Tony watched from the observation room while Capt. Simmons shifted restlessly, leaning back in his chair and glaring towards the one-way glass, as if he sensed he was being watched. He'd been impressed at how quickly Agent Goetz had found the captain and delivered him to the Navy Yard. He'd have to keep the young agent in mind the next time he had a vacancy on his team, he thought... which, considering the way that Tim had ended up joining the team all those years ago, was somewhat fitting. Now he was just waiting for Langley to finish letting him stew. As much as he wanted to be in the interrogation room himself, he knew he couldn't be. But there was no way anyone was telling him he couldn't watch.
He heard the door open behind him, and for a moment he thought it was Langley. He quickly realised it was Abby being ushered into the observation room by Gibbs, who was trying ineffectively to calm her down.
He was used to the whirlwind that was an excited Abby, but he'd never seen her like this. An overly-protective papa-bear Gibbs had nothing on a mama bear whose cub was injured, he realised.
'Is that him?' she demanded, looking like she wanted to climb through the window and tear the captain to pieces with her bare hands.
'Abs, just...'
'DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN! He hurt Leigh. LEIGH! My daughter! Your...'
'I know what he did, Abby, but...'
'Then why aren't you in there? Why aren't you BOTH in there...'
Tony took an instinctive step backwards as she turned towards him.
'Abby...'
'Why does he have a chair?'
Tony blinked. That was a fast change in the direction of the conversation, even for Abby.
'He shouldn't get a chair! Why does he get to sit down? Leigh can't...'
'ABBY!'
Not even Gibbs's bark managed to snap her out of it. Tony stepped between her and the target of her rage, despite the fact that there was already a wall between them. Abby couldn't actually break the shatter-proof glass, but he suddenly had doubts about the structural integrity of the wall.
'Why are you protecting him?'
'Abby, I'm not... Ow! Hey!'
He caught both her wrists, hoping that he didn't leave bruises. He had no doubt that she had, pounding on his shoulder.
'Let go of me! Let me...'
Suddenly, the anger seemed to drain out of her, and she collapsed against him like a rag doll. He released her wrists and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly.
'It's ok, Abby. Shhhh...'
Crying women, even Abby, were not his strong suit, and he looked pleadingly over her shoulder at Gibbs who simply quirked one eyebrow at him and made no move to take his place. A moment later, the decision was taken out of their hands when Abby reached out, pulling Gibbs into the hug.