A/N Thank you to everyone who faved, alerted or most especially reviewed. Since reviews are viewed by most authors as a form of payment for setting ourselves up for ridicule by posting instead of just writing and hoarding our stuff on our hard drives, the power that reviews have is pretty huge. For a story posted on this site that is a crossover, reviews have even more power to keep the motivation going since there are always significantly fewer because far fewer people read the story when it is languishing in the crossover category. Frankly, it makes me question the point of writing other crossovers. So big thanks to people who are tangibly supporting this story - it is greatly appreciated.
Anyway, based on reviews, I know that many of you want Abby to face consequences for her actions and while she definitely will, it might take a little bit longer than most people would like. People who know my work will know I don't like to be too predicable but have patience - there'll be a HEA and payback.
Just a reminder this isn't beta'ed so let me know if you see any major errors - hope you enjoy!
Serieux Part 2
Chapter 8 One Step Forward Two Back
Leon was hoping that the rest of the day was going to be quieter than the highly stressful morning had been, but clearly, he must have stepped on some cracks in the pavement or walked under a mirror. Perhaps he'd unknowingly broken a mirror because it was not to be.
He arrived back at the office after his urgent excursion to acquire medical equipment for his stress reduction program, only to find utter chaos ensuing in the MCRT bull pen. Dr Sciuto, the forensic scientist extraordinaire and perpetually in touch with her inner child, who was shrieking at the top of her lungs like the fabled banshee. She'd been placed in handcuffs and was being forcibly restrained by FBI agent Fornell and NCIS Senior Supervisor Agent Balboa. In fact, he doubted he would ever be able to forget the sight that greeted him of two burly agents, one each side of the willowy scientist, suspending her in mid-air as her legs flailed around, trying in vain to kick out at Anthony DiNozzo. Fornell was also in the middle of reading Sciuto her Miranda rights as Tony argued with the fibbie that he didn't want her arrested.
Meanwhile, Ducky and Palmer were trying to restore order while Bishop was trying to talk down McGee who was hurling verbal abuse at Tony, blaming him for the fracas. The rest of the staff were standing around, shell-shocked and open mouthed by what was taking place in the MCRT bull pen.
Deciding to take a leaf out of Gibbs book – who, Vance noted, was conspicuously absent at the moment, the director strode into the middle of the room. He climbed up onto Jethro's desk and putting his fingers into his mouth. Leon whistled shrilly to get everyone's attention.
"Listen up everyone, someone explain what the HELL is going on here?" he demanded of his people, irascibly.
Abby recommenced her shrieking at the top of her lungs that it was all Tony's fault for making Gibb mad, Balboa tried to deliver a sitrep while Fornell simultaneously tried to explain he'd arrested Abby for assault on a federal agent. Ducky attempted to tell everyone what madcap situation this reminded him of and assuring them it was all a most unfortunate series of misunderstandings which could be easily rectified by calming down. McGee insisted that it was a massive overreaction by DiNozzo, who'd been acting like a diva and caused the whole situation.
Bishop was valiantly trying to calm Tim down while Palmer had made the rookie mistake of approaching Abby to comfort her or to offer her moral support. Leon wasn't sure of his motives, but regardless of his intentions, the end result was that the medical examiner copped a Goth platform boot to the shin and he let out a girlish squeal of pain.
Leon looked to DiNozzo, expecting him to be casually comparing the melee to a scene in a movie and cracking jokes, instead he was freakishly mute. Leon noted that he had a clear bright red handprint on the left side of his jaw. Bishop had seemingly given up on McGee who was livid and she'd migrated to DiNozzo's side, hugging him encouragingly. To be honest, the agent looked as if he'd lost his only friend.
Motioning for his own protection agents to take custody of Abby Sciuto, he instructing them to adjourn to a conference room with the scientist and wait for him there. He glared and ordered the usual suspects of the MCRT to report to his office ASAP. Fixing Balboa and Fornell with a gimlet eye, he 'invited' them to attend upstairs too.
Once everyone was present in Leon's office he indicated to them to take seats around the conference table as the Director searched the features of the various participants, sizing them up. Finally deciding that Rik Balboa was the most composed one among them, he requested that he give him a sit rep. Glaring at Ducky and McGee when they attempted to interject when the SSA characterised Sciuto's behaviour as an attack on the person of Director DiNozzo, he quelled both of them with a combination of his glacial directorial glare and verbal threat.
