Fic: Back Swing (Part 2)

[mosquito-larva.livejournal.com]

Continued from Part 1

Spare

Someone had decided to risk Gibb's wrath and had set up a CD player with Christmas music near the stairwell to MTAC, two weeks ago. It wasn't like Gibbs was even around, oddly taking some time off go skiing with a red headed woman who Abby was pretty sure resembled wife number two. She hadn't pressed him further. So for now, it was just the rest of the team, although Kate was heading home tomorrow, and Abby herself was leaving in three hours.

But the music coming from the CD player was truly awful. Abby detested Mariah Carey's version of Silent Night with the power of a supernova, insofar as the high notes really contradicted the title of the song, but it was Christmas, so she was in a forgiving mood. And she had presents! Getting presents was always fun, but giving presents was the best part of Christmas, even if she was cutting it close what with tomorrow being Christmas Eve.

She had gotten Gibbs an antique wood plane she had found in a small second hand store. It had belonged to the great grandfather of the man who built the store and as soon as she had seen the carved handle and smooth lines of the tool, she knew Gibbs would love it. She had been right, of course, and he had in return given her a beautiful handmade mahogany frame for her bed, tailored perfectly to fit the coffin's dimensions so it wouldn't have to lie on the floor.

Kate's present was more sentimental than expensive, like Gibb's present. Sister Rosalita had found a rosary in the Abbey made of black onyx beads and a sterling silver cross. She asked Abby to find it a good home with someone who could appreciate it's aesthetics. Kate had picked it up reverently and hugged Abby tightly. It turned out her mother had owned a rosary of the same design and it had been lost when her mother died years before. They had both shed a tear, hugged again and laughed over Holiday Sentimentality while fixing their makeup.

Now Tony's present, that was pushing the envelope of expensive. And slightly heavy, she mused as she plunked it on his desk, startling the occupant who had been napping with his head on his arms.

"Abby, I really don't need a heart attack for Christmas, thanks," Tony said with a yawn. Abby laughed and ruffled his already disheveled hair.

"I wasn't sure if you'd still be here, " he said, ducking out of her reach and plucking at the ribbon on the present. "Aren't you visiting your parents for Christmas?"

"Yup! But my flight doesn't leave for three hours, and I wanted to make sure you got your present. Ah, ah, ah, not yet." She smacked his hand. "Was Kate right that you were taking Pacci's shift?"

Tony shrugged. "He's got family, a little boy. It would suck for him to be stuck here twiddling his thumbs while manning the emergency line."

"When's the last time you went home for Christmas?" Abby felt bad Tony never got to see his parents, he was always too giving and would take on the Christmas and New Year's Eve shifts.

Tony smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "This is home," he said quietly. "Never really liked Christmas growing up much, too many parties with too few kids. Nice presents, I guess, but when they come signed by your dad's secretary, it kind of loses its meaning."

Abby bit her lip. That just wasn't right. And now she was leaving him all alone, in a lonely office with….she paused her mental train. Ah ha. She could do it. She nodded resolutely.

"Grab that," she commanded, nodded at the present. "And follow me!"

Tony gingerly picked up the black polka dot paper-wrapped box and followed her. Unlike the bullpen, the break room was festively decked out with streamers and holly. And someone had left fruitcake, coffee and a box filled with donuts on the counter. Abby smiled. Perfect.

"Okay, now sit here. I'll be right back." She started out the door, and then stuck her head back in. "And don't open your present! I'll know if you peek!"

It only took a minute to dash back to the bull pen and another five to raid the equipment locker. When she returned to the break room, she was pulling a trolley with a television and enough audio equipment to conduct a stakeout. She was pleased to see Tony had taken her admonishment seriously and was poking gingerly at the fruitcake.

He raised an eyebrow when he saw her baggage. "What's with the AV stuff?"

Abby waved him off as she began connecting the power cords, turning on the speakers, television and DVD player. Tony had made inroads on a substantial piece of fruitcake by the time the unit was calibrated to her satisfaction. Dusting off her hands, she turned and gestured towards the present. "Open! Come one."

"Shouldn't I wait until Christmas?" Tony joked as he sat at the table, scrutinizing the box as if he could see inside. Abby just rolled her eyes.

"Anthony! Don't dawdle!"

With a boyish grin, he ripped off the carefully taped paper in true Christmas fashion, revealing the precious contents. He looked up at Abby, mouth slightly open. "Really?"

