When Tony came to work wearing a turtle neck and singing, it was a sure sign he'd had a good night. Or more likely a good morning, Abby thought with a smile. Given the shape he was in last night, she seriously doubted he'd been up to much of anything.
She'd known for awhile now he was seeing someone. He was happier, more balanced and his flirting was more playful, less aggressive and lacked obvious intent. She had no idea who he was seeing, since he hadn't seen fit to actually say anything to her, she wasn't sure if she should ask. She wanted to, had hinted a few times trying to give him an opening to tell her, but he hadn't taken her up on it. Damn it. She was going to have to try harder.
Knowing he had someone in the wings was one of the reasons she hadn't put up more of a fight to be the one to take him home. She knew he'd convince McGee to leave him alone. But that didn't mean he'd be alone. And from his cheerful mood and smile, it was obvious someone had made it a good morning for him.
The same someone had no doubt taken good care of him last night. So whoever it was, Abby approved of him or her so far. That could all change if this mystery person didn't continue to take good care of Tony. He deserved to be happy. If this mystery person hurt him, Abby knew how to hide a body, and make sure it was never found.
The bruises on Tony's face were more obvious than they'd been last night. Abby winced in sympathy. At least he didn't look like they bothered him, and he was steady on his feet. She found that decidedly reassuring. She hadn't liked seeing members of her family getting injured on the job before Kate's death, now she really hated it. The thought of possibly losing another friend was just too painful to contemplate.
"Good Morning, Abby." Tony grinned as he offered a Caf-Pow, breaking her out of her dark thoughts.
"Thank you, Tony." She smiled back, happy to see him looking so much better.
He bowed. "Always aim to please." Tony usually brought her first of the drink of the day.
"You look better." She couldn't resist commenting.
"Thanks." He gave her a warm, genuine smile. It told her just how pleased he was she'd noticed. "Feel better too."
Chip gave Tony a dirty look when he entered the lab. Both Abby and Tony ignored it. She wasn't sure what his problem was with Tony, but she had thought he was getting over it. He'd really been part of the team on the last case.
Abby just added Chip's continued hostility to the list of why she didn't need him as an assistant. No one hated Tony. They might dislike his immature attitude and juvenile behavior, but no one outright hated him. And if Chip couldn't work with him, or the rest of the team, he really needed to find a job somewhere else.
She waggled her eyebrows at Tony as she took a long sip of her drink. "So anything going on upstairs?"
"McGee is probably going to spend the morning trying to clear up crap from having his identity stolen." Tony leaned against the table, arms folded. "Getting all that off his credit is likely going to take a few months."
Abby nodded sympathetically. "Told him a secure server isn't always secure."
Tony shrugged. "It could be worse."
She raised both eyebrows in silent question. Abby hadn't thought there was much worse that could happen to a person than having his identity stolen. Well, at least in terms of catastrophes that didn't involve life and limb.
"He could have been declared dead," Tony pointed out.
Abby winced, nodding. She'd forgotten about that paperwork snafu. It had taken Tony forever to his personnel file straightened up after that. She knew Gibbs had taken several people to task to fix the problem. Abby actually thought it rather sweet the way the former Marine had quietly and forcefully ripped into the admin department.
Being declared dead stopped being funny when Tony couldn't even get in the building and was threatened with being pulled from active duty. The final straw came when Gibbs found out Tony wasn't getting his pay check. Given that it happened around Tony's two year anniversary with NCIS, Gibbs had been worried the whole thing might be enough for Tony to get wandering feet and look for greener pastures. Not that he'd actually said so, but Abby could tell. The boss man always got a little meaner when he was worried. So he leaned on a few people and got the problem fixed faster than Abby had thought possible.
"Ziva is still having problems with her computer." Tony's gaze sharpened, letting Abby know he knew she had something to do with it.
"That's too bad." She tried to sound sincere, but knew she failed when Tony shook his head, green eyes twinkling. He wouldn't call her on it, which meant she owed him one.
Ziva and her stupid spy ware impressed McGee. And that annoyed Abby. Not so much that she'd done anything irreparable to Ziva's computer, just enough to slow it down, make more temperamental. If Ziva was all she claimed to be, then she should be able to fix it or at least be smart enough to ask for assistance.
"Any new cases?"
"Not yet." Tony shrugged. "But you know how quick that can change." He glanced at his watch. "Speaking of which, I better get my ass back up there before Gibbs notices I'm gone."
"Too late." Gibbs strolled in, startling Chip but not really surprising either Abby or Tony.
He didn't look pissed, Abby noted. More like...relaxed. At least as relaxed as Gibbs ever got. It was good to see him looking less stressed than he had for the last few days. She was pretty sure he hadn't gone home the whole time Tony and Ziva were under cover. And she really doubted he'd slept much.
"Good morning, Gibbs," Abby greeted him with a bright smile.
"Good morning, Abby." He sipped his coffee before looking at Tony. "Didn't I tell you to go see Ducky and let him look you over?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "Boss, it's not---"
"Ducky, DiNozzo. Now."
"On it, Boss." Tony sighed. No one argued with Gibbs when he used that tone. "Catch you later, Abby."
