The last of Abby is portrayed in this chapter (Yes, that means there is slight hostility/bashing involved, but nothing to deterimental.)
Tony sat in the emergency stairwell, cradling his throbbing head in his hands, letting out a shuddering sigh as he tried relieving the tension of the migraine he'd had for the past couple of days. Gibbs had officially been retired now for two weeks, and while Tony loved leading the team alongside McGee, things really just weren't the same when it was him and Gibbs running the team.
Tony's migraine continued to pound blindingly behind his eyes as he massaged his temples, he knew he should probably inform either his husband or Ducky about the problem, but up until now it hadn't been interfering with his work. The case they had just gotten was another typical 'I did it in self-defense' when they really hadn't, but their suspect was a whole new type of crazy that Tony hadn't ever experienced in the twenty something years he'd been both a cop and federal agent.
One of the lower stairwell doors opened up, and Tony stiffened when he heard two sets of feet stop just outside the door "I just don't understand why Gibbs would leave him in charge, he made that mistake ten years ago when he retired the first time, why would he think it's such a good idea this time around?!" the female complained – and immediately Tony knew who it was, it was Abby.
"Abby, Tony has been in charge for the past year and a half – Why do you have a problem with it now?" the male voice replied, sounding defensive and if Tony couldn't help but hear a slight anger to the voice, then he wouldn't be the trained investigator that he was. Mentally Tony cheered for McGee's immediate defense to protect him instead of bashing him like the team had ten years ago.
Abby sighed noisily, "Because Tim, Tony isn't Gibbs! It doesn't matter if they're married, he still just isn't Gibbs!" Abby replied, her voice both whiny and sarcastic as she clomped around on the landing "Tony doesn't have what it takes to lead the team, he didn't ten years ago, and still doesn't today!" Abby continued, her voice oddly echoing louder than ever before through the cavernous stairwell.
Tony shook his head ever so slightly, and if he listened hard enough he could probably hear the wheels turning in McGee's head as he thought of his response "Abby… You really need to get over yourself… I love you, but this is getting ridiculous – Gibbs is retired, and this time, he isn't coming back! Tony is our boss, sure I share the same responsibilities as he does, but his seniority makes him the boss of bosses, just like when Gibbs was here!" McGee defended, sitting heavily on the steps and sighing as he watched the raven-haired Goth pace back and forth.
"I have more seniority than Tony does, but that doesn't make me the boss of anything, now does it?!" Abby shot back, "Maybe I should be leading the MCRT instead of him!" she continued, then sighed "I just… Ever since they got together, Gibbs has changed! He used to actually like me then Tony came along and changed everything that used to be so precious to me!" Abby whined, sitting down next to McGee.
"Seriously? Of course Gibbs has changed, Abby… and honestly, you deserve to be on the outside looking in if you're going to have an attitude like that towards them. Gibbs loves Tony, it's not like Tony brainwashed Gibbs and forced him to fall in love – They'd been dancing around their feelings for the past eleven years, and now that they're together… Why not just be happy for them and stop trying to shove all your problems off on them?" McGee said, shaking his head as he stood up and started up the stairs slowly "And one other thing… Tony is Gibbs, Abby, not just in name, but in spirit as well – Just because you don't see it, we all do upstairs, and he has Gibbs' fire and passion." McGee added as he continued up the stairs, stopping short with wide eyes as he came upon Tony sitting in the stairwell with reddened eyes and tears riding silently down the sides of his face.
Both men waited on bated breath for Abby to leave the stairwell before either said anything, Tony slowly pushed up "Need to use the bathroom…" Tony said hoarsely as he stumbled down the stairs slightly, only slightly embarrassed as his face flattened against McGee's chest when the younger agent caught him under the armpits.
Together McGee and Tony headed for the bathroom just outside of the stairwell, Tony closed himself off in one of the stalls as his lunch came back up in waves. After a few dry heaves, Tony slowly exited the stall and leaned against the counter, his head hung low as he tried expelling the nausea rolling through his body "Thanks… McGee. For… what you said down there… and for this…" Tony said, waving his hand aimlessly around the bathroom.
McGee nodded as he settled a cold and damp paper towel on the back of Tony's neck "Don't mention it Tony… I've learned my lesson about going behind your back and acting like I'm better than you from last time… I won't make that same mistake again…" McGee said as he sat on top of the counter.
