Fic: Smoke and Mirrors [3/23]
Title: Smoke and Mirrors
Author: Jo. R (driftingatdusk)
Rating: FR-15
Category: Drama, Case-file, Romance, Angst, Action, Friendship
Pairing: Abby/Gibbs
Spoilers: Bloodbath, Hiatus 1&2, Murder 2.0, Broken Bird, Faith, Rule 51, Cracked
Summary: Someone from the past has a score to settle with the team.
Thanks again to Lisa for proofing.
~*~
Part Three
~*~
The wreck of the car was towed to the Navy Yard, where Abby immediately set to work on trying to find a cause of the accident. It didn't take her long to confirm that the brakes had been tampered with and that the pipes that supplied the brake fluid to them had been severed.
After an hour of the car being in her possession, Abby was growing more and more frustrated - both with it and herself. It came to a head just minutes after she'd managed to get her finger trapped between the wrench she'd been using and the car itself and pushed herself out from underneath, cursing as her finger throbbed painfully.
The ding of the elevator bell didn't register at first, nor did the sound of footsteps moving towards her. When Gibbs put a hand on her shoulder, Abby cried out, spinning to face him with a glare as she held her injured finger with her good hand.
"Gibbs!"
The small grin that he'd been about to let show on his face disappeared at the look on hers. "Thought you'd heard me," he said with a casual shrug, as close to an apology as he would get. "You hurt yourself?"
"On the stupid, damn car," Abby muttered darkly, still glaring at him.
"Let me take a look." He tried to take hold of her injured hand but Abby pulled away, surprising both him and Tony, who'd followed him out of the elevator. "Abby."
"It's fine." Abby moved towards the car, turning her back on him. "If you're here for results, you're gonna be disappointed because I don't have any for you yet. I know the brakes were tampered with but I can't tell you what they used to cut the pipes and the fingerprints I took from underneath are still running through AFIS. Chances are they're gonna be the mechanic's who looked at her car last week, anyway, but I thought it was worth checking just in case."
"I need more than that to work with, Abby." Gibbs followed her, irritation beginning to colour his voice. "I need a name to go with those prints."
"You'll have it as soon as I do," Abby retorted coolly, still not looking at him. "Which'll be as soon as the computer's done searching but given how temperamental *that's* been of late, I can't promise them anytime soon. Maybe if I was allowed the upgrade I asked for last month..."
"Budget cuts affect us all, Abby," Gibbs told her shortly. "You know that as well as I do."
"Then you'll have to learn to have patience, because I'm only as good as what I've got to work with and right now, that's not much." She turned back around to glare at him again as he approached. "Seriously, Gibbs, I've got nothing. Unless you want me to take a guess at what I think they used, you're gonna have to come back later."
"Later isn't good enough."
"It'll have to be, whether you like it or not."
They stared at each other in silence for several tense moments, each glaring at the other. After an uncomfortable pause, Tony cleared his throat and moved to stand between them.
"Hey, so maybe we should go talk to Ziva's neighbours and see if they saw anything," he suggested, only to wince at the look Gibbs threw him. "Okay, I'm shutting up now."
"Don't glare at Tony."
"I'll glare at who I want."
"It's not fair to take it out on Tony when he hasn't done anything wrong," Abby insisted, her green eyes flashing.
Tony tried, once again, to get between the two of them as Gibbs' face coloured. Anger flashed in his boss's eyes, anger that Tony had never seen directed at the forensic specialist before. "Abs, really, it's fine..."
"Stay out of this, DiNozzo," Gibbs ordered, taking a step closer to the woman in front of him. "You wanna tell me what your problem is, Abby? This isn't just about a damn computer running too slow."
"No, you're right, it's not." Abby put her good hand on her hip. "You really want to know what the problem is, Gibbs? You want to know what's bugging me today? You," she continued without waiting for him to answer. "You'd think after eleven years you'd have figured out that science takes time. And you'd think after eleven years you'd be able to see what's right in front of you but no, not you. You click your fingers and you expect us all to come running and do what you say, even when it's not physically possible and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of you!"
She pushed past him, ignoring the somewhat stunned look on his face and stormed towards the stairwell door, too angry to stand and wait for the elevator to return.
