Fic: La Belle Dame Sans Merci [10/13]
Title: La Belle Dame Sans Merci
Author: Jo. R (driftingatdusk)
Rating: FR-15
Category: Drama, Angst, Action, Case-file, Romance, Friendship
Pairing: Abby/Gibbs
Spoilers: Mild for 'Child's Play', 'Hiatus', 'Rule 51'
Summary: When a friend is murdered, Abby will stop at nothing to get revenge.
Authors Note: Since there hasn't been a part of a few days, have two!
****
They chose to carry out their impromptu debriefing in Abby's lab. It was one of the places at NCIS that could be completely locked down to keep anyone else from overhearing what was said, warmer than the morgue and a lot more roomy than the elevator. Abby took a moment on entering to check on her equipment, trailing her fingers over her 'babies' as if to reassure them that she was still around while Gibbs sent the temporary forensic technician filling in for her on a fools errant.
McGee, Ziva and Tony took up positions in the background, understanding that their boss would want to explain himself before letting them tell her what they'd each found. They shared glances that could almost be classed as nervous as Abby initiated the lockdown of the lab, shutting off the exits and security cameras with one button on the remote she set down on the workstation beside her computer.
"You want to tell me what's going on?" Abby asked eventually, folding her arms over her chest as she fixed Gibbs with a steady stare. She was glad that the others were with them in a way even if it did make her feel a little outnumbered. They were all on the same side, she tried telling herself, and she trusted them implicitly - had trusted them, before they'd gone behind her back. At least, though, if they were there, Gibbs wouldn't use any underhand or unfair tactics to try and soften her up; she couldn't imagine him grabbing her and kissing him in the lab in front of his agents the way he had in the stairwell when it had just been the two of them.
"Something about Helen and Rob's story doesn't add up. If you weren't so close to them and to the investigation, you'd see that yourself." Gibbs held her gaze unflinchingly. "I asked McGee to check their finances and I had DiNozzo and Ziva make contact with the motel they holed up at. I won't apologise for that, either. This is still my case."
Her jaw clenched and her eyes flashed but Abby said nothing, merely arched an eyebrow and tapped her foot impatiently against the floor.
He opened the folder he'd been holding since interrupting her confrontation with McGee and held out a still image taken from the security footage taken at the motel. "Tony and Ziva got this from the motel manager."
After a moment's pause, Abby took the photograph. She stared at him for a few moments longer before turning her attention to the image, a frown marring her smooth brow as her mind processed it. "When was this taken?"
"It was taken from the footage of them checking in at the motel." Ziva took a step forward and answered the question when Gibbs gave her a small, subtle nod. "I am sorry, Abby, but we checked the dates on the footage and on the reservation forms. Neither Helen nor Rob had any injuries when they arrived at their motel."
"We checked out their house, too, Abs," Tony chimed in quietly. "On the surface, it looks like something happened there but if you dig deeper, it's obvious it was all staged. There was no trace of blood, no sign that there was a fight between six people."
Her hand clenched on the photograph as her blood thundered through her veins, pounding in her ears. She felt sick and dizzy and hot and betrayed on so many different fronts. Her face paler than usual, Abby looked up and glanced from Gibbs to McGee and back again. "And in their financials? I assume there was something hinky there, too?"
"They were in serious debt until six months ago," McGee began to explain after a look from Gibbs. "Then they started getting one large lump sum every month from the same account number. I traced it to a bank account the FBI have under surveillance. Fornell confirmed it has connections to a terrorist cell but couldn't tell me which one."
He hesitated and Abby mentally steeled herself for more. "What else, Tim? I won't shout, I promise," she added with a ghost of a smile, an apology for the way she'd cornered him upstairs. "Just tell me."
"I accessed the account the money was transferred from and found similar amounts of money leaving it. After tracing those, I was able to identify another bank account on the NSA payroll. I've been trying to get a name to go with the account but without the NSA giving me the name of the person attached to that employee number on their payroll, it's proving difficult." McGee gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Abby."
"You've got nothing to be sorry for, Tim." Abby handed the photograph back to Gibbs and turned away from them, running a hand through her hair as she paced her lab. She turned back to them, hands clasped in front of her and shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "If Rob and Helen are in on it, why would they plant the idea that there was a mole in the NSA? Why would they want us - you - to start looking there?"