Tony nodded as he leaned against the wall, "Well still, I appreciate you having my back." Tony said quietly as he grabbed the damp paper towel and swiped it across his forehead slowly.
"So, what are you going to do about Abby?" McGee asked curiously.
Tony shrugged as he tossed the towel into the trashcan and headed for the door "Not sure yet. But you'll back me up when I figure it out, right?" Tony asked as the two men headed for the bullpen. McGee nodded as he headed towards his desk – Something they didn't change were their seating arrangements when Gibbs retired.
As the day continued to drag by, Tony's migraine got progressively worse as he thought about the things Abby had said about him. He was torn between going to Vance about it and just letting it go entirely, they truly needed Abby at NCIS – She was one of the best forensic scientists in DC and losing her would gravely impact NCIS, something Tony didn't want to willingly do to the agency as a whole.
Tony sighed as he slowly stood up, having learned his lesson several times over the day that standing up too quickly put him back into his chair with more nausea than he cared to admit, he slowly walked over to McGee's desk "I think I should talk to Abby first, before I take this upstairs…" Tony whispered.
McGee nodded as he slowly stood up, and together the two men headed down the stairwell since it was the darkest place to be "I'll go in first, turn her music down and then you come in behind me." McGee said as he exited the stairwell, and for the briefest moment, an earth-shattering death-metal scream echoed in the stairs and only made Tony's head throb even worse than before.
After a few seconds of silence, Tony finally exited the stairwell and slowly walked into Abby's lab, nodding his thanks to McGee who'd pulled a rolling desk chair over for him. "We need to talk Abby…" Tony said in a soft tone.
Abby looked between Tony and McGee, sighing as she took a seat on her rolling metal stool "Okay, let's talk then…" Abby said, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared directly at Tony.
"I heard what you said in the stairwell earlier this morning…" Tony said flatly, looking up and directly at Abby, watching as her already pale complexion paled even further "I'm coming to you first, because we need to fix this… I know that we're not great friends anymore, but I thought we could at least continue working professionally – but after today, I don't see how we can do that…" Tony continued, shaking his head slightly in disappointment.
Abby rolled her eyes "I know exactly how we can do it! You could pack up your stuff and leave!" Abby exclaimed as she hopped up from her stool and turned back towards her computers, intending on ignoring Tony and McGee's precsence.
Tony shook his head as he slowly stood up "I'm not leaving Abby and you can't just ignore me. I don't want to do this, but if you can't respect me and treat me with the professionalism that is required of you, then I have no choice and I will go to Director Vance with this…" Tony said as he stared at the back of Abby's head.
Abby whirled around, staring in disbelief at Tony "You wouldn't dare!" she hollered, causing the pounding in Tony's head to worsen even further.
Tony nodded slowly, "I would, and I will Abby – You've gone too far this time and I won't let you treat me the way you treated me ten years ago!" Tony retorted, his voice only raising slightly as he pinned Abby with a glare that could even rival Gibbs' glare.
Abby inhaled deeply as she stared back at Tony, completely unfazed by his glare as she hauled her fist back and launched it forward, unfortunately Tony's reaction time was delayed from the migraine and he got a fistful to the side of his head, rendering him unconscious and laid out on the lab floor almost immediately.
McGee looked between Abby and Tony with wide shocked eyes "Abby! What the hell did you do that for?!" McGee shouted as he quickly lowered down to Tony's prone form, checking him over quickly to make sure that he was still breathing.
Abby had a panicked look on her face as she looked down at Tony and McGee "He… He just… He made me so mad! He deserved it and you know he did, trying to go to director Vance and get me fired! I didn't do anything wrong!" Abby shrieked, her bottom lip quivering slightly as fear started setting in.
McGee shook his head as he looked frantically around the lab, he had to get Tony to the hospital, tell Director Vance about what happened, and then the worst thing of all – He had to inform Gibbs that Tony was in the hospital because Abby had hit him. McGee's nerves were everywhere, but he inhaled deeply to calm himself and then withdrew his cellphone from his pocket, first dialing 911 to get an ambulance, and then to the front security gate so the paramedics could gain access to the building – Then he called Director Vance and informed him of the situation briefly.