"If you attempt to interrupt again I'll have you thrown out of this conference. You'll have an opportunity to state your case at the appropriate time. Now sit there and shut up!"
McGee pouted and Ducky looked surprised and rather offended but both subsided as Vance motioned for Balboa to continue. When he reached the part of his account where Fornell had slapped handcuffs on Abby he faltered to a stop, glancing between the FBI agent and Tony who was staring at the floor.
Receiving tacit permission to step into the breech from Vance, Fornell continued the account dispassionately.
"When Sciuto decided to continue the assault on DiNozzo, specifically intending to kick him in the dodgy knee he'd injured in college, I pulled her away. When she resisted me and attempted to continue her attack, I cuffed her and informed her she was under arrest for the assault on a federal agent. If I can make it stick, I'll throw the book at her for assaulting the head of a foreign law enforcement agency too. I'll need to consult the FBI legal department.
"Anyway, when you walked in, Director Vance, I was reading Sciuto her Miranda rights and I have a good mind to charge her with resisting arrest too." He threatened angry and disappointed as McGee, Ducky and Palmer all voiced their condemnation.
Vance looked at DiNozzo, who at the end of the sitrep, was downcast and silent. Pulling out his smart phone and handing it to Balboa, he ordered him to document evidence of the assault on DiNozzo.
"Perhaps Tony should have his jaw and foot checked out by a doctor and the injury documented." The SSA suggested, shooting a glance at Vance as he snapped a series of photos of Abby's handprint.
Tony started at the click of the camera phone, finally appearing to realising what was going on and he started to protest. "There's no need. I'm fine – no harm done. Besides, I won't be pressing charges. This is Abby – we all know she thinks the sun rises and sets on Gibbs. It's my fault. I should have anticipated she'd react violently."
Fornell scowled. "She's supposed to be your friend, Tony. How the Dickens where you supposed to see that one coming?"
"Because it's not the first time she's done this," Balboa retorted when DiNozzo shrugged and remained mute. "She bitch-slapped David for being uncaring about him when Gibbs got blown up and was in a coma down at Norfolk in 2006. Not that I agree with his analysis that Tony's to blame for getting hit."
"So if it's not the first time, why isn't it in her personnel file?" Vance growled.
"Because Tony was filling in for Gibbs, as acting team lead and Director Shepard counselled him against writing her up for it – to leave it and let Gibbs handle it when he returned. Of course he ending up resigning and hotfooting it to Mexico and in the melee it got overlooked." Balboa explained when Tony stayed silent.
"However, I wrote her up for it but Director Shepard was adamant that Gibbs' retirement was premature and he'd be back. She didn't want him pissed off when he returned, so she buried it. But not before HR had formally counselled Abby that if it happened again, there'd be serious repercussions."
"Pity there isn't a record of the complaint." Leon observed regretfully, irritated by the former director's meddling. Jenny Shepard was quite adept with computers so burying the complaint digitally would have been child's play to her, unfortunately.
"Not a digital record perhaps but fortunately both Delores Bromstead in Human Resources and I believe in keeping old fashioned hard copies of complaints, just in case they accidentally go astray." Ric observed matter-of-factly.
The director smiled, pleased at Balboa's deviousness. "I'd like to see those copies ASAP Agent Balboa. In the meantime, I'll have my protection detail accompany DiNozzo to the ER for a medical examination. Dr Sciuto can cool her jets in our lockup while we decide what's what."
Ducky looked put out. "First off, as a medical practitioner, I'm more than capable of checking over Anthony, as is Mr Palmer. There's no need for him to attend an ER…"
"I'm fine – I don't need to see a doctor. Any doctor…and I'm not going to press charges." DiNozzo protested vigorously.
Fornell scowled at him. "Are you nuts? She attacked you in front of a room full of federal agents. Anyway, I don't need you to press charges. I can charge her regardless, and I intend to."
Ducky interjected. "Now I think that we should all take a deep breath and consider if we aren't jumping the gun here. I'll admit that Abigail was most rash and impetuous but surely that is even more reason for us not to act hastily. We all know how inordinately fond of Jethro our Abigail is, and how she would do anything to defend his honour."
