Reverse Psychology - NCIS Story

Make it Stop

Chapter 2 - Make it stop

Gibbs' phone rang, making everyone jump. For the last two minutes they had all succumbed to their own, silent thought processes as Ziva's hiccupping sobs filled the room. Clearing his throat, Gibbs looked at the caller ID and answered

"Hey Abbs. What ya got?"

"Gibbs, how are they? How's Tony, how's Ziva?" Abby's voice was tilted in panic. Not one for quiet communication at the best of times, when faced with her 'family' in some sort of danger, Abby was impossible to calm.

"They're fine Abbs, what ya got?" Gibbs repeated.

"They're fine!" she shouted. "They're fine! There's no way in hell they're fine Gibbs! How can they be fine? I know I..."

"Abby!" Gibbs cut off her rambling which was steadily growing out of control. "I need you to focus," he said, far more calmly than he felt. "I need you to calm down and tell me what you've found. OK?"

He heard Abby take a deep breath. "Yes Gibbs. Sorry, it's just that I'm so worried about them."

"I know Abbs, so am I. So," he exhaled, "What can you tell me"

"Nothing good Gibbs. This guy had mad skills. That journal you found? Well, from reading that, he'd been working on this for years. Figuring out what dose was needed to regress someone two years or twenty years. He'd mainly experimented on rats and mice. From what I can gather, he started using the serum on people about 6 months ago. Petty Officer Bradshaw was his third victim. In a 24 hour period he'd managed to transform her from a 23 year old woman to, well..."

Here she paused. This wasn't easy to say.

"Go on Abbs", Gibbs encouraged.

"To... well... less than a baby. Gibbs, he took them right back to the foetal stage. No one can survive that. Once their lungs became too underdeveloped to sustain life, they...they died." Abby's voice was barely a whisper. "That's why you couldn't find her body, Gibbs. There was barely a body left. He has them buried near the dam on the property. There should be three of them, one male and two females."

There was a long pause before Gibbs spoke, "That's good work Abbs"

"No it's not Gibbs! I've only been able to figure out how it works. I have no idea how to stop it. I don't know if it even can be stopped! I don't know how much serum was in the darts, I don't know how far Tony and Ziva will regress! Gibbs, I don't know anything!" Abby was, by now, back in full panic mode.

"It's ok Abbs," Gibbs soothed. "You've done all you can. As for the rest of it? Well, none of us have control over that. We'll just have to ride it out and see what happens. I'm sending McGee to come and get you and bring you back here."

"But Gibbs, I might be able to find out..."

He cut her off. "Not a suggestion Abbs. You need to be here." And, with a flip of the phone, the conversation was ended. Decision made.

Heading back into the living room Gibbs looked around. Finding Tim's eyes, he nodded towards the door. Knowing Tim had overheard the conversation with Abby, he didn't need to say anything else.

"I'll be as quick as I can Boss," Tim said as he got up to leave.

"McGee!" Gibbs called as Tim was opening the door

"Yeah Boss?"

"You'll need these" Gibbs tossed the car keys to Tim who caught them easily.

"Um, yeah, thanks."

Once Tim had left, Gibbs turned to look at the three people sitting on the couch. Ziva had stopped crying, but her puffy, red eyes and oversized shirt made her look even younger than her current 10 years. Tony too was looking much younger than he appeared. His face was pale, his green eyes large and questioning. They were both looking at him as if he had all the answers.