Abby spun circles in her chair as she waited on Gibbs. He'd called down when he first arrived to let her know that they had been called out right away, but that he would stop by as soon as they returned. She stopped spinning and stood up when AFIS beeped, alerting her to a match. Oh my, Abby stumbled as the room continued to move around her. She scrambled to grab hold of the corner of the evidence table as she swayed, but found herself steadied as two hands gripped her waist.
"Careful, Abbs."
"Good catch, Gibbs." Abby paused a moment to allow the room the stop spinning. "Always showing up at the perfect time, thanks."
Gibbs smirked and gave her waist a slight squeeze before letting her step away.
Abby stepped up to the desk to see what AFIS had come up with. "You got something for me? I'm running prints for Agent Larsen, but it's nothing high-priority and it's a little boring."
"So the spinning isn't part of finding results?"
Abby grinned. "Not exactly, it's more about waiting for results. It makes time go a bit faster. I think. Anyway, you have something for me?"
"Don't I always?" Gibbs winked before pulling a small evidence bag from his pocket. "It's a bit mangled, but…?"
Abby's smile melted into a frown as she held the bullet up. "I'm not sure if I can get a 100% match, but I'll see what I can do." At Gibbs' silent question she continued, "Sorry, wrong answer. I will make a match."
"Good." He leaned forward to kiss her cheek, but pulled back when Abby turned towards him and started to talk.
"You know, you really owe Sister Rosita a visit. She asked about you."
"I know. You had fun bowling last night?"
Abby grinned. "I did. You should've seen the sisters, they were all over Tobias. They kept arguing over how to teach him to bowl properly, and he looked like a scared child between them. I couldn't stop laughing. We had fun though. I suggested that we take Emily bowling with the nuns when this is all over. I think Emily would appreciate doing something fun like that."
"I'm sure she would." Gibbs quickly kissed her cheek and turned on his heel. The idea of Abby, Fornell, and Emily spending time together, like a family, brought too many emotions to the surface and the easiest thing to do was leave. Thoughts of Abby falling for Fornell swirled into thoughts of the family life that he had lost. He never had the chance to take Kelly bowling.
Abby worked hard on the bullet, and with the help of McGee was able to get a match to the gun that had been discovered a few miles from the crime scene. She sat at Gibbs' desk while the agents stood in front of the plasma discussing the case. Gibbs had left them to talk it over while he was up with the director.
"You know, the evidence is pointing at the marine's wife, but something just doesn't sit right." Tony paced back and forth behind the rest of the team.
"Tony." Ziva glared at him. "Just because she is pretty doesn't mean that she didn't kill him."
"I know that, Ziva. I just have a funny feeling in my gut."
"Oh, so we're following your gut now?" McGee added.
"Shut up, McLoser."
"Abby, you ready to leave?" The entire team turned at the sound of Fornell's voice.
"Well, at least that explains the funny feeling in your gut, Tony." Ziva gave a slight nod towards Fornell.
Tony smirked. "I never said I had completely honed my skills."
"Sure. I've got my stuff with me." Abby picked up her jacket and her purse and linked her arm through his as they headed toward the elevator. "What are we doing tonight?"
"You're a demanding girlfriend, aren't you?"
"Gotta keep you on your toes, Tobias."
"Apparently." The elevator reached the parking garage and they walked out towards his car. "How about we grab an ice cream? I've got something to run by you."
"Something to run by me?"
"Don't worry, it's nothing bad."
"Good. I like ice cream."
---
"So, I'd have to wear a dress?"
"Yes."
Abby swirled her spoon around the melted ice cream in her bowl. "What does it benefit?"
"Every year we have a community leadership award which goes out to an individual or organization that has worked to support local crime and drug prevention. The proceeds from this formal will go toward that."
"So it's just a big, fancy dinner?"
"Basically."
"And you'll buy me a new dress?"
"Don't you have something you could wear?"
"Nothing that would be seen as appropriate for a bunch of FBI big-wigs."
"Not sure I even want to know. I guess I could shell out for a new dress." Fornell raised a brow. "I do have a reputation to watch out for."
Abby socked him playfully in the arm. "I would hit you harder, but I guess in some ways you might be right. So, is there price limit I have to work with here?"
"Be reasonable. I'm FBI, not rich."
"Oh come on, can't you whip your FBI platinum card?"
Fornell grunted at the thought of an FBI platinum card. He was FBI, not the president.
"Can I ask Ziva to go shopping with me?"
"I'm sure that can be arranged for the weekend, if Jethro doesn't have her in the office all weekend. I have budget meetings both Saturday and Sunday, so I'll be gone most of the day."
"Budget meetings, huh? Do those leave you as cranky as they leave Gibbs? He's a bear after those and we all tend to stay out of his way for an hour or two."
Fornell laughed. "I don't blame you."
Abby set down her spoon, her expression turning serious. "I blame Vance. He knows how much Gibbs hates those meetings. I think he has Gibbs go to those things just to piss him off."
"You blame Leon for a lot of things, don't you?"
"He's toyed with the team quite a bit. But whatever, I don't want to talk about that." Abby scooped up some ice cream. "Want a bite?"
----
Vincent Kain sat back and sipped his coffee as he watched Tobias and Abby eat their ice cream across the street at the ice cream shop. It reminded him of the last time he'd been out with Jillian; Cold Stone Creamery was one of their favorite places for a date. They'd laughed over something silly and he had kissed a drop of ice cream from her lip. The FBI agent doesn't deserve his beautiful young girlfriend, Vincent decided silently. He watched as the young woman smiled and laughed, and Tobias Fornell sat back his expression emotionless. Vincent couldn't understand how a woman could love someone so cold.
He flipped open the file of information he'd managed to dig up on both Agent Fornell and his girlfriend. He was surprised that such a hard-nosed FBI agent would end up with someone like Abby Sciuto. He knew about Fornell's ex-wife and daughter, and figured that perhaps Miss Sciuto was part of his mid-life crisis. The only part that didn't fit was that Abby seemed to enjoy herself with Fornell. She didn't act like the typical gold digger with the older man. He wondered briefly if Fornell was good in bed.
He watched from the corner of his eye as Abby scooped up some ice cream and offered it across the table. He wanted to gag when Fornell accepted and Abby fed him the bite.
I deserve to be loved like that.
I was loved like that.
The FBI took it all away. Vincent was prepared to do the same. "I'll talk to you soon, Miss Sciuto." He finished his coffee, gathered his papers and left.
----
TBC…