**Chapter Seven -- Kill Ari Part One**
**May 22, 2009 -- Abby's Apartment**
Tony leaned against the side of the fridge, watching Abby as she rummaged through it, looking for the ingredients to make breakfast.
"Abs, I..." He started, stopping when she stood upright and frowned at him.
"No more apologies, T. We need to be there for one another, not at each other's throats."
He pushed off the fridge and pulled her close to him, nearly crushing her with the force of his embrace. "I love you, Abby-girl. Always have..." He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "And I always will."
Abby smiled as she rested her face against his firm chest and hugged him tightly. They held onto each other for a few minutes before Tony pulled back and smiled down at her.
"Let me buy you breakfast?" He asked, leaning his forehead against hers.
"Sure." She beamed, kissing the tip of his nose. "Let's go get dressed then, I'm hungry!"
Abby took his hand, lacing their fingers together as she pulled him toward her bedroom. She dug through her drawers, pulling out clothes for herself while Tony went to her closet and pulled out one of the suits he stored there for just this reason. After years of spending the night at each other's apartments, they had finally learned that having clean clothes at each place was probably a better idea than having to answer the questions that followed coming to work in the same outfit 2 days in a row.
He pulled his charcoal grey suit out of the closet and turned around to head for the bathroom, not surprised to see Abby half naked changing her clothes in the middle of the bedroom. "Hurry up, Tony-boy. If we don't go get breakfast soon, we'll be late for work."
"Breakfast?" He joked, dropping a kiss on her bare shoulder just before she covered it with her shirt. "What breakfast?"
She glared at him playfully through the mirror. "I know what you're thinking, DiNozzo. And no, *breakfast* in bed is not an option. You missed your chance on that train." She giggled as she pulled up her skirt, fastening the buttons on the side.
"Aww...you're no fun, Abs." He kissed her again, this time on the back of her neck. "I'll be right out." She smiled as he walked into the bathroom to change into his suit.
A few minutes later he emerged with his tie draped around his neck. Abby zipped up her boot and stood, walking over to him. "I don't quite understand why you insist on me tying these for you, Tony. You know how to do it yourself."
He smiled, watching her straighten his tie after tying it. "It just looks that much sharper when a beautiful woman ties it. Didn't you know that?"
Abby pushed his shoulder gently, turning him toward the door. "Yeah, yeah. Come on, Romeo. Let's eat."
**Four Years Earlier -- May 25, 2005 -- NCIS Evidence Garage**
Gibbs pulled the Autopsy van into the evidence garage and climbed out slowly before following Ducky and Palmer to the rear of the vehicle. He could feel the tears sitting just behind his eyes as they pulled out the gurney that held Kate's cold body wrapped in the black nylon of the body bag. He watched as they rolled the gurney into the elevator and headed for Autopsy, only to be joined seconds later by Tony and McGee as they exited the MCRT Truck.
"Tony." He said softly, surprising both of the younger men with his tone.
"I know, go pick up Abby." Tony straightened slightly, knowing the responsibilty of telling his best friend would be put on him. He started to turn away when he felt Gibbs' hand on his shoulder. "Boss? Was there something else?"
"Tony, I don't need you to pick up Abby just yet." Gibbs looked the younger man over, seeing that he still had drops of Kate's blood on his face and jacket. "I need you to call Abby's brother Bradley. Let him know what happened, that Abby's gonna need him here as soon as possible."
"Gibbs, he's 1,500 miles away. I know he'll do anything for his baby sister, but don't you think we can handle..."
"Just trust me, Tony. We're gonna need him here." He patted Tony's shoulder. "Do that, then get cleaned up and head back to the rooftop. I want you to find Ari's nest. Take McGee with you. The backup teams should be there to help." Gibbs walked toward the elevator, leaving the two men looking slightly confused.
"I'll...uh, I'll be right back, McGee." Tony pulled his phone out of his pocket and walked away from the younger agent as he dialed Bradley's home phone number.
A female voice answered the phone sounding confused, probably about the long distance number. "Hello?"
