Chapter 11
Tony juggled his coffee and Caf-Pow for Abbs as they walked back in to NCIS. They had to get this Gibbs with the program soon or Vance’d be breathing down their necks. Ziva had her own tea and Gibbs’ coffee and McGee had his drink as well and a bag of bagels and pastry. If they were sprung while they were coordinating, they could always invent some holiday or celebration.
As they approached Abby’s lab, Tony listened for any signs of distress.
“Hey, Abbs,” he said, entering. “Everything okay?”
Hearing the ding of the elevator, Abby knew their time alone was at an end. Sitting up, she wiped at her cheeks. “I look okay?” she whispered. Calling out, she answered Tony as she moved off of Jet’s lap. “Yeah, Tony. We’re fine. Everything go okay?”
“Yeah, came with coffee and Caf-Pow.” He looked closely at Abby, wondering about the redness and puffiness of her eyes. “You sure you’re okay, Abbs?”
“I’m sure, Tony. I’m fine.” Holding out her hands, she tried to give him an impish smile. “Can I have my Caf-Pow now? Please?”
“Course,” Tony said, handing her the drink. “Got you a coffee, Gibbs, just the way you like it.” He watched as the other man climbed to his feet.
“Oh?” Jet said with a small smile. “Light cream, two sugars?”
Abby snorted because she knew that was the exact opposite of what Tony had gotten him. “I think I have some sugar somewhere,” she offered.
“You mean they got it without sugar? Who drinks coffee without sugar? Best thing to happen to coffee is lattes.”
Tony couldn’t help the small burst of laughter that came out. “Even if I didn’t know he was different, now I know.”
Pulling out the small jar of sugar from her storage area, the one she kept for Tony for when his coffee wasn’t sweet enough, Abby handed it to Jet, giving him a shy smile. She didn’t know how to act around him now, after what had just happened in her ballistics lab.
Seeing her friend’s awkwardness, Ziva walked towards her as Abby moved away to her computer. “You okay, Abby?” she asked, concerned.
Pulled out of her reverie, Abby looked up quickly at Ziva before settling into her chair. “Yeah, Ziva. I’m fine. Thanks for the Caf-Pow, Tony.”
“No, you are not fine. Did he hurt you?” Ziva was ready to deal with the stranger if he had, consequences or no.
“No, no, Ziva. I promise. He didn’t hurt me. It’s just…hard.” Abby hoped her poor explanation would be enough to cover. But she could tell from Ziva’s face that she didn’t believe her, even if she left it alone for now.
Jet eyed Abby carefully, moving closer. “You okay?” he asked, brushing a lock of her hair off her face.
“Abbs?” Tony asked in shock, watching the casual way the other man touched his friend. He wanted to strike out but he was trying to be leaderly…for now, anyway.
Ducking her head a little bit, she turned into Jet’s hand, whispering, “I’m okay. Just...in shock. By everything. By you.” Looking up at him through her lashes, she smiled, wanting to reassure him.
Hearing Tony call her name, she turned to him, unaware of how bizarre her interaction with Gibbs appeared to the rest of the team. “Yeah, Tony?”
“Ballistics lab,” Tony said, motioning to the door. “You two make nice with him.” Tony strode into the smaller room, turning to Abby and waiting for the door to close. The scent of lovemaking was heavy in the air. “Did he force you?” he asked urgently.
“Force me? No, Tony. No, he didn’t force me. We didn’t...nothing happened.” Not really, she added silently. And she wasn’t lying. They hadn’t had sex…technically.
“Then what did you do, Abbs?” Tony asked wearily. He wanted to believe she wouldn’t be stupid enough to have sex with some stranger with Gibbs’ face, but some days he wondered about her.
“What I did or did not do with Jet is between me and him, not me and everyone else who takes an interest.” Instantly, she regretted her snappish tone. Pressing her fingers against the bridge of her nose, she tried to stop the headache that was creeping in. “I’m sorry, Tony. I didn’t mean it like that. I know you’re only trying to take care of me. I’m just tired.” And confused.