"Perhaps they went along with it against their will," Ziva suggested after a momentary pause. "They seem to genuinely care about you, Abby, and I am sure they feel genuine remorse and regret that their former colleagues are dead. It is possible they did not want to take part in this, and that they felt they had no choice."
Tony added his opinion when Abby's gaze turned to him. "If Ziva's right, they might have said that to warn you there's someone else you can't trust. Maybe if we talk to them again, they'll tell you who."
"We'd have to offer them something in return," Abby mused quietly. "Some kind of protection..." Her voice trailed off and a horror stricken expression arranged her features. Her gaze flew to Gibbs at the same time he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, the look on his face suggesting he'd followed her line of thought. "Gibbs..."
"What's wrong?" Ziva moved forward to try to comfort her, her distress evident. "Abby?"
"If there's someone else working for them inside the NSA, someone who could get them the names and addresses of everyone involved that night..." Abby shook her head and clung to Ziva's arm to keep herself standing. Fear paralyzed her, froze her to the spot. Images of Annie's body flashed in her mind but instead of her friend and former partner, the face changed to be that of... "My family. The safe houses have probably been compromised. If it's me De Silvo wants to hurt, he'll go after my family."
Gibbs swore and closed his phone with one hand, reaching for the remote to undo the lockdown around the lab with the other. Within minutes, the outer doors were open and Director Vance and Catherine walked in, the former putting away his own phone.
"I don't know how it happened, Abby, I swear to you I wouldn't have risked them if I'd know there was a chance..." Catherine's eyes shone with tears of remorse. "I'm so sorry."
Abby took a step towards her former boss, leaving the comfort of Ziva's embrace behind her. "What happened?"
"The safe houses were attacked. All of them. Derek and Aaron, they're dead." A tear ran unchecked down Catherine's face as she broke the news that Abby's former unit had lost another two of its members. "There was no way of knowing..."
"My mom? Nick and Claudia and Isabelle?" Abby took another step forward. "Where are they, Catherine?"
"Your mom, brother and sister-in-law are being treated under armed guard at Bethesda, thanks to Director Vance. Gloria is stable and Nick and Claudia are doing fine. Your niece..." Catherine bit her bottom lip. "Isabelle was taken, Abby. I don't know where she is."
****
Author: Jo. R (driftingatdusk)
Rating: FR-15
Category: Drama, Angst, Action, Case-file, Romance, Friendship
Pairing: Abby/Gibbs
Spoilers: Mild for 'Child's Play', 'Hiatus', 'Rule 51'
Summary: When a friend is murdered, Abby will stop at nothing to get revenge.
Authors Note: Since there hasn't been a part of a few days, have two!
****
They chose to carry out their impromptu debriefing in Abby's lab. It was one of the places at NCIS that could be completely locked down to keep anyone else from overhearing what was said, warmer than the morgue and a lot more roomy than the elevator. Abby took a moment on entering to check on her equipment, trailing her fingers over her 'babies' as if to reassure them that she was still around while Gibbs sent the temporary forensic technician filling in for her on a fools errant.
McGee, Ziva and Tony took up positions in the background, understanding that their boss would want to explain himself before letting them tell her what they'd each found. They shared glances that could almost be classed as nervous as Abby initiated the lockdown of the lab, shutting off the exits and security cameras with one button on the remote she set down on the workstation beside her computer.
"You want to tell me what's going on?" Abby asked eventually, folding her arms over her chest as she fixed Gibbs with a steady stare. She was glad that the others were with them in a way even if it did make her feel a little outnumbered. They were all on the same side, she tried telling herself, and she trusted them implicitly - had trusted them, before they'd gone behind her back. At least, though, if they were there, Gibbs wouldn't use any underhand or unfair tactics to try and soften her up; she couldn't imagine him grabbing her and kissing him in the lab in front of his agents the way he had in the stairwell when it had just been the two of them.
"Something about Helen and Rob's story doesn't add up. If you weren't so close to them and to the investigation, you'd see that yourself." Gibbs held her gaze unflinchingly. "I asked McGee to check their finances and I had DiNozzo and Ziva make contact with the motel they holed up at. I won't apologise for that, either. This is still my case."
Her jaw clenched and her eyes flashed but Abby said nothing, merely arched an eyebrow and tapped her foot impatiently against the floor.