"Brittany?" Tony responded. "It's Tony, Abby's friend? Remember me?"
"Of course! How could we forget? Jack loves that NCIS cap you sent him for Christmas. Wears it everyday." She paused, sensing there was something wrong. "Tony? Is everything okay?"
He tensed, unsure of what to say. "Um, no. Not really. Is...uh, Bradley there?"
"Yeah, he's right here." Tony listened as Brittany pulled the phone away from her ear and called for her husband.
A minute later, Bradley was on the phone. "Tony? Is Abs okay?"
"Yeah, Abby's fine. Um, Gibbs wanted me to call you." Tony hesitated as his voice caught in his throat. "One of our agents...Kate, she was shot today. She, um...she died. Gibbs said something about Ab..."
Bradley cut him off, already throwking some clothes into a duffel bag. "I'm on my way, Tony. See you when I get there." He hung up the phone without giving Tony a chance to respond.
"Always with the hanging up of the phone...no wonder Gibbs and Abby get along so well, her brother is a carbon copy of him." He muttered, walking back to where McGee was loading up the MCRT truck. "Come on, McGee, let's get this over with. I don't wanna get caught in the rain."
**Abby's Apartment -- 0200 Hours**
Gibbs walked up to Abby's apartment door and pulled out the spare key, hesitating before slipping it into the lock and opening the door quietly. He stepped inside and looked around the dark apartment before making his way toward the bedroom.
"Abby?" He called softly, knocking on the door before walking in. He made his way over to her bed silently, tapping her on the shoulder. "Abs."
She sat up quickly, a knife in her hand as she turned on her lamp. "Jesus! Gibbs!"
He grabbed her wrist and pointed the knife away from him. "Put that thing away."
Abby pulled the sheath out from under her pillow and slipped the knife into it. "Don't you know better than to sneak up on a woman in her sleep?!"
"Obviously not. How many times have you pulled that thing on DiNozzo?"
Abby grinned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and glancing at her clock. "Enough times that he knows better than to sneak up on me in bed. What's goin' on, Gibbs? It's 2 AM."
Gibbs turned away from her bed and walked over to the window, looking out at the heavy clouds.
"Gibbs?" She asked again, slightly worried by his demeanor. She hadn't ever seen him this way. "Everything okay?"
He turned back to face her and studied her carefully, as if sizing her up. Gibbs could see her begin to tense up before she even spoke. "Abs..." He started, his voice hardly above a whisper.
"What is it?" Abby worried her bottom lip between her teeth momentarily. "Gibbs...you have to tell me what's going on! What happened?"
"Let's go, Abs. We need you down at headquarters."
Abby stood up and walked over to him. "No! I want you to tell me what's going on. Be honest with me. You've never lied to me!"
He sighed heavily, knowing already what was going to happen when he gave her the news. He headed over to her dresser and picked out an outfit, placing it into her backpack that sat on the chair in the corner of the room. "It's Kate, Abby. She was shot."
Abby stopped dead in her tracks. She moved to sit back down on the bed and caught the very edge, sliding off onto the floor. She didn't speak, slipping into an almost catatonic state. Gibbs had only seen her this way once before, shortly after she started working for NCIS, when her brother Bradley came up to tell her that their Uncle Charlie had passed away.
He grabbed a blanket off of her bed and wrapped it around her before picking her up. As he carried her out of the apartment, he snatched up the backpack he had packed for her and walked down to the car, putting the Goth carefully in the passenger seat. Sighing, he headed over to the driver's side and slid in, putting the car into gear and pulling away.
**NCIS Bullpen -- 0345 Hours**
Gibbs climbed out of the sedan after parking in his usual spot and walked over to the other side, unbuckling a still unresponsive Abby and lifting her over his shoulder. He headed inside after the security guards let him through and took the elevator up to the bullpen.
Bradley, Tony, and McGee were all sitting in the bullpen silently, the two agents contemplating changing into dry clothes, but not wanting to go until Gibbs got back with Abby. When the elevator bell dinged, all three men stood and watched as he carried the Goth off the elevator.
