Chapter Text
NCIS NCIS NCIS
"Come on baby, just a little further. Don't do this to me now. At least wait until I find someplace we can pull over." Abby urged her hearse as she drove home from a three day long conference. A roar of thunder made her jump, just before a flash of lighting so bright it made the early evening darkness seem like day. It started raining, at first it was light almost like someone spitting, but slowly got heavier until she almost couldn't see the road.
Peering through the rain she looked for a place to pull over as her hearse stated to buck even more. Finally spotting a wide lane she pulled in just as the engine died. "Great, just great." she mumbled to herself. It continued to rain hard for half an hour with bright flashes of lightening followed by thunder so loud she actually considered covering her ears. The high winds rocking the hearse didn't help any either. All of a sudden the rain stopped and the winds eased to a light breeze. Trying her cell she discovered it was dead and her car charger wasn't in the hearse. Gibbs is gonna kill me she thought.
Even though it wasn't that late with the storm it was dark enough that she could just see the evenly spaced bushes of some kind lining both sides of the lane for several yards. So she got out taking the flashlight from the glove box and decided to walk back to the road to see if anyone was coming that she could stop and ask for help. Looking both left and right she saw lights in both directions some from houses others from cars heading her way. Abby started to wave her arms as one car neared her, it slowed down then all of a sudden sped up. This happened about four more times before she decided to walk to the nearest house which looked to be about a half mile away.
She hadn't got very far when she saw a car toward her, she watched it pass her, do a u-turn and pull over in front of her, watching it suspiciously as she slowly approached she recognized it as a police car. Running up to it she watched as an officer got out and looked at her. "Miss I'm officer Derek Branton, what are you doing walking out in this weather?"
"Hi, I'm Abigale Sciuto, but you can call me Abby. I had car trouble and was just able to pull into that lane back there." Abby said as she pointed in the direction she had just come from. "I tried to get someone to stop and help me, but every time a car would slow up the driver would suddenly speed away. Why would anyone do that?"
Derek leaned in the car and talked to his partner who got out of the other side, "Hi, I'm officer John Eaton. Derek says you're having car problems."
"Yeah, a few miles back she started acting hinky, then just before she died and the storm got real bad I was able to pull into that lane." Abby said pointing the way she had come from. "What I don't get is why no one would stop to help me."
"Listen, seeing as how the garage is closed, why don't we take you to the Dusty Attic our local bed & breakfast slash antique store for the night and you can call Ernie at the garage in the morning around eight and talk to him." Derek said opening the back door for her.
"Sure, but I need to get my bag from my car."
"No problem, we'll drive you back so you can get your bag, then to the Dusty Attic." John told her.
"I still want to know why no one would stop to help me."
"Chances are it was the the older folks and they're reluctant to stop for strangers at night or it could have been some of the teenagers being smart asses." Derek offered as an explanation.
Getting to the lane Abby noticed the two officers exchange a look and get an odd smile on their faces when they saw her hearse, but shrugged it off as most people were somewhat surprised when they first leaned she drove a hearse and being a goth did get her some strange looks.
After getting her bag and making sure her hearse was locked they took her to the Dusty Attic which was about fifteen minutes away located on an street lined with older homes. Pulling into the lane of a three story Victorian looking house that reminded her of Ducky's except for the fact that the storm clouds made it look positively eerie.
Knocking on the door they introduced her to the lady that answered the door, "Maggie this is Abigale Sciuto, she had car trouble and will have to call Ernie in the morning." John said
"Please call me Abby."
"Hi, Abby, glad to meet you." Maggie said "Where did you end up leaving your car?"
"She ended up pulling her hearse into the lane next to Karen and Ralph's." Derek cut in.
Abby noticed that Maggie got the same weird smile on her face that Derek and John had got when they saw her hearse.
Hearing the grandfather clock chime, John looked at his partner. "Come on Derek time to get back on patrol."
"See you guy's at the church bazaar tomorrow." Maggie said as she showed John and Derek out.
"The other rooms are taken so you're room is on the third floor, on the right." Maggie said as she checked Abby in and took her up to her room, "and the bathroom is next door."
Opening the door Abby took in the light blue walls and light blue throw rugs on the hard wood floor. Across from the door between four windows that looked out on the front lawn was an oak four poster bed covered with a blue wedding ring quilt, matching night stands on either side and a cedar chest at the foot. A dresser was on the right and the other door which was the closet was to the left of the one she had come in through.
"Would it be possible to get a sandwich or some kind of snack." Abby asked, "It's been a while since I've had anything to eat."
"Sure no problem," Maggie said and led the way to the kitchen. "I start serving breakfast at 7:00."
After getting a roast beef sandwich to take to her room. Abby wished Maggie a good night and went upstairs. Getting to her room Abby shut and locked the door, then looked for the phone to call Gibbs only to discover there was no phone in the room. 'This is not good' she thought still feeling somewhat creeped out by the weird smiles on John, Derek and Maggie's faces. 'What have I got myself into' she wondered.
TBC