The Director frowned. "It sounds suspiciously like you are trying to blame the victim, rather than the perpetrator and that philosophy has no place in a law enforcement agency, Doctor. I trust that wasn't your intention," And he glared at Ducky and McGee significantly, daring them to disagree.
"Furthermore, Dr Sciuto is a 44-year-old woman, of high intellect, not some hot-headed child with impulse control issues. I'm inclined to agree with Agent Fornell here that she needs to be held accountable for her actions, especially since this isn't her first offence."
"But it's my bad she got away with it before." Tony objected fervently. "I didn't write her up for it, so it's hypocritical for me to press charges just because she slapped me this time. If I'd impressed upon her the seriousness of her actions as I should have as acting team leader, instead of making her apologise to Ziva, then she wouldn't be facing charges."
Leon Vance stared carefully at the man who, once upon a time, had been a thorn in his side and still had the ability to annoy the crap out of him at times. Like now! He was frustrated beyond belief by DiNozzo's willingness to turn the other cheek, but then again, he'd been the team's whipping boy for so long apparently he was accustomed to being blamed for all their bad moods and problems. Wondering about the potential for this assault to blow up into an international incident, Leon glared at the assembled group before reaching a decision.
"Special Agent DiNozzo, I admire your loyalty to your colleague but it sounds like the decision to disciple Ms Sciuto was taken out of your hands last time around. I'm leaning strongly towards doing the same thing this time too."
"Besides, Delores read Abby the riot act, Tony. She knew that hitting a fellow work mate was completely unacceptable. She just assumed she could get away with it because Gibbs and your team let her act like an emotional terrorist." Balboa contributed his opinion, not holding back.
Vance wondered if there was a personal reason why Balboa seemed intent on having Abby charged. He'd always assumed she was a much loved member of staff, kooky but beloved. Resolving to pursue the matter later he returned to the subject at hand.
"As director I'll be making the decision about whether to charge her, in conjunction with Agent Fornell - after an appropriate investigation into the assault." He glared at McGee, Ducky and Palmer, who all appeared anxious to protest his decision.
"Dr Sciuto will be detained in the NCIS lockup in the interim. Agent DiNozzo, I'm ordering you to undergo a medical examination before you're cleared to return to the field. Agent Bishop, please accompany him and my protection detail. Dr Palmer, you are excused and may return to Autopsy. Agent McGee and Dr Mallard, please remain."
Tony locked stares with Leon Vance who stared back implacably. Gibbs might have him over a barrel but Abby Sciuto was not going to get away with the same crap as her patron. Not when she was stupid enough to fly off the handle in plain view of a room full of witnesses – federal agents no less. And he wanted Tony examined by an independent doctor and Drs Mallard and Palmer were not impartial.
Evidently realising that Vance wasn't about to budge on this issue, Tony scowled and got to his feet begrudgingly.
"Fine, but I want it on the record that I'm perfectly fine to continue working and I don't think we need to charge Abby with assault. A simple suspension would be adequate," he argued passionately, before limping out with Ellie in his wake.
"He's fine and that isn't a limp." Leon quipped cynically to no one in particular. Pulling out his phone he called Agents Fratelli and Forsyth, otherwise known around the office as Frick and Frack - his protection detail, instructing them to deposit Abby in the cells and escort DiNozzo and Bishop to the ER.
"Right, so let's start this investigation. McGee, what were you so desperate to express before?" Vance demanded.
"Um… just that Tony knew what would happen by setting Gibbs off like he did when he refused to tell him what his new job was. We all know you don't make the boss mad and we all know that Abby idolises Gibbs - he's part father-figure, part super hero and we all know that little girls will go to extreme lengths to protect their daddy.
"Sigmund Freud postulated that the Electra Complex is very strong – that girls want to kill their mothers and sleep with their fathers. Abby was under intolerable pressure and she snapped. We all know she wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Actually Dear Boy, I believe it was Carl Gustav Jung who posited the female equivalent of the Oedipus Complex which Freud did theorize about sons's wating to kill their fathers' in order to sleep with their mothers' although Jung could be described as a neo- Freudian..."Ducky corrected as Balboa interrupted
"What a load of tripe. Sciuto has worked for a federal law enforcement agency for 17 years, give or take and knows damned well that assault is illegal." Balboa was scathing in response.