A few minutes later Vance entered the office with an angered expression on his face, he glanced down at Tony who was still out cold on the floor, his head pillowed underneath McGee's jacket, and Abby who was standing far out of the way on the other side of the room "Ms. Sciuto, would you like to explain to me WHY one of my senior field agents is passed out on the floor of the lab?!" Vance roared angrily, pinning the Goth with a harsh glare.
Abby shook her head, wrapping her arms around her chest as she looked down at the floor. McGee sighed as he looked up at Vance "She punched him because he threatened to tell you about the things she said about Tony earlier this morning… But we can talk about it later – The paramedics just entered the Navy Yard." McGee said as he stood up, "Someone needs to inform Gibbs of what happened." McGee added, looking pointedly at Vance.
Vance nodded as he pulled his cellphone out of his jacket pocket "I'll call Gibbs. McGee you head to the hospital with Tony. Ms. Sciuto, I want your things packed up and I want you out of this building within the hour – If you're not out voluntarily, I will have security come and escort you of the premises, is this understood?" Vance asked, looking over at the young scientist, Abby nodded quickly and scurried off into the inner office.
Gibbs came barreling into the emergency department with Owen and Olivia in his arms, he hailed the first nurse walking past "I'm looking for Anthony Gibbs, he was brought in from NCIS about ten minutes ago!" Gibbs demanded impatiently.
McGee heard Gibbs' voice and quickly walked out of one of the glass enclosed rooms "Boss, over here!" McGee called, waving towards the older man with a sad smile on his face.
Gibbs rushed over to McGee, quickly offloading the twins into McGee's waiting arms as he approached his husband's bedside, grasping onto Tony's limp hand "What the hel-… heck happened McGee?!" Gibbs demanded, staring pointedly at the younger man while caressing Tony's hand in his own.
McGee sighed as he stood in the hospital room, swaying with two sleepy toddlers in his arms as he began telling Gibbs about the events of the day, starting from the morning when Tony had overheard the conversation between himself and Abby, to Tony's bathroom trip because of the migraine, then confronting Abby in her lab "He'd had the migraine all day – at least – and his reaction time wasn't fast enough to dodge the punch… and I honestly didn't know that Abby would have attacked him." McGee explained, lowering his head in shame and disappointment.
Gibbs huffed out a breath of air and shook his head "I'm proud of you McGee. Thank you for defending him." Gibbs said as he turned back to Tony, frowning at the pale complexion of Tony's normally and naturally tanned skin "So, why is he out cold? I mean, I didn't think Abby would have that powerful of a punch…" Gibbs questioned, glancing between his husband and the younger agent.
McGee shrugged as he settled on the rocking recliner with Olivia and Owen "Don't know, the doctor is waiting on the results of his MRI – They did that the second Tony came in." McGee said as he rocked in the recliner, the twins slowly falling asleep in McGee's arms, since they honestly didn't know what was going on at the moment.
Gibbs sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed, gently brushing the hair away from Tony's forehead "What is Vance going to do with Abby?" Gibbs asked as he stroked gentle fingers down the side of Tony's face.
"Currently I've suspended her – I want to get the full story from McGee and Tony when he comes back around before I make any lasting decisions." Vance said as he walked into the hospital room, looking between the three men.
Tony groaned pathetically, his fingers blindly wrapping around Gibbs' hand as his body shifted minutely in the hospital bed "Tony, hey… Can you hear me?" Gibbs asked, immediately sitting up as he looked down at Tony's fluttering eyelids.
Tony shook his head, squeezing Gibbs' hand three times. Gibbs chuckled as he leaned over and kissed Tony's forehead gingerly – Hand squeezing had always been a sort of Morse code for the two men, and Gibbs could always tell what the younger man needed with just a few short gestures "I love you too baby, I love you too." Gibbs whispered against Tony's temple.
Tony continued squeezing Gibbs' hand, "Do you know where you are?" Gibbs asked softly, Tony nodded and slowly cracked his eyes opened a sliver to peer at concerned blue eyes looking down at him. Gibbs smiled as he kissed Tony's forehead again, "Owen and Olivia are fine, they're here with McGee. Vance is also here. I'm going to go get you some water and ice chips now, okay?" Gibbs asked, knowing that Tony needed to know everything that was going on around him. Tony nodded, squeezing Gibbs' hand one more time before releasing it.