"Boss...Is she...?" Tony asked, concern clear in his voice. McGee stood silently beside him, staring at Abby as if he didn't comprehend what was happening in front of him.
"She's fine, Tony. Just in shock." Bradley explained, turning to Gibbs as he set Abby on his desk chair. "I take it you told her?"
Gibbs nodded. "Didn't have a lot of choice, she wasn't gonna leave unless I told her what was going on."
Bradley leaned over and kissed his sister on the forehead, brushing her bangs out of the way. "Yeah, she always did know when something was wrong. I used to call it her magic power. Then she grew up, and everything had to have a scientific explanation." They all chuckled. "I'm sorry about Kate, Gibbs. Tony told me what happened."
Gibbs frowned. "Thanks. More worried about Abs right now, though." He turned back to McGee and Tony. "Why don't you boys go change into some dry clothes. We'll meet you down in the lab."
The two agents looked at each other before looking back at Abby sitting in Gibbs' desk chair. "Yeah. Sure thing, Boss. Come on, Probie." He grabbed McGee's shoulder, manuvering him out of the bullpen and toward the elevators.
Bradley crouched down in front of his sister and frowned slightly. He hated seeing her like this and unfortunately for him, it had been an all too frequent experience when they were growing up.
"Abby? It's BB, hon." He took her hand in his and signed her name against her palm slowly. "Come on, baby." He grinned when he felt her sign his name. "I missed you, Abby-cadabby. It's about damn time I get to see this state-of-the-art lab you're always bragging about."
She blinked a few times before being able to focus on the man crouched in front of her. "Bradley? You're here?" She jumped up and nearly knocked him over with the force of her hug.
"The one and only, baby girl. You know, you sister and nephew miss the hell out of you."
Abby smiled. "I know. Been kept pretty busy between work and taking care of these guys." She shot up and grabbed her brother's hand. "My lab! It's like my dream come true, BB! You have to see it." She dragged him toward the elevator, Gibbs following closely behind.
They stepped off the elevator, Abby still gripping Bradley's hand tightly. "Tony! Timmy! What are you guys doing down here?"
McGee stood up and hugged Abby tightly. "Um, we're just waiting for you, Abby." He shot a confused look to Tony and shrugged.
Tony caught McGee's glance and joined Gibbs, whispering to him in a concerned tone. "She doesn't know, Gibbs? Someone should tell..."
He stopped the younger agent with a shake of his head. "Tony, now is not the time."
"When is the time, Boss? It's not gonna get any easier to tell her that Kate's gone the longer we wait!" Tony hissed at the older man, looking over at Abby talking to Bradley and McGee every so often. He shook his head angrily when he didn't respond. "You're not being fair to her, Gibbs. She deserves to know. If you guys aren't gonna tell her, then I will."
"DiNozzo." Gibbs warned, grabbing the dark-haired man's shoulder as he turned to walk away. "Wouldn't do that if I were you."
He pulled away roughly, the scowl on his face making it clear that he was more concerned about Abby's well-being than what Gibbs would do to him for disobeying. "Abby..."
Bradley turned at the sound of Tony's voice and excused himself, stopping the only slightly younger man from reaching his sister. "Tony, I really don't think now is the time. Please."
"Abby." Tony called for her again, ignoring Bradley's plea. The next thing Tony knew, he was being pulled into Abby's ballistics lab. "What the hell, Bradley?"
"I can't let you talk to her if you're gonna be like this." He sighed, seeing the confusion on Tony's face. "I can read lips. I saw what you were telling Gibbs. Did you think that maybe there was a reason she was acting that way when she got here?"
"So the ends justify the means? This..." Tony pointed to Abby talking animatedly to Gibbs and McGee. "isn't fair to her. She's gonna be hurt when she finds out Kate's gone."
Bradley sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Gibbs already told her when he went to her apartment to pick her up. She's doing this to herself subconsiously, Tony."