Tony stood awkwardly, watching her go, torn between following her and staying to see what Gibbs wanted him to do. Because he was watching his boss so closely, only Tony saw the brief flicker of hurt that passed over his features before it disappeared behind the neutral mask Gibbs had perfected over the years.
"Go after her," Gibbs said eventually, "find out what the hell's gotten into her today."
"Yes, Boss." Tony started towards the door but glanced back over his shoulder before walking through the door. Gibbs hadn't moved.
After Tony had gone, Gibbs stood staring at the abandoned car for several moments more, wondering why it seemed a good day was always followed by one that was anything but.
~*~
Tony caught up to her just before she could shut the door to her lab closed and seal herself inside. He gave her a weak smile, biting back a relieved sigh when she strode away from him, letting him enter.
Following her inside, he watched her grab a Caf-Pow from the refrigerator unit in her lab before stalking through to her small office, practically throwing herself down onto her chair as she held the drink with one hand and picked up Bert, the stuffed hippo she loved so much, with the other.
"Abs..." Tony perched on the edge of her desk as she slurped the drink noisily and gave the hippo a squeeze hard enough to activate the squeaker inside and make it fart. "I'd ask if you're okay but I'm pretty sure the answer's no."
She sighed and set the drink down, most of her anger having dissipated on her walk up to her lab. "I'm tired," she admitted quietly, "and cranky."
"I'd kinda noticed that." He paused, watching her cheeks flood with colour and shame appear in her gaze. "You sure you're just tired?"
Abby nodded and wrapped both of her arms around Bert. "I haven't been sleeping well. More than usual for me, I mean," she added with a one-shouldered shrug. "And last night..." She shook her head and sighed again. "Guess I owe Gibbs an apology, huh?"
"Maybe." Tony watched her closely, choosing his words carefully. "Did something happen last night with you and Gibbs?"
Her eyes narrowed and her shoulders tensed. "What makes you think that…?"
Fighting the urge to hold his hands up at the look on her face, Tony shrugged. "Things just seem a little tense between the two of you today. And I know he drove you home last night…"
"Nothing happened." Her hands, still gripping the hippo, turned white at the knuckles. "That's half of the problem."
"You wanna talk about it?"
Abby managed a small smile but it didn't meet her eyes nor did it last for long. "I don't think so, as much as I appreciate the offer. I think the best thing to do is just to forget all about it and try to get over it. Him. You know what I mean."
The sympathetic expression on his face suggested he did. Tony had been her shoulder to cry on for a number of years, for everything and anything. Their close relationship had always been there but the death of Agent Caitlin Todd four years into their friendship had cemented the bond between them in ways nothing else could.
Tony reached out a hand and squeezed her shoulder. "If you change my mind and want to talk, you know where I am. And if you don't start sleeping, promise me you'll go to Ducky. He might be able to help."
"I promise." She reached up to cover his hand with her own, giving it a quick squeeze. Thanks, Tony. You're the best."
He grinned boyishly and got to his feet, winking before heading to the door. "That's what the ladies tell me."
The sound of her chuckles followed him out and Tony left her satisfied he'd done his part - or as much as he could, until she was ready to let him do more.
~*~
The list of people who might want her dead had only grown longer during her years at NCIS, not shorter as she'd at one time hoped. Still, as Ziva reviewed the names on the paper - the ones she could remember off the top of her head, not the ones she was sure would be discovered the more they looked into it, she felt her heart sink remembering what she'd done to justify their anger and hatred.
She'd worked at NCIS for over six years and had become close to those she worked with there, close enough to call them family. They were a better family to her than her own had ever been in a lot of ways, especially given half of the names on the list were there because of things she'd been ordered to do by her father, Eli David, the Director of Mossad. Still, there were still secrets she kept from them, missions she'd accomplished to stilted praise from her father but that she couldn't bring herself to feel proud about.
Ziva knew she was no longer alone even before the man who'd moved to stand beside her at the railing overlooking the squad room cleared his throat. She tilted her head, acknowledging his presence without speaking.
"I hope you don't mind the intrusion," Ducky started quietly, "but you appear troubled, my dear. Are your injuries bothering you?"
"Not at all," she lied smoothly, her smile fleeting. Subconsciously, she moved the hand holding the paper to keep him from seeing the names she'd written on it. "The painkillers I was given appear to be doing their job."
