Thanks to Mark Harmon, Pauley Perrette, Michael Weatherly, Cote de Pablo, Sean Murray, David McCallum and all the other for giving life to the wonderful characters of NCIS
Everything belongs to CBS and Bellisarius Productions except for a few things like Shane Caulfield, Randall Hunter, and his son, Lee, Evan McIntire, Thomson Oliver are mine as well as Tanisha and Janet and their background.
For the purpose of the of the rest of the story, let's pretend that the episode "Baltimore" doesn't exist.
I also want to apologize for any spelling and or grammar mistakes
Previously on "Driving me Crazy"
"How is he doing?"
"He seems to be fine, but he doesn't sleep restfully as you may see."
"I've noticed."
"But I thought, you would stay at your place longer."
"I changed my mind. I thought that what I could do home, I could do here too, besides your way better with a computer than I am. " He smirked.
Abby tilted her head to the side slightly, not comprehending what her friend was getting at.
"Open the box." DiNozzo instructed her as he was still holding it.
Abby did as she was told, she held her beverage in one hand and lifted the lid of the box. Her lit up like a Christmas tree when she saw what was in it.
"Tony you are the best!"
ELEVEN
"I know I'm the best, but I try not to brag too much about it, you know me, Abbs" He said with a smirk.
"You brought me a laptop! That is exactly what I wanted to ask the doctor about. I mean: if using a laptop would be possible. I wanna do something, but I don't want to leave him alone, you know?"
"I do know, Abby. That's why I brought the laptop with."
"I don't know what I would do without you, big brother." Abby smiled.
"You'd be lost."
"I would." They smiled at one another but their gaze was serious, knowing fool well that the situation they were in now could easily have turned into a drama neither one of them would have survived. If Gibbs had been more injured or worse...
This simple thought made them both shiver.
Tony leaned slightly forward and took the box from her and put it aside for a moment, he set it on the floor not far from them, before his attention was focused on his friend again. He looked at her, and leaned in, to hug her as tightly as her injuries allowed him too.
Abby easily hugged him back. "I love you, Tony, you know that right?"
"I love you too, little sister."
Bratt chose that precise moment to enter the room. As he saw the scene playing before him, he smiled. "Everything okay in here?"
"Yes, thank you, doctor."
"You wanted to see me, miss Sciuto?"
"Yes." She said as Tony slowly let go of her and picked up the box again.
"Can I use a laptop while I'm here? I feel a bit useless waiting without doing anything, and I thought that maybe I could use a laptop..."
As a rule, I have nothing against it, though I'd prefer that you would use it in other room just to play safe. I'll see if I can arrange something for you..."
"But doctor, I don't want to..."
"Don't worry the room I will assigned you to work in won't be too far apart from mister Gibbs's room."
Abby smiled at him thankfully.
Bratt simply nodded and went to check on Gibbs. Everything seemed normal then he turned his attention back on Abby and looked at her injuries. She seemed to be okay as well which pleased him. Miss Sciuto was healing well.
"I'll come and tell you when the other room will be ready."
"Thank you so much, doctor." Abby answered as she watched him leave the room.
"No problem."
"He seems to be a nice man," DiNozzo remarked.
"Yes, but you can really be sure of anyone," Abby said somberly.
Tony DiNozzo looked at her surprised, never would he have expect his colleague say something like that.
"Abby?"
"What? Look at what's happened, Gibbs and I could have died in that explosion, it wasn't even an accident I'm sure of it, Tony, someone waited for Gibbs to move close enough to the car before setting it off, why I have no idea yet, but I can assure you that he will pay for what he did."
"Yes, he will, Abbs." Tony told her firmly.
"I'm scared, Tony."
"I know, Abbs, but tried to calm down, because it won't be of any help if you let your fears paralyze you."
"Yeah, Tony, but what if something goes wrong? What if I'm right and they try to kill him again?"
"If whoever tries again we'll be there, Abbs, I promise, nothing's gonna happened to you or Gibbs anymore."
Abby smiled at DiNozzo not really convinced by his words. She couldn't really explain what it was or why she had it but the NCIS forensic scientist had a bad feeling about this. Whoever was behind this was determined to kill Gibbs, she just knew it, he or she would try until they achieved their goal the only thing they could do was try and outsmart the person who was behind all this.
They had stopped so many bad people over the years, they had also saved that many people if not more. And yet, Abby was certain that Gibbs thought he could have — should have — done more, always thinking of somebody else. Each times, he was able to lock up a bad guy, he was putting the ghost of his wife and daughter behind bars. Gibbs was going better, but sometimes his old life simply resurfaced for some reason, and well, the resent events will bring it up again, but she would be there to help him through it all.
"Abbs is everything alright?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sorry. I was lost in my own little world, I guess."
"Wanna help me go through that box full of all stuff about my previous life in Baltimore?"
"Sure, but if there are things you don't want me to see, I wouldn't want to..." she started uneasily.
"Abby I asked you if you wanted to help me..."
"Right." She smiled. Then suddenly curious, "what do you hide in that box anyway?"
"Old cases, I've been working on, when I was a police officer in Baltimore."
"You think going through those might help us going somewhere?"
"It's worth the try." He said.
The black haired scientist peered in the box and smiled when she saw a picture of her friend looking younger. "You haven't changed much."