He looked back at the brother of his best friend. "What? Why would she want to..."
Bradley shook his head. "It's not a choice on her part. We don't have to tell her again because she already knows. Her mind just isn't ready to process it, so it's blocking the memory." He took a deep breath. "When our parents died, she was like this for days. I remember being mad at her because everytime I would bring it up, she would claim they were on vacation, that they would be back on Friday. I thought she just didn't wanna deal with it. She was 9. I didn't blame her, just wished I could have done the same thing."
Tony looked back into the larger part of the lab, watching Abby joke around with McGee, completely unaware that anything had happened. "So she's ignoring it. Ignoring the fact that Kate's gone."
"Not ignoring, Tony. She's aware of what happened, her mind just won't acknowledge it yet. When she's somewhere that her mind knows is safe, then it'll process."
"Sounds like ignoring to me." He scoffed, starting to leave the ballistics lab. "Kate deserves better than that. She can't pretend forever."
Tony stormed into the larger lab and grabbed Abby, turning her to face him. Bradley was right on his heels calling for him to stop. "Why are you ignoring the fact that she's gone? Why would you do that? Don't you think she deserves better?" He yelled at her, despite seeing the tears forming behind her eyes.
"Tony! Let her deal on her own terms, please! It's only gonna make things..."
"Down!" Gibbs called, grabbing Bradley and McGee's shirt collars and pulling them to the floor of the lab. Tony grabbed Abby's waist and threw her down, covering her body with his own as the sniper bullet hit the window in the lab, spraying glass everywhere.
No one spoke as Gibbs listened carefully for any other noises. He snuck around the room quickly, turning off all the lights before returning to the small group in the corner of the room. "We're clear. Stay low to the ground and head for the door."
McGee nodded, motioning for Bradley to follow him out of the lab and into the hallway. Gibbs followed them out, silently telling Tony to get Abby out as well.
"You okay, Abs?" He asked softly, leaning up off of her, looking for blood.
She shoved him off of her without a word and stood up, bolting out of the lab and past the men standing outside, heading into the women's restroom. She locked the door before turning around and leaning against it and slumping down to the floor, sobbing. He exited the lab a few moments later, joining the others in the hallway.
"What the hell we're you thinking, DiNozzo?" Gibbs hissed at him, glancing over at Bradley and McGee trying to get Abby to open the bathroom door.
Tony didn't speak. He had seen the hurt in Abby's eyes when she shoved him away, as the realization hit her that he was yelling at her, that Kate was gone, and that they had just been shot at. "Sorry." He mumbled. "I wanted her to..."
Gibbs cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Don't apologize to me, Tony. She's the one who was hurt. I get it, okay? I understand that you miss Kate, hell, we all miss Kate. Abby just deals with her loss differently."
The younger man nodded, walking over to the bathroom door. "Can I try talking to her?"
"Don't you think you've done enough, Tony?" Bradley bit out, angry at him for not listening. "You were pissed at her a few minutes ago because you thought she was dishonoring your friend's memory. What changed?"
"I didn't realize, Bradley. I'm sorry..."
"You're sorry?!" The sandy-haired man cut him off, swinging his fist and connecting with Tony's jaw, knocking him down.
"Hey!" McGee shouted, pulling Bradley back from Tony.
"Oww..." Tony groaned, holding his jaw as he laid on the ground. "Been waiting for that for 6 years."
Abby slammed the bathroom door open and rushed over to Tony's side, glaring up at her brother, still being restrained by McGee. "I can't leave you two alone together for 5 minutes, can I?" She spat, touching Tony's jaw gently. "Come on, T. We'll get you some ice."
"I'm fine, Abs." He said, climbing to his feet. He took her cheeks in his hands when she frowned, kissing her on the forehead. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." She hardly had a chance to say anything before Tony wrapped her in a quick hug. He let go a second later, turning and walking to the stairwell.
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs shouted after him. "Back here, now."
Tony waved him off as he opened the stairwell door and headed for the bullpen to collect his things before going home.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.