When Gibbs returned with a pitcher of water and a container of ice chips, Tony was finally sitting up in bed and talking quietly but animatedly with Vance and McGee as they discussed the day's event that landed Tony in the hospital in the first place "She's gone too far this time, Director. I know that she's one of the best forensic scientists, but hitting employees is despicable." Tony hissed angrily, taking the cup of water that Gibbs had held out to him and taking a few tentative sips.
Vance readily nodded "I understand Tony and I will handle it – What I need to know is, do you want to press charges against her? She did technically assault a federal agent." Vance stated, twisting his hands around the end of the bed railing as he stared at Tony.
Gibbs shook his head "Before you go pressing charges against her – Can I try and talk to her? See if I can't fix this in my own way before anything else happens." Gibbs said, looking between his husband and Vance curiously.
Tony shrugged and looked over at Vance "If you think you can fix her attitude, Jethro… Then by all means, give it a go… But Tony still has the choice of pressing charges – Ms. Sciuto is still out of a job, so don't give her any false hopes." Vance warned sternly as he claimed a seat in one of the visitor chairs in Tony's hospital room.
Gibbs rolled his eyes "Because false hope is something I freely give out – Don't let my children run amok in the hospital please." Gibbs said, leaning over Tony and kissing his forehead tenderly before he left the hospital room to go out and find the wayward forensic scientist.
Gibbs pulled up to Abby's apartment twenty minutes later, and in a flurry of fast movements he was standing outside her door and banging on the steel surface viciously, all of his anger had finally boiled up as he thought about Tony lying in the hospital bed with a swollen right eye and still dealing with the migraine that he'd had for the past couple days – not that Gibbs actually knew about that part, he still thought the migraine had started that day.
Abby opened her front door, ducking as Gibbs' hand came down to rasp on the door once again "Uh… Hi… Gibbs." Abby stammered nervously as she backed up, letting the older man into the apartment.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Gibbs shouted, slamming the steel door behind him, not caring that the windows shook or that some of Abby's neighbors had emerged from their own apartments to see what all the commotion was about.
Abby stared at Gibbs with wide eyes, her bottom lip quivering as she forced tears to her eyes "I… I didn't mean to do it!" Abby protested, and even Gibbs could see that it was a weak attempt at getting out of the trouble that she knew she was in.
Gibbs glared at Abby, his eyes narrowing slightly as he took a step towards the young Goth "You didn't mean to deliberately punch my husband in the face?! What the hell Abby?! What has he EVER done to you to warrant such behavior from you?!" Gibbs continued shouting, the vein in his neck and forehead throbbing menacingly as he clenched his fists together tightly.
Abby shrugged her shoulders and lowered her head slowly "Nothing… He hasn't done anything to me!" Abby shouted back as the tears rode down her cheeks, leaving stains of black on her pale colored cheeks.
"Then why are you treating him like this? Punching him in the face aside – Why would you go behind his back and talk about him like that?" Gibbs asked, his voice faltering slightly as he sat down on the black leather sectional in Abby's living room, looking up at the Goth who was frantically pacing the length of her coffee table.
"I don't know… I just… It's always been you in charge! I'm just… I'm not used to this!" Abby claimed as she finally sat down on the other end of the couch, rubbing at the back of her neck slowly.
Gibbs shook his head slowly, sighing noisily as he rubbed his temples slowly "This is what everyone has a problem with Abby. You really need to look at the bigger picture – You're a grown woman, and a very smart woman at that, Tony is in charge of the MCRT, and has been for the past year now. You should have given him a chance to prove himself before you stabbed him in the back." Gibbs said as he stood up slowly, shaking his head again as he headed for the door "I'll try and keep Tony from pressing charges against you – But I'm not making any promises." Gibbs added as he left the apartment building.
Gibbs returned to the hospital an hour later with several offerings of food for the twins, Tony and McGee. He settled the take out bags on the rolling tray and looked over at Tony who was sleeping curled up on his side with Olivia tucked into a tighter ball underneath his arm. McGee and Owen weren't in the room nor in the hallway, but Gibbs didn't panic as he started unloading the Styrofoam containers that had everyone's names written down sloppily on the top of them.