Tony looked at her visibly pleased by her words, "That what you think?"
"Yep," Abby nodded.
"Thanks, though I become wiser."
As she looked at him, she arched a brow in disbelief, "I'm not so sure about that, you see Tony."
DiNozzo looked offended which made Abby laugh, "As if I'm wrong." She added laughing even more at the expression on his face. The corners of his mouth lifted up, and he started to laugh as well.
000
A few weeks. Just a few more weeks of patience and everything will be over finally. Shane Coulfield told himself. A few more weeks and Special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs won't be a member of the Earth population anymore. In a few weeks he will be buried six feet under. All that would be left of him is a bad memory. And to my ultimate joy I will keep destroying the lives of the people the man cared about. And then, I will dance on his grave and why stop myself there, I will dance on theirs too. He told himself as he admired, his work. He had gathered as much information about Gibbs and his team as he could find.
Pictures of Gibbs and his team were pinned on a board, some of them had notes scribbled on. Shane at taken notes as well, but those notes he had carefully written down he a little blue book, he had untitled: "Vengeance at last"
To his surprise it had been relatively easy to trace the man and his team. Coulfield expected to have been caught my now, but no. He was still free and able to do and go wherever he wanted. He had been told that Gibbs was the best the agency had had in a long time. The laughed out loud at the thought, he Gibbs was the best man they had and he was such an easy one to follow what was there worse?
He sat down at his desk and watched the pictures staring back at him in black and white. He pushed his leather chair away from the desk far enough so he could stretch his legs before setting them the desk and lean against the back of his chair.
The countdown has started Gibbs.
000
Munchhausen by proxy, McGee wondered, for him it was still farfetched, but who knows maybe Ziva was right after all. They met crazy heads every days in their job one more or less wouldn't change much, he thought. Except this one was after their boss.
Ziva let out a frustrated sighed.
"Ziva?"
"I'm going nuts here, there is nothing we can really do here. I'm going back to the crime scene, maybe we've over looked something." She said pushing her chair away from her desk rather forcefully before standing up.
Tim looked at her opening his mouth to tell they had done a thorough job, but had the last moment stopped himself. Ziva was feeling useless because they couldn't find anything. And he knew the feeling very well because he felt the same way, she did.
Tim walked back to his desk opened the drawer where he had left his gun picked it and ran after Ziva.
"Ziva wait! I'm coming with you."
Agent David stretched her arm so that her hand would prevent the closing of the elevator doors, McGee slipped inside the metallic cabin a few moments later.
"Thanks."
The woman just nodded her head as the doors closed, "something's not right in this case, Tim. And I intent to discover what it is and preferably sooner rather than later." She said determinedly.
"And how do you intend to do that?"
"By going twenty times back on the crime scene if necessary. I'm sure we missed something."
"What makes you think that?"
"I just know we did."
McGee didn't answer her back, instead he just looked at her for a long moment. And then smiled when he realized that Ziva David was really one of them now, she had come a long way since she started working with them.
"What?"
"Nothing." He said a bit caught off guard and he rapidly fixed the closed doors of the elevator to avoid her gaze. Seven minutes later they were on the road that would bring them to the scene of crime.
000
Tony and Abby were settled in the room close to Gibbs' as Bratt had promised. She didn't like to admit it but it was easier to work like this, there was more room. A big amount of the box contents were displayed on the table they were sitting at. The box was set on the floor near the foot of Tony's chair.
They had try to sorted the contents a little, putting the articles and cases apart for pictures and other stuff that Abby wasn't sure a name existed for.
"I can't believe you managed to put all that in such a box."
"There are some things I am good at, you know."
"I never implied that you..." she started but DiNozzo cut her off.
"I know, Abbs." He said with a smile.
She looked at him tilting her head to the side, "don't you miss being a cop in Baltimore?"
Tony pondered about the question she'd just asked him. He hadn't really thought about it, actually. Did he regret his old life as a cop in Baltimore? No not really. And that is exactly what he told Abby.
When she looked in his eyes, she knew he was telling the truth.
"I am where I'm supposed to be, Abbs, NCIS is my family now."
The forensic scientist couldn't help but smile at her friend and colleague's words.
"Yes we are a family." She stated and opened her arms. Tony went to her and hugged her. They held each other like this for a long moment.
When he finally pulled away from her, he place a kiss on her cheek, and now let's go to work shell we, dear?"
"Spending a little too much time with Ducky, have we?" She smirked.
Tony looked disappointed, "I would have hope you'd recognized my 007-Sean Connery imitation."
"Oh." Was all his friend answered.
"Oh come on! I wasn't that bad."
Abby laughed then. "No, of course not, you would have been an excellent James Bond, Tony, really."
"Don't mock me."
"I'm not mocking you, you definitely would have made a great 007!"
DiNozzo smiled then, a bright smile. "Thanks.'
"Now let's see if the contents of the box can tell us something about Randall Hunter or any if relatives, and who knows maybe it'll lead us to whom wants to get our boss out of his way." His said walking back to the chair he had vacated moments earlier.
"Aye, aye, sir!" Abby said as she looked at an old case Tony DiNozzo had worked on while he went through a few pictures.
TBC...
That's it for chapter 11.
Thanks for reading.