Abby's grin turned into a huge smile. "Really. And I've forwarded your phone here, so you can stay here and watch them. You've already found the fruitcake, and there's donuts too. So at least you'll be entertained and fed! And next year, you can come home with me and meet my parents. No more taking other people's shifts and being alone!"

"Abby, this is…amazing. I don't know what to say," he fumbled for words, clearly pleased. Abby squeaked as he suddenly rose and engulfed her in a hug, squeeze just tight enough and holding. She closed her eyes, reveling in his strength before pushing him back to peck him on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas, Tony."

His eyes were suspiciously bright as he took off the shrink wrap and inserted the first DVD into the player. Abby gave him one more hug before heading out the door, the theme song of Magnum PI, the complete box set, wafting behind her.

Strike

"I'm telling you, man, we can't let them go." Joe was pacing along the bowling lanes. His shoes were leaving black scuffs along the wood, which wasn't very kosher as bowling etiquette went, Abby mused.

"He has a point, though," Bob hissed, waving his hand expansively at the group. "Nuns, dude."

Joe pressed the palm of his gun free hand to his forehead. "Okay. Okay, but just the nuns. You, you and you," he pointed the gun at Abby, the clerk and Tony, "you three stay here."

Abby helped Sister Ann up, and pressed her cell phone into the nun's hand. "Speed dial one," she mouthed as she let go. Sister Ann nodded slightly and slipped the phone into her pocket. Bob herded the Sisters towards the door, locking it behind them. Abby could hear Tony breathe a sigh of relief and she smiled grimly at him, rubbing her hands on her skirt to calm the shaking.

"Now what?" Bob asked Joe nervously.

"Guys, can I just ask a question?" Tony said conversationally, sitting down in one of the plastic chairs that lined the area behind the lanes and casually crossing his legs. "Why on earth did you choose this bowling alley? In fact, why hold up a bowling alley in the first place? Its not like they have tons of cash floating about."

"None of your business!" Joe spat. Bob flushed and scratched the back of his neck.

"Now see, that's where I disagree. As a hostage, I think I'm entitled to know," Tony continued, picking lint from the side of his jeans. "What with the inconvenience and all."

The bowling alley clerk leaned towards Abby and whispered, "Is he crazy?"

Abby chortled. "No, he's just really, really good at his job."

The clerk's eyes narrowed. "Which is what exactly?"

Abby smiled. "Buying us time."

Bob and Joe retreated towards the café area, careful to keep their hostages covered, but far enough away that Abby couldn't hear their hushed conversation. There was much arm waving and finger pointing, both clearly unhappy with the situation. Tony twirled his thumbs and looked nonchalant, despite the fact that his eyes never left their captors.

"What's you're name, kid," he asked the clerk.

"Peter," the clerk replied.

"Okay, Pete. Nice to meet to. Here's the deal. Don't do anything unless I give you the okay, alright? I need to know that you won't do anything. You too, Abs."

Pete nodded and Abby smiled grimly. "You got it, Tony. Gibbs'll be here soon, I told Sister Ann to call him."

Tony nodded and smiled with approval. "Good job, Abs." He fell silent as his cell phone rang, immediately lifting his arms away from his body as it drew Bob and Joe's attention.

"Don't answer it." Joe warned with a threatening wave of his weapon.

"It could be important," Tony protested. "It could be my boss. He'll be really pissed if I don't answer."

Joe moved towards him and held out his hand. "Pass it over."

Tony complied, keeping his hands visible at all times. Joe flipped it open and squinted at the screen. "Who's Gibbs?"

Abby refrained from pumping her fist into the air. "That's our boss," she said smugly. Tony held up a warning hand to her before she could add anything else.

Joe pressed the 'talk' button and put the phone to his ear. "What?"

Abby imagined Gibbs barking who is this? into the phone.

"None of your business, Agent Gibbs," Joe said, clearly pleased to have the upper hand. "I'm in charge here and I have your employees here. One of them says he's valuable as a hostage, so you better tell me how much he's worth."

Bob watched on anxiously as Joe butted heads with Gibbs, and Abby watched them both with trepidation. Joe was acting far too confidently, for her tastes.

"Okay, I'll send him out. Like you said, a gesture of good faith," Joe turned off the phone without saying good bye and pointed his gun at Peter. "You, scram. Out. Go on."

"What are you doing?" Bob protested. "We already let the nuns go."

"This Gibbs fellow says he'll be prepared to negotiate for money and a car if we let one of them go."

