Ziva had tried talking to both McGee and Ducky, the two she was closest to at work, and both had tried to convince her that everything was fine, that it was all some big misunderstanding. And as much as Ziva wanted to believe that, she knew it wasn't the truth. Their new director was a friend of her father, although one she had never met. What clued her in, though, was when she forgot her purse at the office and came back one evening to find a group of men she did recognize in his office. She hadn't had a chance to get photos or anything, but when she saw them meeting up at a cafe in town another day, she'd gotten photos and gone right to Abby.
It wasn't something she wanted to tell the girl, because Abby worried enough about everyone on the team as well as the man Tony had taken over for. She worried too much sometimes, and Ziva hadn't wanted to add even more to her plate, but she couldn't avoid it, so she brought a Caf-Pow in with her to soften the blow a little.
"Hey Abby, can I talk to you about something?" she asked, setting the drink on the table in front of the other woman.
"Hold on just a second, Ziva," Abby replied as she peered through the microscope for a moment longer, writing down the results before she spun on the stool and grabbed up the drink. "Ziva! You shouldn't have, thank you!" she said enthusiastically, throwing her arms around her and giving her a hug before taking a big drink of her soda. "What is it?"
"It's about the new director," Ziva told her. Right to the point. "I wasn't sure at first. I suspected, but I'd never seen him before." She was rambling, and she knew it, but she felt like she needed to explain since McGee and Ducky hadn't believed her. But now she was sure, and she had proof. "He's a friend of my father's, Abby. I've seen men in his office that I know are some of my father's men, and that's... it's not good, Abby. My father's not a good man."
Leaning forward to listen to the woman, Abby's eyes widened and she sucked hard on the straw between her lip, seeming transfixed by her words. "Did you tell Tony?" Abby asked right away, almost having said 'Gibbs' instead of Tony.
"No," Ziva admitted, shaking her head and furrowing her brow as she started to pace in front of Abby, a hand dragging through her curls. "I told McGee and Ducky when I first suspected something was up, but they tried to reassure me and tell me that I was mistaken. I have proof, Abby, photos. Do you think Tony would even believe me?"
"Well, it depends, Ziva," Abby said seriously, once she'd unwrapped her black lips from around the straw, "There's not much proof you can get from a lunch date, not without knowing what they were doing," she explain. "But maybe... maybe if I talk to him instead..."
"Could you, Abby?" Ziva asked right away, the relief clear on her face. "It's just that... some of the men know me, and if they know I suspect something, things would be even worse. I haven't wanted to get too close for that reason."
Abby nodded. "Good thinking," she said seriously, tapping her lip with a fingertip before, spinning back to face the microscope, removing the sample, covering it and slipping it back into the fridge. "Well, Tony usually comes down here in his lunch break, I'll talk to him then." It was decided, there wouldn't be anything said, no questions asked, she would do it.
"Thanks for the Caf-Pow, Ziva!" And that was it, she wasn't paying any more attention, going back to her work, since she was the only one here that could do it-and she preferred it that way.
"It's no problem, Abby. Thank you for talking to Tony," Ziva told her sincerely before getting back to her own work, not wanting to raise any sort of suspicion.
It was a couple of hours before Tony showed up for lunch, having been busy with an interrogation. He'd picked up lunch for both him and Abby, something he often did since the new job title had come with a hefty paycheck, and one that he didn't even need since he was single, lived on his own, had no kids, and a car that was paid for. Why not take care of his team? He had Chinese food in one hand and a Caf-Pow in the other, and he set it all down.
"Sorry I'm a bit late, Abs. Got a bit busy. Anything new going on down here?" he asked her, since it had been she and Ducky communicating back and forth today instead of him relaying the messages like he normally would.
"Not really," Abby said, pausing a few moments after, thinking about what Ziva had told her, not sure if she really wanted to bother Tony with it, but that was his job, wasn't it? "Well, I talked to Ziva today... I'm worried, Tony."
Abby worrying was never a good thing, even if what had her worried wasn't a big deal. Gibbs had never been able to stand when she was worried, and he seemed to have passed that along to Tony when he'd passed along the job title. Tony stopped pulling the food out of the bag and gave Abby his full attention.
"What is it, Abby? Something to do with the case?" he asked with a slight frown.
"No, well, I mean it could be, Tony, but I don't think it is. It's about the new director," Abby said with a serious expression leaning in closer. "Ziva has photos of him eating with her fathers men, or was it with Ziva's father? She talked a lot about her father, but Tony, I think she might be right, that guy always does give me the creeps!" she wailed the last bit.
This wasn't good. The details weren't clear, but the emotion Abby was showing made it clear that she was worried, and it sounded as though she had reason to be. Ziva hadn't told him much about her family when he'd hired her, but she'd told him what he needed to know, and even that had been enough for him to know that she did not come from a good background, and that her family was not a force to be reckoned with.
"Her father's men, you're sure?" he asked Abby, trying to keep from looking as worried as he felt, for Abby's sake.
"Yes, she has photos and I think if you don't do something she'll probably do something stupid, she has that look, Tony," Abby told him seriously.
That definitely got Tony's attention. "The boss mentioned something about having plans tonight when he was on the phone earlier. I'll follow him and look into it, see if I can find anything out," Tony told Abby reassuringly. All he needed was proof and then he and Ziva could go and talk to someone that was higher up-together.
With that sorted, he went back to pulling the food out of the bad, pushing one of the containers toward Abby. "Got your favorite, and there's some rice, if you want some," he told her, placing another container between them before holding up the drink. "Also got you this, but I suppose you don't want it since I see you already have one..." he teased with a grin.
"You can never have too many, Tony," Abby beamed at him and took it over to the fridge storing it inside for later when everyone was too busy to bring her one. She tugged at a ponytail before picking up the food and starting to dig him the frown disappearing from her face now that she knew Tony was going to take care of things.
"Thanks Tony," she said and kissed his cheek before settling in and getting comfortable.
"Abby, what sort of boss would I be if I didn't look into things like this?" he asked her pointedly, taking (or more like scarfing) a bite of his own food, not having eaten all day.
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