In The Deep
Pairing: Gibbs/Abby (a.k.a. Gabby)
Rating: T
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: Neither NCIS nor the characters belong to me. I wish it did, but it doesn’t.
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Chapter One: Appearances Are Deceiving
“Excuse me, I’m looking for one... Abigail Sciuto?”
“That’s me! That’s me! Don’t call me ‘Abigail’ ever again, though. I’m Abby.”
The janitor eyed her warily. “...Oh. This package must be for you, then,” he replied. They told him upstairs that Abigail - or Abby " was the ‘forensic scientist downstairs’. Not that he had much of an idea of what a forensics scientist’s job was (he failed chemistry and physics miserably in high school), but he expected to find someone more... serious, perhaps more mature, not the spitting image of what his 12 year-old daughter was going to become 5 years from now.
“Appeareances are deceiving. I mean, I’m used to people looking at me like I’m weird and stuff but well, even us weirdos have to work for a living, y’know?”
“Oh, I’m sorry if I offended you! It’s just that I’m so new here… I’m from a very small town, not used to the Big City stuff. I’m unsophisticated.” He had a polite smile that she couldn’t see, and an apologetic tone that she did pick up on.
“Don’t worry, it’s OK. Could you leave the package there, please? I’m here, a little busy with my computer,” Abby responded, taking just a fraction of a second to look at him with her ‘nothing I can do’ face.
“Ok, then... Happy Birthday, Abby. From one... Hollis Mann”. ‘Hollis Mann? That’s hinky as hinky can get,’ she thought. “That’s weird,” she couldn’t help scaping from her mouth.
“Sure it is!” Answered the guy, “Hollis Mann. Ho-llis Maaaann. Sounds like something you would say after hitting your pinky toe against a table.” Abby chuckled for a moment, her eyes never leaving the screen. “Anyway,” he continued, “I can open the box if you want.”
“That’d be a good idea, yeah”
“Well, here’s a bouquet of... black roses?”
“They’re my favourite. Everybody gives me one of those,” She motioned to the fridge. “That’s the safest bet for people who don’t know me that well (like Hollis, for example) and for people who know me very, very well too!”
“Yeah! I’m sure it is!, I’m sure it is. There’s also this thing, it looks like a collectible item. Looks like one hell of an expensive gift...”
“Hhhmmm?... That’s pretty strange, she and I were never that close, if you know what I mean. I have nothing against her, is just that well, we didn’t start with the right foot " AAAAAAAHHHH“
Her hyper rambling was cut short. The janitor stabbed her left hand while it was palms up, so a very loud scream replaced it. It was soo loud, the entire building heard it, even over the music that was playing at the moment. Fighting the pain, she turned around and somehow managed to kick him where it prevented him from giving siblings to his daughter.
“Abby!” She heard Gibbs yell, but the pain made it all fuzzy, and the tears in her eyes didn’t let her see clearly either. “Tony! Take Abby with Ducky and call an ambulance, now!” he said, while grabbing and cuffing the assaultant with McGee’s help. Then, both of them took the janitor to the interrogation room.
Once they got there, McGee was surprised to see his boss taking the janitor to the other side of the room. “Boss?” He said, trying to correct Gibbs, just to find him staring at coldly at him. “Don’t you have work to do, McGee?” Gibbs asked.
“On it, Boss,” he replied, catching his drift, and started walking towards the bullpen, grateful that "at least for now- he wasn’t the subject of his boss’ rage regarding Abby. “Come back in 15 minutes,” was the last thing he heard.
Gibbs opened the door, covered the security camera with his jacket and entered with the attacker without turning on the lights. Once inside, he proceeded to toss down the guy and kick him in every place of his body covered by his clothes.
“WHY DID YOU DO IT?” Gibbs demanded, running out of patience even though he had just started with the ‘unofficial interrogation’.
“Ouch!” The janitor didn’t say anything else. Another round of kicks followed.
“I was… hired,” the handcuffed man finally blurted out.