"If DiNozzo hadn't attacked Gibbs, accusing him of freezing in Iran, Abby wouldn't have snapped." McGee protested ignoring Ducky's contribution. "Everyone knew that picking on Gibbs would make Abby mad and we all know you don't make Abby mad."
Leon just stared at his agent without speaking as he stared to squirm uncomfortably. Finally, he put him out of his misery. "First off, I'm thinking that argument isn't going to carry much weight with a judge and it damn well doesn't cut any ice with me either." He speared a glacial look at McGee.
"Second point, how the hell did Dr Sciuto know about the dust up in the bull pen? If I find out that you incited the attack you could be looking at charges too," he warned McGee. "You've just admitted to us that everyone knew it would make her angry. And for your information, after 15 years of pandering to Agent Gibbs temper, I'd say BRAVO to Agent DiNozzo for refusing to turn the other cheek for once and telling him what he really thought in public - if I wasn't the director."
McGee looked both stunned and anxious, shooting an alarmed look at Ducky who patted his shoulder comfortingly.
"I don't think we require your presence any longer, Agent McGee. Thank you for your contribution. You can return to your desk and compile an eyewitness account on the altercation for our legal department."
Leon glanced at Dr Mallard. "Do you have anything more to add, Doctor?"
"Anthony and Abigail have been friends for a long time; it would be a shame to see that friendship ruined because of a precipitous act that ended in a court case. Not to mention, if Abigail were to receive a criminal conviction she would be unable to work in law enforcement any longer, which would be a real tragedy and loss to our profession."
"True, Doctor Mallard, however there comes a point when people have to take responsibility for their actions and not have people make excuses for them. Arguing that she was abnormally protective of a former Marine gunnery sergeant is not exactly mitigating circumstances likely to sway a jury or a judge. Not in the case of a 44-year-old doctor of forensics for her boss."
Ducky grimaced. "I just think it would be wise to make sure we have all the facts and that everyone is calm and composed before making any decisions that could have irrevocable consequences for the individuals involved. Both of them."
"Wise words for any law enforcement profession. Thank-you Doctor Mallard, I'll certainly keep that in mind as we investigate. You are dismissed too. Oh… one more thing. If you witnessed Dr Sciuto's actions, then I'll require a written account from you too."
Ducky rose from his seat and nodded. "Very well, I'll attend to it right away," he said heavily, before heading out the door.
Leon observed that McGee had not returned to his desk as instructed, instead he'd remained in his outer office, waiting to talk to Ducky. He watched Gibbs' junior agent and Gibbs' oldest friend at NCIS depart his outer office together. Ducky was assuring Tim that upon Jethro's return, he would be able to sort everything out satisfactorily he was sure.
Leon felt Fornell and Balboa glaring at him, suspiciously – after all, he was aware that most people thought Gibbs ran the agency and Leon just did the paperwork. Hard to be angry at his employees, since to some degree that was the case, but Abby Sciuto wasn't part of the quid quo pro arrangement he and Gibbs had. Smiling cynically, he admitted that Gibbs would try his damnedest to extricate Sciuto from the shit that she'd stepped into, but with her attacking DiNozzo in a room full of federal agents – good luck with that. There was no way she wasn't going to end up face charges.
"All right, Gentlemen. Let's prioritise. We need to collect statements from everyone who witnessed the assault today. Do you have a problem if I assign your team to handle that, Agent Balboa?"
"No Director, we can do that. I'll get right on it."
"Excellent, plus I need the paperwork from the earlier assault that took place in 2006 against Officer David. Agent Fornell – can I ask what arrangements are in place for DiNozzo's protection until his departure. Just to clarify, Legal has informed me that we're looking at five weeks to tie everything up, but under the circumstances, I'll instruct them into looking into if it's possible to expedite things. I can't believe one of our own people attacked him – I was envisaging he'd be needed protecting from terrorists."