Peter looked at Tony and only moved once Tony gave a short nod. He darted towards the door, pushing it open and squeezing through before it even fully opened. Bob followed and turned the lock, peering out at the parking lot before turning back.

"You two, sit together," he said. "It'll be easier to keep an eye on you."

"Easier," Joe snorted. "Easier, my ass. Nothing about this has been easy."

"Don't blame me for that!"

"No? It was you who screwed up the address!"

"How could I know there were two bowling alleys and one was 14 Bankers St and the other 14 Baker St. What kind of coincidence is that?"

"This was supposed to be easy. Crash the wedding party, grab the gifts and hock 'em for cash. It wasn't supposed to involve the feds, man!"

Abby exchanged a glance with Tony. Robbing a wedding party? She glared at them. How dare they try to ruin someone's special day? She started slightly at the feel of Tony's hand on her arm. She looked back at him and he held her gaze. "Be ready," he mouthed.

Her heart began to speed up. This was it. Tony was going to go all ninja agent on their captors' asses.

As Bob and Joe fought, Bob began to pace in ever widening circles, arching towards Tony and Abby. With a final squeeze, Tony let go of her arm and pounced. Bob didn't stand a chance. And elbow to the face and he was down for the count. Tony was instantly on his feet, the liberated weapon pointed at Joe. Who had his weapon pointed at Abby. She raised both hands, pulse pounding in her temples.

"Drop it," Tony said. "You even think of shooting her and you'll regret it."

"Yeah? How?" Joe sneered.

"Because if you don't put it down, my boss who is behind you, is going to put a bullet in your head for threatening his favourite forensic scientist."

"Yeah, like I'm going to fall for that trick," Joe sneered. Then he froze as there was a quiet *snick* of a safety being pulled.

"Not a trick," Gibbs said. "Put down the gun."

In retrospect, Abby should have realized that surprising a criminal with the "my partner is behind you" trick, might on occasion backfire. Particularly when the criminal in question was slightly nervous, and apparently had a startle reflex that was set far too high. Because when Gibbs quiet voice reached Joe's ears, he promptly dropped the gun, which discharged.

"Abby!" Tony shouted, diving towards her.

Abby was a scientist. She knew that time couldn't slow down. She knew that seconds passed in the same amount of time whether one was in mortal danger or not. But at that moment, in that space, time stretched, and then snapped like an elastic band, speeding up so fast she could barely breathe.

The football tackle had her on the ground and gasping with Tony's weight before she could process the crack of the gunshot. Pinned by Tony's bulk, she strained her neck to Joe flat on his stomach, pinned with his arms jerked behind him and Gibb's knee pressing on his neck. It was over, and no one was dead. She closed her eyes briefly and sent up a prayer of relief. She wrapped her arms around Tony's waist and clung tightly.

"You okay, Abs?" Tony whispered in her ear.

"Yeah, I am now," she whispered back.

He rolled off and held out his hand. "Let's get you vertical."

The world tilted a little as she got to her feet, the adrenaline coursing through her veins. He kept an arm around her as they moved towards the door. Gibbs hovered at the door as the police escorted Bob and Joe to the waiting squad cars.

"Nice work, DiNozzo," he said. His eyebrows furrowed. "You okay, Tony?"

Abby followed his line of sight and gasped at the red blotch on Tony's shirt. "Oh my god! You're bleeding!"

Tony winced as she prodded at the fabric. "It's just a scratch."

"Get the medics to check you out before you leave here," Gibbs ordered, leaning slightly down to look at the hole in Tony's shirt. "You were lucky, it looks like a graze."

Abby continued to fret until the paramedic had Tony remove his shirt and she could see that there was really just a long shallow furrow along his ribcage. While bloody, Tony would be fine, the medic said, pressing a bandage against the wound.

Abby sat down beside Tony on the edge of the ambulance pressed close to his uninjured side. "Don't you do that again," she said, pinching at his side. "You could have died!”

"I'm fine, Abby. And you did good too. You sure kept your cool." Tony put his arm over her shoulders and hugged her gently.

"Oh, I wasn't scared. I knew it would be okay. Those guys didn't stand a chance." She smiled up at him. Tony just laughed deprecatingly and winced as the medic prodded a tender area.

"Say, the nuns and I are going skeet shooting next week end. Want to come? I'm bringing a picnic lunch. There will be finger sandwiches!"

Tony rolled his eyes and she took that as a yes. Who wouldn't want to go skeet shooting with the nuns?

Finis