“To kill her…?”
“Yeah, exactly”
“So you figured ‘Why not? What’s a girl’s life if I can make a few bucks’, huh? It’s funny, the hitman’s train of thought” " Another round of kicks.
“I’m not a hitman! I’m a janitor. And they didn’t pay me just a few bucks. I have a family!”
“So does her!” Said Gibbs furiously, grabbing the man by the collar. “Who hired you?”
“Does it matter?”
“Of course it does! Whoever hired you will try to go after her again!”
“So you want me to become a snitch? I can do that,” the janitor said a little too calmly for a guy who was being beaten the crap out of, “again, I have a family, and there’s still part of the payment pending”.
“They won’t pay you. In fact, I’d be surprised if they didn’t go after you as well.”
“Bullshit. Why would they do that?”
“Because you failed, Mr. Janitor…” Gibbs could barely finish his sentence when he felt, more than he saw, a grin forming in the man’s face. “Yeah, keep thinking that,” he said smugly. Gibbs kicked him once more in frustration before getting him out, and into the right side of the interrogation room. He sat the janitor down on a chair and left to go to the hospital, where Abby and Ducky were.
He entered into the hospital room where Abby was. The doctors had decided to keep her in observation for a little while since she had lost a non-fatal, but considerable amount of blood. She was sitting on the edge of the bed and hadn’t seen him yet. Gibbs smiled a little: He liked it when he could sneak up on her.
“Hi, Abbs!”
“Hi, Gibbs! You scared me…” She was somewhat surprised to see him there so soon, she thought he had work to do. He was moving closer to Abby, ready to hug her and kiss her in the cheek, but she backed off quickly. “Don’t touch me!” She exclaimed.
Gibbs stopped dead in his tracks. He didn’t expect that at all. “What’s wrong, Abby? Did something happen that I don’t know about yet?” He asked, concerned. However, not a single word came out of her mouth. She just looked at him with an unreadable expression.
It wasn’t until that moment that he really noticed her appearance: She was barefoot, dressed in a hospital robe, her hair lose without her usual pigtails or make-up on. He had never seen her without make-up, and the sight was as lovely as it was scary. Fresh faced she looked beautiful in a way he had never seen before, and even younger than usual. But at the same time, she looked more mature and world-weary, and he expected to discover a healthier, even happier Abby. Instead, he had to see the real paleness of her skin, as well as the dark circles around her bright green eyes, their sparkle being the only sign of the girl he had always known.
A nursed entered into the room. “Sir, could you please go outside and wait while I change her bandages?”
Gibbs turned his head and glared at her. “Is there a problem if I stay here?”
“Look sir, no one but the patient and medical staff is supposed to be here in the first place, but since you managed to get here, at least wait outside for five minutes.”
“But, why- ?” Before Gibbs could finish, he was cut off by a familiar voice.
“Jethro! I didn’t expect to se you so soon! Come with me, let’s go and eat something,” said Ducky, ushering him outside.
As soon as they crossed the door, Gibbs stopped Ducky. “Wha - what’s going on?” He asked, whispering so neither Abby nor the nurse could hear the conversation. “Did something happen that I don’t know about yet? Did he stab her somewhere else besides her hand?”
“Calm down and take a deep breath. No, it was just her hand.”
“Then why am I being kicked out of her room?”
“Because the situation is a lot more delicate than that”
“More delicate? But you just said it was only a hand injury!”
“And that’s the truth! I would never lie to you about anything like this. The thing is…”
“To the point, Ducky”
“… That’s my point, Jethro.” He replied, sounding defeated. “Both the knife and the man who attacked Abigail with it are HIV positive.”
A long silence followed. Gibbs’ couldn’t say anything else since his lips started trembling and his eyed started watering, he was only capable of looking at Abby through the window. She was staring of into space with her arm extended, while the gloved, fully covered nurse cleaned her wound and changed her bandages.
Author's Chapter Notes:
An unexpected gift for one Abigail Sciuto...