He looked at Fornell, speculatively. "And do you think that this is going to cause an international incident? I think I need to talk to DiNozzo's new boss, ASAP. Not just to discuss what charges to impose but also how we can protect him. We all know this is going to get nasty."
Tobias was pissed off. He couldn't believe that Abby had attacked Tony. He knew she could be a brat but this was beyond the pale. So much for them being family and Vance was right. Jethro was going to go ballistic when he found out and he only needed one guess to know who would wear the crap.
"Tony was wanting to terminate the protection detail," he replied. "I'll be in touch with the minister to fill her in and I'll pass on your request to talk," he said, wondering what Hermione would have to say. He figured she was going to be furious and would demand Tony leave immediately.
~o0o~
Ellie Bishop arrived home after an emotionally turbulent day and decided she'd heat up some leftovers for dinner that she still had in the freezer. In the last few months she'd learnt that it was one of the joys of being a divorcee -plenty of leftovers. She still cooked for two – it wasn't a conscious act, purely automatic and now that she and Jake were no longer married she always ended up with way too much food. She just didn't seem to be able to manage to cook enough for one.
The downside of ending up with too much food was that the leftovers were like a constant reminder that she was a failure as a wife and lover; an aide-mémoire that she was alone now. The plus side of being alone, yes there was a plus side, was that she could cook what she liked. That and she always had plenty of leftovers, so she didn't need to cook as often – even if there was something a bit pathetic about eating leftovers half of the week.
Still, since she'd joined the MCRT, time at home was always at a premium and she increasingly found that cooking was a luxury she couldn't afford. So at least it wasn't all bad.
Tonight she took out some chicken chasseur and steamed vegetables from the freezer and heated it up in the microwave. She consciously avoided thinking about what her mom would have to say about the amount of times she ate microwaved meals in front of the TV, before falling into an exhausted heap in bed every night. Tonight, although she ate in front of the television, she wasn't really paying attention to what was on the screen, though.
She was thinking about Tony – their talk today and also what had transpired this past year between him and Gibbs. About everything he'd revealed in the bullpen, what he'd told her during their private tête-à-tête, how conflicted he had been about divulging a secret he'd kept for six years. And of course there was the absolute pièce de résistance - Abby's total brain snap and unfathomable decision to assault Tony. She was totally overwhelmed by the events of the day.
Ellie felt so many emotions; she didn't even know how to start cataloguing and analysing them, and that was before she even figured out how to respond to them. Initially, when she heard he was leaving to take up some fabulous new job she'd felt dismayed that Tony was going. He'd taught her so much, accepted her into the team and eased her way into their close knit cadre with kindness and genuineness. Yet at the same time, she'd also felt relief that he would be gone and the terrible tension in the bull pen between him and Gibbs would be no more – that she wouldn't feel pressured every day to choose sides.
Ever since Gibbs got shot, their team, their little family had been divided. Gibbs had been punishing Tony - that much had been obvious to her – to everyone she suspected if only for the fact that they went out of their way to make elaborate excuses for him. But what she hadn't really been sure of until today was why he'd been angry with Tony. She'd hypothesised, made lists, run scenarios in her head, along with her computer simulations but hadn't come close to the revelations that Tony had laid bare this morning. She'd been torn, what Tony expounded about the op to bring down Daniel Budd made so much sense. But still, Gibbs had been really kind to her this year when her marriage foundered.
He'd come after her when she'd crawled off home to lick her wounds and he'd charmed the socks off her family. Weird since he normally hated any and all social interactions, and for that she felt beholden to him. At a time when she'd been at her absolute lowest he'd been there.
He'd gone out of his way to check up on her and yes she felt so damned special… like she was his protégé. Yet to be fair, his behaviour while he was with her family was totally pod person.
To be realistic, he had come to collect her on a case, a mercy mission to save a dying sailor who needed a bone marrow transplant; he'd needed her to try to talk the prisoner around. It was unlikely - as in pigs might fly or Gibbs might decide to give up coffee - that he'd have come after her otherwise. Probably would have left her a voicemail telling her to get her head out of her ass and come back to DC asap.