"I see." Ducky's tone suggested he didn't believe her but, like the gentleman he was, he didn't pry. "Then there's something else. Perhaps I can be of assistance...?"
Ziva hesitated, wanting so much to be able to open up to him but afraid of his reaction to her fears. Ducky was one of the most supportive people she knew, and one of the least judgemental. She knew he had skeletons of his own, too, ones he'd been reluctant to share with them all despite the close bonds they had to one another.
"I have been making a list of people I believe could be behind the... incident," she said eventually, lowering her gaze to the sheet of paper in her hand. "Some of them are related to my work at NCIS but many... Many are not."
"Ah, I see." Ducky was silent for a moment, giving her a chance to continue if she chose to. "Am I to assume that they're related to the work you did with Mossad?"
She couldn't keep herself from tensing, or from shooting a quick, questioning glance in his direction. "They may be," she said eventually, looking away. In the squad room below, she watched Tony and McGee bicker over something unimportant, a way, she knew, of easing the growing tension as the investigation continued. "There are things I have done that I am not proud of, Ducky."
His hand, warm and strong, settled on her arm and squeezed supportively. "We all have, my dear. Every one of us."
"Not like me," she murmured with a sigh, hating the way her eyes stung. "I do not want to acknowledge them, let alone share them with... with people I have come to care about."
"Do you think that would change if you told us?" Ducky kept his voice quiet. His eyes, when she met them with her own, were soft and full of understanding. "You seem to have forgotten, Ziva, that you are a part of this family. A very important part. You didn't see us when we were told you were missing, when we thought you were dead..." He let his voice trail off and shook his head. "Nothing you share with us will change that. We love you, and that will never change."
Unable to look him in the eye, not trusting herself to be able to hold it together if she saw the compassion and affection she could hear in his voice on his face, Ziva could only nod. She moved a hand to cover his on her arm and squeezed his fingers in thanks, moving it back to the railing after a few moments.
"We're here for you, Ziva, whenever you're ready to let us help you," Ducky told her quietly.
He lingered a few moments more before leaving her alone to watch her teammates, her family, in silence a little while longer.
~*~
Author: Jo. R (driftingatdusk)
Rating: FR-15
Category: Drama, Case-file, Romance, Angst, Action, Friendship
Pairing: Abby/Gibbs
Spoilers: Bloodbath, Hiatus 1&2, Murder 2.0, Broken Bird, Faith, Rule 51, Cracked
Summary: Someone from the past has a score to settle with the team.
Thanks again to Lisa for proofing.
~*~
Part Three
~*~
The wreck of the car was towed to the Navy Yard, where Abby immediately set to work on trying to find a cause of the accident. It didn't take her long to confirm that the brakes had been tampered with and that the pipes that supplied the brake fluid to them had been severed.
After an hour of the car being in her possession, Abby was growing more and more frustrated - both with it and herself. It came to a head just minutes after she'd managed to get her finger trapped between the wrench she'd been using and the car itself and pushed herself out from underneath, cursing as her finger throbbed painfully.
The ding of the elevator bell didn't register at first, nor did the sound of footsteps moving towards her. When Gibbs put a hand on her shoulder, Abby cried out, spinning to face him with a glare as she held her injured finger with her good hand.
"Gibbs!"
The small grin that he'd been about to let show on his face disappeared at the look on hers. "Thought you'd heard me," he said with a casual shrug, as close to an apology as he would get. "You hurt yourself?"
"On the stupid, damn car," Abby muttered darkly, still glaring at him.
"Let me take a look." He tried to take hold of her injured hand but Abby pulled away, surprising both him and Tony, who'd followed him out of the elevator. "Abby."
"It's fine." Abby moved towards the car, turning her back on him. "If you're here for results, you're gonna be disappointed because I don't have any for you yet. I know the brakes were tampered with but I can't tell you what they used to cut the pipes and the fingerprints I took from underneath are still running through AFIS. Chances are they're gonna be the mechanic's who looked at her car last week, anyway, but I thought it was worth checking just in case."
"I need more than that to work with, Abby." Gibbs followed her, irritation beginning to colour his voice. "I need a name to go with those prints."