He opened the folder he'd been holding since interrupting her confrontation with McGee and held out a still image taken from the security footage taken at the motel. "Tony and Ziva got this from the motel manager."
After a moment's pause, Abby took the photograph. She stared at him for a few moments longer before turning her attention to the image, a frown marring her smooth brow as her mind processed it. "When was this taken?"
"It was taken from the footage of them checking in at the motel." Ziva took a step forward and answered the question when Gibbs gave her a small, subtle nod. "I am sorry, Abby, but we checked the dates on the footage and on the reservation forms. Neither Helen nor Rob had any injuries when they arrived at their motel."
"We checked out their house, too, Abs," Tony chimed in quietly. "On the surface, it looks like something happened there but if you dig deeper, it's obvious it was all staged. There was no trace of blood, no sign that there was a fight between six people."
Her hand clenched on the photograph as her blood thundered through her veins, pounding in her ears. She felt sick and dizzy and hot and betrayed on so many different fronts. Her face paler than usual, Abby looked up and glanced from Gibbs to McGee and back again. "And in their financials? I assume there was something hinky there, too?"
"They were in serious debt until six months ago," McGee began to explain after a look from Gibbs. "Then they started getting one large lump sum every month from the same account number. I traced it to a bank account the FBI have under surveillance. Fornell confirmed it has connections to a terrorist cell but couldn't tell me which one."
He hesitated and Abby mentally steeled herself for more. "What else, Tim? I won't shout, I promise," she added with a ghost of a smile, an apology for the way she'd cornered him upstairs. "Just tell me."
"I accessed the account the money was transferred from and found similar amounts of money leaving it. After tracing those, I was able to identify another bank account on the NSA payroll. I've been trying to get a name to go with the account but without the NSA giving me the name of the person attached to that employee number on their payroll, it's proving difficult." McGee gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Abby."
"You've got nothing to be sorry for, Tim." Abby handed the photograph back to Gibbs and turned away from them, running a hand through her hair as she paced her lab. She turned back to them, hands clasped in front of her and shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "If Rob and Helen are in on it, why would they plant the idea that there was a mole in the NSA? Why would they want us - you - to start looking there?"
"Perhaps they went along with it against their will," Ziva suggested after a momentary pause. "They seem to genuinely care about you, Abby, and I am sure they feel genuine remorse and regret that their former colleagues are dead. It is possible they did not want to take part in this, and that they felt they had no choice."
Tony added his opinion when Abby's gaze turned to him. "If Ziva's right, they might have said that to warn you there's someone else you can't trust. Maybe if we talk to them again, they'll tell you who."
"We'd have to offer them something in return," Abby mused quietly. "Some kind of protection..." Her voice trailed off and a horror stricken expression arranged her features. Her gaze flew to Gibbs at the same time he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, the look on his face suggesting he'd followed her line of thought. "Gibbs..."
"What's wrong?" Ziva moved forward to try to comfort her, her distress evident. "Abby?"
"If there's someone else working for them inside the NSA, someone who could get them the names and addresses of everyone involved that night..." Abby shook her head and clung to Ziva's arm to keep herself standing. Fear paralyzed her, froze her to the spot. Images of Annie's body flashed in her mind but instead of her friend and former partner, the face changed to be that of... "My family. The safe houses have probably been compromised. If it's me De Silvo wants to hurt, he'll go after my family."
Gibbs swore and closed his phone with one hand, reaching for the remote to undo the lockdown around the lab with the other. Within minutes, the outer doors were open and Director Vance and Catherine walked in, the former putting away his own phone.
"I don't know how it happened, Abby, I swear to you I wouldn't have risked them if I'd know there was a chance..." Catherine's eyes shone with tears of remorse. "I'm so sorry."
Abby took a step towards her former boss, leaving the comfort of Ziva's embrace behind her. "What happened?"
"The safe houses were attacked. All of them. Derek and Aaron, they're dead." A tear ran unchecked down Catherine's face as she broke the news that Abby's former unit had lost another two of its members. "There was no way of knowing..."
"My mom? Nick and Claudia and Isabelle?" Abby took another step forward. "Where are they, Catherine?"
"Your mom, brother and sister-in-law are being treated under armed guard at Bethesda, thanks to Director Vance. Gloria is stable and Nick and Claudia are doing fine. Your niece..." Catherine bit her bottom lip. "Isabelle was taken, Abby. I don't know where she is."
****