30 day challenge notes: quantity over quality, limited editing, stand-alone/unrelated stories unless specifically stated otherwise, not always tiva, chronologically randomly set in whatever pre-s11 season seems to fit
A/N: Tony's curiosity could get Abby into trouble.
Prompt: Nursing a baby animal back to health
The lab was mostly silent, except for the usual beeping and whirring of machines he would never quite grasp—Abby's manuals were helpful, but without McGee's help he surely would have made something blow up. He looked at the various monitors, trying to figure out if any of them were showing something related to their current case, but quickly realized he needed about five more years in college to even come close to deciphering any of that.
Tony blew air through pursed lips and checked his watch. Abby had ordered him downstairs immediately, and now there was no sign of her, or her tell-tale music. Not that he was complaining about the latter.
He sat down on a stool, spun around five times, and stopped facing the wall with the team's photos. There was new one of Abby and Ziva, he noticed, and got up to get a closer look. Maybe snap a shot of it for his own team album, which contained a disproportionate amount of Ziva, but that was neither here nor there, and totally coincidental, doesn't prove anything.
A somewhat muted chirping coming from the office was all it took to distract him and investigate the new noise. It didn't sound like anything he had heard in the lab before. In fact it sounded suspiciously like a bird. Tony grinned, assuming Abby had changed the ringtone on her phone, and had left the device unguarded in her office. What kind of a friend would he be if he didn't make sure there wasn't an emergency.
With a quick glance in the direction of the sliding doors, he slipped into the office, zoning in on the direction of the chirping.
"Ha!" he exclaimed, as he pulled open the top drawer with confidence.
Victory made room for confusion as he stared at the source of the chirps. He tilted his head as if that would change, or rather, explain anything, and completely missed the sound of sliding doors and heavy footsteps.
"Tony!" Abby admonished. "Stop going through my stuff."
With raised eyebrows, Tony said, "Your stuff?"
Abby made a disgruntled sound and stepped in between him and the open drawer.
Tony looked over her shoulder, and deadpanned, "It's high time you do some spring cleaning here, there are birds nesting in your desk."
Abby turned around abruptly, facing him and pushing him back a few feet, while shushing him. "You're scaring it."
"Abby, why is there a bird in your drawer?"
"I found it this morning." She glanced at the hungry baby bird, not quite a fledgling, but getting close. "If you tell anyone I'll-"
"Yeah, yeah, not an atom of evidence left behind, I know." He looked at her seriously. "You really shouldn't keep it here, though, you know that, right? If any of the evidence gets contaminated-"
The sound of the sliding door was quickly followed by Ziva's hurried footsteps. She rushed into the office with a triumphant look on her face, and held up a cardboard box. "Abby, I have the…" Her eyes went wide as she spotted Tony. "Crickets."
Tony looked at her in disbelief. "You know about this?"
"It's just a baby bird, Tony, what was she supposed to do?"
He shook his head. "You can't have live animals in a lab full of evidence and dangerous chemicals."
"Shush!" Abby admonished, and took the box of crickets from Ziva, and tweezers from the desk.
Ziva played with one of her earrings, and glanced at Tony. "We can keep it in your desk, then, you always brag about how good you are at attracting birds."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "I have never referred to women as birds, and you know it."
"Never?"
He shrugged half-heartedly. "Not since I was a teenager."
"Fine, I'll keep it in my desk," Ziva said matter-of-factly, and turned her attention to the nestling being fed. "It's so round and puffy," she said with a bright smile.
Tony frowned, and shook his head. "That's not going to go down well with Gibbs."
Ziva stood up straight and crossed her arms in front of her. "I was a Mossad officer, do you really think I'm afraid of Gibbs?"
He looked her square in the eye. "Yes."
Ziva pursed her lips." Okay, maybe a little." She held up a finger. "But, Abby is his favorite, so all I have to do is survive his glare long enough to explain…" Freezing for a split second, she quickly glanced over her shoulder, certain Gibbs had snuck up on them.
Tony scoffed. "A little, huh?"
"You guys, it can't even fly yet, it can't go anywhere near the evidence." Abby looked at Tony expectantly and gripped his arm with both hands. "You know how careful I am with evidence, it'll only be for today."
Tony sighed and rolled his eyes, then looked at Ziva for backup. Ziva, who was staring at him with a puppy dog look he had never seen, nor expected from her.
His shoulders slumped, and he nodded imperceptibly. "Fine, but if Gibbs finds out, you two are on your own."