhere. With a heavy, tired sigh, she set the compass up on a high metallic shelf where it would be safe. She was trying to figure out what she needed to do. She needed to just go at it a different way. The lab doors slid open and McGee walked through.
"What's got you all worked up?" He asked.
"I promised Robyn that I would find her parents, and now I'm not sure that I can."
"Aren't there birth records? Anything?"
"No! It's like she popped out of thin air! Just appeared one day at the doorstep of some guy named David Porter."
"That's not her father?"
"Nope. He was just the guy who found her when she was about 1 years old." She was frustrated. She wasn't watching as McGee leaned on the shelf, causing it to shake slightly. She hadn't noticed how close she put the compass to the edge, but just that little shake sent it falling to the hard ground.
"McGee!" Was all she had time to yell before it hit the ground just right, sending the back flying off of it. They both scrambled to pick up the contents. They were surprised when all that had fallen out was a piece of folded up paper.
"A secret compartment?" McGee asked as he picked up the backing. Abby had picked up the paper and was already unfolding it.
"Why wouldn't she have told me it was here?"
"I guess she didn't know?"
Abby read the writing on the paper. Halfway through, he hands started to shake. She finally finished the letter and looked up at McGee.
"No. She didn't know. Nobody knew." Abby said, her voice almost a whisper.
McGee took the paper and read it himself. By the time he finished, his eyes were wide and his mouth gaping.
"Oh my God…"