Now looking at things with a somewhat more jaundiced eye, Ellie found herself thinking about her former husband and Gibbs. How he had suddenly become all buddy, buddy with him after she joined the MCRT. She couldn't help wondering - did he hire her so he could get an in with the NSA or had it just been an added bonus that Jake also worked there? And what about Rule 12 – turning Jake into one of his informant's kind of made Jake a part of the team didn't it. In fact, a similar situation had occurred with Delilah and Zoe too.
If Rule 12 evolved because there really some truth behind it, then why was Gibbs suddenly blatantly ignoring it. And was it a coincidence that both her and Tony's relationship had failed since Gibbs had encouraged them all to work together? Except… didn't Gibbs say that there was no such thing as coincidence.
Sure Jake was cheating on her, which certainly wasn't Gibbs fault but some of the issues that had created the rift in their marriage hadn't been helped by his actions. Jake was already disgruntled that they couldn't discuss their respective casework as a couple when it involved classified intel. They had to stick to generalities or in Ellie's case, she shared stuff from their field work with her husband, um ex-husband. She shared things like dumpster diving, shooting at bad guys, bad guys shooting at them, running after bad guys, apprehending bad guys, Gibbs driving like a lunatic.
Part of it scared the crap out of Jake when it was shoved in his face how dangerous her new job was in comparison to being a former intel analyst. It also drove home their inherent differences now and how Jake couldn't relate to her new life anymore. And it wasn't like she didn't get where he was coming from either. It rankled that he couldn't share classified chatter with her like they used to and it made their once easy interactions far more stilted, more guarded.
But add to the mix the fact Gibbs was so closed- mouthed around his subordinates that it made a lockjaw patient seem garrulous. Thinking about the idea that Gibbs had been sharing data with Jake that he wouldn't share with her or the others on the team…well the fact was that it got on her nerves. As did the thought that Jake might be trading intel with her boss (who wouldn't share that intel with her) and which her husband had refused to discuss with her anymore.
It succeeded in creating even more of a chasm between her and Jake, which was probably why he'd looked around for someone else to fill the void. It didn't excuse his infidelity…nothing could, nothing ever would excuse his actions but it did go some way to explaining the antecedents of why he did what he did.
She concluded that Tim had better watch out that Gibbs didn't try to get Delilah on side as his newest informant now that he'd dumped Jake. (She assumed he'd kicked him to the kerb). McGee might find that his relationship with his soon to be fiancée might not go the distance of working with Gibbs. It wasn't as if Tim hadn't already been insanely jealous when she'd been sharing an apartment with her male supervisor at the DoD. If Gibbs were to enter their relationship to the degree he had with Ellie's marriage, then it could put intolerable pressure on their nascent bond.
Of course, in light of what else had occurred afterwards, her broken marriage kind of paled into insignificance with all Tony had revealed. She knew that Tony felt like it was enough to have warned her about McGee and David turning down the comms so they didn't have to listen to his monologue. She certainly wasn't downplaying how much that honest declaration had cost him to reveal to her. And presumably he'd included Abby in the warning since she had to have been aware of the breech of protocol and covered it up.
Bishop also knew he really didn't want to believe these people he was so fond of would ever turn off her comms like they'd done to him. Yet the fact that he felt the need to warn her told her that at least on a subconscious level he recognised that it was a possibility, no matter how slight. As for her analysis of the situation, she'd always taken the position that the best predictor of how people would act in the future was to study how they'd already acted in the past.
The question remained – what was she going to do about it? Was she just going to take it on board, as Tony obviously assumed she would do and take precautions should the need arise i.e. be reactive or should she use what she knew proactively. Should she confront one of them - Abby or McGee - with what she knew? Although considering what transpired today, probably not Abby. So should she confront Tim or maybe she should try to find physical evidence to prove definitively if they had turned off comms or just made a really unforgiveable joke about it?
Stretching out on her sofa with a glass of red wine, she debated calling Tony to see how he was doing. It had been a really horrific day for him and she wondered what she could do or say if he told her he wasn't okay. Not that he would – he kept professing he was fine when they'd headed to the ER, under orders from Director Vance.
When they returned to NCIS with the all clear for Tony to continue working, they'd received a lead on one of their cold cases from two months ago that saw them heading out in hot pursuit of their suspect, who'd been sighted in Baltimore. They were sans Gibbs since he hadn't returned to the office, and failed to answer his phone, a clear breech of Rule #3 which saw them head out into the field with Tony leading the MCRT and Fornell guarding his ass.