"You'll have it as soon as I do," Abby retorted coolly, still not looking at him. "Which'll be as soon as the computer's done searching but given how temperamental *that's* been of late, I can't promise them anytime soon. Maybe if I was allowed the upgrade I asked for last month..."
"Budget cuts affect us all, Abby," Gibbs told her shortly. "You know that as well as I do."
"Then you'll have to learn to have patience, because I'm only as good as what I've got to work with and right now, that's not much." She turned back around to glare at him again as he approached. "Seriously, Gibbs, I've got nothing. Unless you want me to take a guess at what I think they used, you're gonna have to come back later."
"Later isn't good enough."
"It'll have to be, whether you like it or not."
They stared at each other in silence for several tense moments, each glaring at the other. After an uncomfortable pause, Tony cleared his throat and moved to stand between them.
"Hey, so maybe we should go talk to Ziva's neighbours and see if they saw anything," he suggested, only to wince at the look Gibbs threw him. "Okay, I'm shutting up now."
"Don't glare at Tony."
"I'll glare at who I want."
"It's not fair to take it out on Tony when he hasn't done anything wrong," Abby insisted, her green eyes flashing.
Tony tried, once again, to get between the two of them as Gibbs' face coloured. Anger flashed in his boss's eyes, anger that Tony had never seen directed at the forensic specialist before. "Abs, really, it's fine..."
"Stay out of this, DiNozzo," Gibbs ordered, taking a step closer to the woman in front of him. "You wanna tell me what your problem is, Abby? This isn't just about a damn computer running too slow."
"No, you're right, it's not." Abby put her good hand on her hip. "You really want to know what the problem is, Gibbs? You want to know what's bugging me today? You," she continued without waiting for him to answer. "You'd think after eleven years you'd have figured out that science takes time. And you'd think after eleven years you'd be able to see what's right in front of you but no, not you. You click your fingers and you expect us all to come running and do what you say, even when it's not physically possible and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of you!"
She pushed past him, ignoring the somewhat stunned look on his face and stormed towards the stairwell door, too angry to stand and wait for the elevator to return.
Tony stood awkwardly, watching her go, torn between following her and staying to see what Gibbs wanted him to do. Because he was watching his boss so closely, only Tony saw the brief flicker of hurt that passed over his features before it disappeared behind the neutral mask Gibbs had perfected over the years.
"Go after her," Gibbs said eventually, "find out what the hell's gotten into her today."
"Yes, Boss." Tony started towards the door but glanced back over his shoulder before walking through the door. Gibbs hadn't moved.
After Tony had gone, Gibbs stood staring at the abandoned car for several moments more, wondering why it seemed a good day was always followed by one that was anything but.
~*~
Tony caught up to her just before she could shut the door to her lab closed and seal herself inside. He gave her a weak smile, biting back a relieved sigh when she strode away from him, letting him enter.
Following her inside, he watched her grab a Caf-Pow from the refrigerator unit in her lab before stalking through to her small office, practically throwing herself down onto her chair as she held the drink with one hand and picked up Bert, the stuffed hippo she loved so much, with the other.
"Abs..." Tony perched on the edge of her desk as she slurped the drink noisily and gave the hippo a squeeze hard enough to activate the squeaker inside and make it fart. "I'd ask if you're okay but I'm pretty sure the answer's no."
She sighed and set the drink down, most of her anger having dissipated on her walk up to her lab. "I'm tired," she admitted quietly, "and cranky."
"I'd kinda noticed that." He paused, watching her cheeks flood with colour and shame appear in her gaze. "You sure you're just tired?"
Abby nodded and wrapped both of her arms around Bert. "I haven't been sleeping well. More than usual for me, I mean," she added with a one-shouldered shrug. "And last night..." She shook her head and sighed again. "Guess I owe Gibbs an apology, huh?"
"Maybe." Tony watched her closely, choosing his words carefully. "Did something happen last night with you and Gibbs?"
Her eyes narrowed and her shoulders tensed. "What makes you think that…?"
Fighting the urge to hold his hands up at the look on her face, Tony shrugged. "Things just seem a little tense between the two of you today. And I know he drove you home last night…"
"Nothing happened." Her hands, still gripping the hippo, turned white at the knuckles. "That's half of the problem."
"You wanna talk about it?"