He waved to Chip as he left. Chip didn't respond or acknowledge him. Abby gave him a hard look and caught Gibbs doing the same.
She signed with the ease of long practice, 'What is up with Chip?' Abby shook her head, dark pigtails flapping. 'He is a seriously weird dude, Gibbs.'
'I know.' Gibbs signed back, setting his coffee cup next to her Caf-Pow, freeing both hands to speak. Intense blue eyes met hers. 'Do you have plans for Friday night?'
Abby raised both eyebrows. 'Plans?'
Yes, plans.' He glared at her, impatient as ever. His hands moved faster. 'Are you doing anything Friday night?'
'No.' She cocked her head curious where he was going. If it was related to a case he'd have just told her to cancel whatever plans she had. It was months until her birthday or his.
'I want you to come to dinner. My house.'
Abby grinned. ?What's the occasion?'
'No occasion.'
She assessed him. He gave off vibes that from anyone else she would have read as nervous. Whatever it was, it was serious and important to him. And it was also obvious that he wasn't going to go into details in the lab, which made it personal. His opting for sign language rather than speaking outright indicated that as well.
'O.K.' She took a sip from her Caf-Pow. "Formal or casual," she said aloud.
"Casual is fine." Gibbs smiled. He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before leaving.
Abby immediately sent an e-mail to Tony. If anyone knew what was up or was willing to help her find out it was him. On the off chance that anyone was looking over his shoulder, which she knew happened, she used his personal account and signed it Naomi.
The name was the product of a rough case. She'd wanted to forget for a little while that there were horrible people in the world, doing horrible things. She wanted to pretend to be someone else for a little while, someone without cares or worries. Naomi seemed like the sort of name someone unspoiled and naļ¶„ would have.
She'd run into Tony at a club after she'd already introduced herself to the bartender as Naomi. He'd played along, not even batting an eye. Of course, he was there under an assumed name as well. Given the nature of the club, it was a safe bet most names were aliases of one kind or another.
Abby cued the CD player, ignoring Chip's wince. He stilled called her ma'am, gave Tony dirty looks, thought she should be nicer to Ziva, and was rude to Palmer the other day. He could put up with her music. It seemed fitting.
As she usually did during moments of down time she worked on an article she was hoping to get published. Abby liked the idea of being respected in academia, and contributing to the body of knowledge out there. Science was her religion after all. She needed to stay in touch with the other faithful.
She smiled when her email announced an incoming message half an hour later. Her smile grew wider when she saw it was from 'honey buns'. The nickname started out in jest, something she'd done in an effort to annoy him once when he'd been particularly immature one day, but rather than be offended or insulted Tony seemed to enjoy it.
She frowned. Tony was one of the few people she knew who always managed to sound exactly like himself whether writing or speaking. And he was definitely being evasive in his response. So he knew about Friday. Damn. Had he come down to warn her or feel her out to see what she knew and Gibbs showed up before he could say anything?
She shrugged. Only way to find out was to ask. She sent a response. Abby grinned. Naomi might be innocent and naive, but she was persistent and learning fast.
She laughed softly when Honey Buns fired back another message. Abby could almost hear Tony singing, "I know something you don't know". The little shit, she thought fondly. He knew she loved a good mystery.
She couldn't resist starting a game of twenty questions. Abby used instant messenger instead of e-mail, wanting a 'real time' conversation. She began with the traditional first question. "Animal, vegetable or mineral?" She murmured out loud as she typed.
"Ma'am?"
"Go away, Chip." She rolled her eyes. "I'm busy." She'd forgotten he was even there.
"Is it something I can help with?"
"No." Not just no, hell no. Her dialog with Tony was private. "Go find something to do," she instructed absently with a wave of her hand, relieved when he walked off. She didn't care where he went or what he did, just as long as left her alone.
She had no trouble picturing Tony's smirk when he responded to her first question. Not that the brief one word answer gave her much to go on. She sipped her Caf-Pow. This was going to be fun.
It took three questions before she thought to ask the most obvious ones. Was anyone else invited? Was Tony going to be there?
Abby bit her lip when there was a noticeable hesitation in his answer. She could almost see him with his fingers poised over the keyboard. Maybe something had come up. A case or Gibbs had walked in. Both or either would stop their conversation.
The rapid 'gotta go' didn't really tell her what had caused Tony to sign off but she could guess. Gibbs. Damn it. He knew she'd talk to Tony.
"Damn, Silver Fox." She snickered, amused in spite of herself. "Foiled me again."
Well, she had a few days to keep digging. She wasn't going to concede victory to the Silver Fox just yet. Despite evidence to the contrary, Gibbs couldn't be everywhere. She sent another e-mail to Tony telling him they'd continue the game later, when he was Gibbs free.
Nodding to herself, she went back to work on her article. She could think about what else to ask Tony while she did. Being able to multitask was definitely a blessing.
She grinned, sipping her drink. Even if she didn't know before Friday what was going on, she'd definitely know by then. It was a win, win all the way around.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Gibbs invites Abby to dinner.
Chapter End Notes:
This is the first chapter of a longer story.