So the atmosphere in the agency vehicle on the hour long drive to Baltimore had been extremely tense – Tim was sulky and still blaming Tony for the debacle with Abby. He was also pissed off at Fornell for arresting her and Ellie suspected that Tobias blamed McGee for Abby hearing about what Tony had said in the bull pen. All in all, it had been an uncomfortable journey.
Of course, she knew that Tony was berating himself, believing that if he'd been more aware of his environment he'd never have let get Abby drop on him and she wouldn't be locked up the NCIS cells. For some reason, the idea of her being locked up seemed to cause him deep distress. Ellie certainly sympathised with how he was feeling - if Fornell hadn't been reading her the riot act about failing to do her job properly, she might have noticed Abby's stealth attack and stopped her. She figured if she felt like that, then Fornell had to be feeling awful too and although she found it really difficult to read Tim when he was sending out harsh accusatory vibes, he surely must be feeling guilty for letting Abby go off half-cocked.
But honestly, despite Tony's self-flagellation because he knew Abby for so long and so well that he should have expected Abby to go ballistic after he told the boss off, Ellie-Analyst was shouting that the forensic scientist had a Ph.D for the love of Mike. As much as Abby was her friend too, why should Tony feel guilty about her not being able to control herself? How did someone as smart, sassy and savvy as Abby Sciuto manage to make them feel so responsible for her when she was being such a brat? It wasn't fair.
It wasn't as if the Goth was some little kid after all – she was at least ten years Bishop's senior, so why were they treating her like she was a helpless little girl? Still, despite her feeling angry at Abby for hurting Tony and making him feel horrible when he'd done nothing wrong, she couldn't help feeling appalled that a friend was currently sitting in a cell. Ellie also couldn't help feeling Abby might have ultimately been better off if Fornell had hauled her off to the FBI and charged her before the director arrived back and took charge. The vibes Director Vance was putting out; she could sense that he was furious. If he wanted to play hard ball, Abby might ultimately find herself incarcerated indefinitely on a terrorist charge in lockup or even siting in a cell in Gitmo.
But as if the day hadn't gone badly enough already, there was still more to endure. They'd returned hours later after chasing around the warehouse district of Baltimore for their missing murderer, becoming increasingly weary and grubby but eventually successful. Well with some very timely help of a bunch of Baltimore unies Tony had been able to call on to help them search for their UA Master Sergeant. As they entered the Naval yard she'd decided to ask Tony if she could go and pick up some personal possessions for Abby from her apartment. He'd agreed immediately that it was a good idea and gave her some cash to pick up some Chinese takeout for her, as well.
When she arrived back she'd found NCIS in an uproar. Apparently Tony had ducked down to the holding cells to talk to Abby and take her a Caf-pow and give her Burt the hippo to cheer her up, before interrogating Master Sergeant Lewis Craddock. Although he didn't admit it, Ellie was pretty sure he'd gone down to the cells with the intention of apologising for her being locked up. Honestly, it seemed Tony felt like he was responsible for everything that went wrong on the team. It reminded her of one of her friends from college who had ended up in an abusive relationship. Her mother was a narcissist who blamed her daughter for everything that went wrong in the family and took all the credit when things went well. She was always blaming herself too.
Anyway, Tony never got the chance to 'apologise' to Abby if that had been his goal because when he took her the bright red caffeine concoction, concerned she might have gone into caffeine withdrawal, he found Abby alternating between drooling and sucking her thumb, while exhibiting stereotypic rocking. After an examination by Ducky, who thought she' suffered a break with reality and she'd been escorted to Walter Reed, under guard, for a psychological evaluation. Just before they'd been ready to head out for the night – read go hang out at Walter Reed to find out what was going on with Abby – Ducky had called in to inform them that she'd been admitted to the Psych Ward for 30 days evaluation. The tentative diagnosis by the attending psychiatrist was she'd suffered a psychotic break.
The news had totally devastated Tony and much as Ellie wanted to call him up and check on him, she really didn't know what to say. She knew he wouldn't listen to her telling him that he had nothing to feel guilty about. She'd tried already and it was clear it wasn't making it through his thick skull.