Tony snuffled slightly as he shifted on the hospital bed, looking over at Gibbs with one eye opened "I decided not to press charges against Abby." Tony said hoarsely, his voice still low and in whispered tones – His migraine had subsided slightly but was still there and demanding all of Tony's energy.
Gibbs nodded as he stood on the opposite side of the bed, gently carding his fingers through Tony's hair "Has the doctor come in with your MRI results yet? And where are Owen and McGee at?" Gibbs asked as he continued caressing the back of Tony's head soothingly – Gibbs had dealt with a few of Tony's migraines and knew that scalp massages often aided in relieving the tension.
"McGee took Owen out to explore the hospital, he was a bit rambunctious and my head was really killing me, but Liv was still sleepy. Doctor came in, but I was already half asleep so he gave me a mild sedative and told me to continue sleeping, said he'd give you the results when you got here." Tony informed him quietly, closing his eyes once again and nuzzling into the tender caresses of Gibbs' fingertips.
And as if on cue, the doctor walked in with a warm and inviting smile, a metal clipboard hugged to his hip as he looked at the sleeping toddler, the half-asleep patient and the caring husband hovering close by, the only thing that was amiss from the picture was the little girl's twin brother who was out at the nurses station charming the young ladies with his overactive imagination while – the doctor guessed – the little boy's uncle stood by watching cautiously.
"Mr. Gibbs-…" the doctor began but Gibbs simply shook his head and nodded towards the hallway, as Tony was already headed back towards the catacombs of sleep. The doctor nodded his agreement and headed back out the opened door, the older man only a half a step behind him "What's wrong with him?" Gibbs asked as soon as he pulled the sliding glass door shut, his eyes immediately settling on his two-year-old son who was dancing awkwardly in the center of the nurse's station.
"Truthfully? Nothing is wrong with your husband, Mr. Gibbs. He's got a massive migraine that doesn't seem willing to let up, but other than that his MRI is as normal as it should be for a man with a persistent migraine." The doctor explained, holding the MRI scan up to the light and pointing to the increased brain activity closer to the top of Tony's skull and eyes. Colors of red, yellow, green and blue pushed together in small bundles across the image.
Gibbs stared blankly at the image and then over at the doctor "So no concussion, or any other brain injury?" Gibbs asked for clarification.
The doctor shook his head "He hasn't shown any signs of a concussion or brain injury. Concussions are increasingly hard to diagnose with migraines of this magnitude, I'm just mildly concerned about your husband and the fact that he's not showing any signs of pain or distress." The doctor said in concern, focusing on the older man with a raised eyebrow.
"Tony has been dealing with migraines for a better part of his adult life, and he hardly ever lets on about the pain he's in to anyone, sometimes not even me…" Gibbs said, shrugging slightly as he glanced over at his husband's sleeping form – Although Tony may not say he was in pain, he could definitely see the pain from the tensed posture of his shoulders and the slight wrinkle to his forehead. Gibbs knew his husband well enough to know the subtle pain indicators, for most of Tony's injuries or ailments.
The doctor nodded sullenly "I understand – I'll have a prescription written up for him and then you can take him home – Although I do believe your son might not want to leave just yet, he's been quite the little charmer with the ladies here." The doctor said, grinning slightly as he turned to look at the little boy who was now perched on top of one of the L-Shaped desks in between two younger nurses, talking animatedly about something he'd seen on the Discovery Channel the other day.
Gibbs grinned as he also looked at Owen, he definitely picked up charming people rather quickly from Tony, and then when Owen turned to McGee and said something, the younger agent quickly snapped to do whatever Owen requested of him – A trait that he'd definitely picked up from Gibbs, bossiness without being overbearing and demeaning. Gibbs shook his head as he headed over to the nurses station and lifted Owen up onto his back, saying that it was time to leave his friends, but perhaps when they weren't so busy they'd come back to visit when Tony was feeling better. Owen readily agreed to the idea and wrapped his arms around Gibbs' neck lightly as they went to collect the prescription from the doctor and then to collect Tony and Olivia who were unfortunately still asleep, but Gibbs knew Tony was uncomfortable and didn't feel nearly as guilty as he should when he woke his husband to take him and the twins home.