Abby managed a small smile but it didn't meet her eyes nor did it last for long. "I don't think so, as much as I appreciate the offer. I think the best thing to do is just to forget all about it and try to get over it. Him. You know what I mean."
The sympathetic expression on his face suggested he did. Tony had been her shoulder to cry on for a number of years, for everything and anything. Their close relationship had always been there but the death of Agent Caitlin Todd four years into their friendship had cemented the bond between them in ways nothing else could.
Tony reached out a hand and squeezed her shoulder. "If you change my mind and want to talk, you know where I am. And if you don't start sleeping, promise me you'll go to Ducky. He might be able to help."
"I promise." She reached up to cover his hand with her own, giving it a quick squeeze. Thanks, Tony. You're the best."
He grinned boyishly and got to his feet, winking before heading to the door. "That's what the ladies tell me."
The sound of her chuckles followed him out and Tony left her satisfied he'd done his part - or as much as he could, until she was ready to let him do more.
~*~
The list of people who might want her dead had only grown longer during her years at NCIS, not shorter as she'd at one time hoped. Still, as Ziva reviewed the names on the paper - the ones she could remember off the top of her head, not the ones she was sure would be discovered the more they looked into it, she felt her heart sink remembering what she'd done to justify their anger and hatred.
She'd worked at NCIS for over six years and had become close to those she worked with there, close enough to call them family. They were a better family to her than her own had ever been in a lot of ways, especially given half of the names on the list were there because of things she'd been ordered to do by her father, Eli David, the Director of Mossad. Still, there were still secrets she kept from them, missions she'd accomplished to stilted praise from her father but that she couldn't bring herself to feel proud about.
Ziva knew she was no longer alone even before the man who'd moved to stand beside her at the railing overlooking the squad room cleared his throat. She tilted her head, acknowledging his presence without speaking.
"I hope you don't mind the intrusion," Ducky started quietly, "but you appear troubled, my dear. Are your injuries bothering you?"
"Not at all," she lied smoothly, her smile fleeting. Subconsciously, she moved the hand holding the paper to keep him from seeing the names she'd written on it. "The painkillers I was given appear to be doing their job."
"I see." Ducky's tone suggested he didn't believe her but, like the gentleman he was, he didn't pry. "Then there's something else. Perhaps I can be of assistance...?"
Ziva hesitated, wanting so much to be able to open up to him but afraid of his reaction to her fears. Ducky was one of the most supportive people she knew, and one of the least judgemental. She knew he had skeletons of his own, too, ones he'd been reluctant to share with them all despite the close bonds they had to one another.
"I have been making a list of people I believe could be behind the... incident," she said eventually, lowering her gaze to the sheet of paper in her hand. "Some of them are related to my work at NCIS but many... Many are not."
"Ah, I see." Ducky was silent for a moment, giving her a chance to continue if she chose to. "Am I to assume that they're related to the work you did with Mossad?"
She couldn't keep herself from tensing, or from shooting a quick, questioning glance in his direction. "They may be," she said eventually, looking away. In the squad room below, she watched Tony and McGee bicker over something unimportant, a way, she knew, of easing the growing tension as the investigation continued. "There are things I have done that I am not proud of, Ducky."
His hand, warm and strong, settled on her arm and squeezed supportively. "We all have, my dear. Every one of us."
"Not like me," she murmured with a sigh, hating the way her eyes stung. "I do not want to acknowledge them, let alone share them with... with people I have come to care about."
"Do you think that would change if you told us?" Ducky kept his voice quiet. His eyes, when she met them with her own, were soft and full of understanding. "You seem to have forgotten, Ziva, that you are a part of this family. A very important part. You didn't see us when we were told you were missing, when we thought you were dead..." He let his voice trail off and shook his head. "Nothing you share with us will change that. We love you, and that will never change."
Unable to look him in the eye, not trusting herself to be able to hold it together if she saw the compassion and affection she could hear in his voice on his face, Ziva could only nod. She moved a hand to cover his on her arm and squeezed his fingers in thanks, moving it back to the railing after a few moments.
"We're here for you, Ziva, whenever you're ready to let us help you," Ducky told her quietly.
He lingered a few moments more before leaving her alone to watch her teammates, her family, in silence a little while longer.
~*~