Carly had a hood over her head but it wasn't needed. After the shot of whatever in her arm, she couldn't move. She didn't think she would be able to scream either. She blacked out right after he grabbed her and stuck her with the needle. She was still trying to sort through everything that happened after Abby was uncovered when she felt herself being placed on something flat. One limb at a time she was strapped down. Once the voice made certain she would be unable to move when the drugs wore off, he pulled the hood off her head and watched as she looked around and then straight up. As her eyes widened, his laughter rang through the woods and she knew there was no one near to save her.
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Abby was still in Tony's lap while Gibbs, Ziva, Ducky and Tim searched the surrounding woods. When they assembled back at the hole in the ground another team of agents had arrived. Abby stood and looked at the face of each agent. Ducky understood gifts, he was sensitive to them and he never judged, not based on someone just being a little different. In the few days since her talk with Carly, Abby had done plenty of research on empaths. But she didn't need any of that to tell her what her friends and co-workers were thinking about Carly's disappearance.
She rounded on Tony, "She's my best friend other than you! There's no way she would let someone grab me and harm me! You get that thought out of your mind right now!" Turning to Ziva she continued, "And you, being the great Mossad officer you are can't tell sincerity from a lie?"
"I was fooled once Abby." Ziva answered.
Tony shifted uncomfortably. "How do you know what we're thinking, Abby?"
"I don't know what you're thinking! I know what you're feeling! Anger, resentment, doubt. Get rid of those feelings now, none of them will help us find Carly and they aren't needed here anyway. She's done nothing wrong!"
"The voice on the phone said you were gifted." Tim started tentatively.
Abby looked at the team and then glanced at the second team standing not so far away. Her voice was still hoarse but she was worried they would hear her. She walked away a short distance and they followed. Looking at their faces she knew they would reject her information if they knew the source so she kept it simple. "I'm an empath. Basically that means I can pick up on other’s feelings like a tuning rod." She shrugged to show it was no big deal.
"Why are we just learning this?" Gibbs asked, uncomfortable but still caring.
"Because I've only made sense of it recently. We have to find Carly. This guy, whoever he is, he's angry and he's not going to let her go. If we don't stop him, she'll die." Abby told them plainly. When she still picked up their disbelief, she growled and stomped away from them. She would find Carly on her own if they wouldn't help.
As she was pacing, Abby cleared her mind of her anger at Tony and the others. She would deal with them later. It came on slowly. A little niggle at the back of her mind. A little hitch in her breathing signaled she wasn't feeling all her own feelings anymore. Refusing to look at the team staring at her, she tried to keep relaxed so the feelings would come. They faded a bit and she almost panicked. When they came back, she cried out and fell to her knees.
Carly was scared. Not just "I had a bad dream" scared but terrified almost to the point of breaking. Tony and Gibbs reached her first but Abby motioned them off. When she started to gag, Ducky took her hand. "Abigail, these aren't your feelings. Separate yourself from them. Tell us what we need to know to help Carly."
Abby shuddered and stared at Ducky. He was taken aback by the blank look in her eyes and then they focused on his face. "Ducky." Abby whispered. "She's terrified. He's going to kill her and she knows how, she has to know to be this scared."
"How scared is she?" Ducky asked.
Abby blinked as the horror in her mind cleared and she realized what Carly's worst fear was. "The Pit and The Pendulum." Abby choked out and Ducky looked straight at Gibbs confirming what they were all thinking, "He's going to make her watch her time tick away."
Chapter End Notes:
Thank you to Tony for helping me with this chapter and the next. =) Thank you for letting me pick your brain! =D