“It’s okay,” Tony said quickly. “I’m just worried, Abbs. We don’t know positively how he got here or who he is beyond what he told us… Or what’s going on with Bossman.” Tony was worried on many different fronts.
She moved forward, hugging him tightly. “He’s a good man, Tony. He’s Gibbs, just different. Trust my gut on that.”
“Just don’t know him. Remember he has Gibbs’ face, but he isn’t the same Gibbs we know, Abbs. That is a warning for all of us not to get too close.”
“He may be younger and have a different past, but underneath all of that, he’s the same man, Tony. I would recognize Gibbs anywhere, just like I would with you or Tim or Ziva or Ducky…”
“Okay, but he isn’t our Gibbs,” Tony pressed. “He isn’t the guy we know. Might still be a good guy but he isn’t our Gibbs. Just be careful, he doesn’t have that history with you that Bossman does.”
“I’ll be careful, Tony. Promise. Won’t do anything stupid.”
“Give me a hug?” Tony asked. He wanted to hold her, as if he could protect her from all of this, what she’d done and the fallout.
“Of course, Tony.” Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hugged him tight, knowing they both needed the support right then.
“Can you get them back?” he asked quietly. What he wanted to ask was did this change her feelings for the other Gibbs, did she want to keep him around as well. He hoped it wouldn’t go all Back to the Future on them.
Pulling back, she saw the flicker of doubt in his eyes and she shook her head. “I don’t know for sure, but I’m going to do everything I can to bring him back, Tony. To bring them both home.”
“But you complicated things, didn’t you, Abbs? You and he…” Tony sighed into her hair, holding her closer.
“Tony, I think I started off today complicating things. What’s one more thing in my list of complications? Besides, I trust him. And we didn’t…” She tightened her arms around his neck, knowing how much stress her friend was already under.
“Don’t care, don’t want to know,” Tony replied, trying to put her at ease.
~*~
Jet gave the other two agents a small smile and shrugged, trying to hold back the urge to go in and check on Abby. “Good coffee.”
Ziva watched him warily, her concern blossoming after Tony took Abby out of the room. Approaching him, she asked, “Did you do something to Abby? Why is she behaving differently now?”
He didn’t owe them an explanation, but he wasn’t interested in being confrontational either. They’d had enough of that earlier. “We connected,” he said simply.
“Connected how?” Tim blurted out.
“Formed a bond,” Jet replied, unwilling to say much else.
Standing to the side of him, Tim tried not to be confrontational, but with Abby… “Did you hurt her?”
“No. That would be breaking a connection,” Jet pointed out. He wasn’t going to kiss and tell even though he knew it annoyed the other people.
Tim narrowed his eyes at the man’s smart ass remark. “If you hurt her, in any way, it won’t just be me who you’ll have to answer to. It is the assassin, the cop and your double when he comes back as well. If you hurt Abby, force her, make her cry, the Gibbs that we know will be the one you should run from. He’s protective over her. More than any of us. Don’t hurt her,” he warned.
Jet sighed, shaking his head, trying to remain calm. They’d had enough fighting today. “Ask her if you don’t believe me, but I haven’t hurt her.” He understood their protectiveness but he could do without confrontation and maybe that was why he shot his mouth off. “Not my double. Looks older. Not as in shape.”
“Enough, please,” Ziva commented, stepping between the two. “We have had enough of that for today, yes? Enough posturing and fighting and blowing things out of proportion. We have much to figure out if we plan on keeping the situation under our control.”
Turning fully to the man who looked so much like their boss, but different, she added, “But do not think this gets you off the hook, L.J. I will talk with Abby. She will tell me, one way or the other.”
He kept his temper"barely. “Go on. Speak with her. She’ll tell you the same that I do.” There was a protectiveness over their boss, and Abby, that meant many clashes would be in the future, if he stayed long enough to find out.
“For your sake, L.J., I hope so.” Giving him a soft smile, Ziva turned away.
Chapter End Notes:
We're so sorry for the delay in posting. We have been working on the sequel (Emergence) but posting Convergence just got away from us. We're going to try our best to post a chapter a week again.