Author's Note: This story will deal with child pornography and some other child sexual abuse. It doesn't get too graphic but be aware.

Helping Hands

Chapter One: Bumpy Beginnings

Tony was slouched over on the sectional, one leg flopped over the arm of the couch and the other shaking with excess energy as he watched the morning news. Rapes, robberies, wars, scandals, the twelfth annual Waikiki Spam Jam Festival—same stories, different day. He'd just started zoning out when a pair of boxing gloves landed in his lap. He looked up to see Gibbs standing there, his silver chest hairs shimmering in the well lit room and contrasting nicely with the black athletic shorts he had on.

"Let's play," the older man said.

Tony smiled from ear to ear and pulled the boxing gloves on as he followed Gibbs out to the beach. "No headgear?" he asked as Gibbs pulled his gloves on too.

"Will you fight fair?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah," Tony said.

"Good, I will too."

The two started moving around an invisible circle in the sand. Gibbs threw a couple punches which Tony easily deflected then Tony did the same. Both of them watched their opponent closely. They'd had extensive close combat training and both were anxious to show their skills and learn what the other was made of. They hadn't had an opportunity to get in the ring yet, of course not having a ring to get into made things even more challenging.

On one hand they enjoyed the privacy and having so much property to themselves but on the other hand they were looking forward to having a base gym and shooting range and all the other amenities they'd grown accustomed to in their military careers.

Gibbs was the first one to lunge at Tony. He wrapped the younger man up and the two struggled for dominance before Gibbs got Tony on the ground and managed to get him pinned. Tony struggled to break away but quickly realized it was futile and tapped out.

"You're good," he panted, standing and taking his position across from Gibbs again.

"So are you," Gibbs said.

The two started again and Tony didn't waste any time going after Gibbs. He wrestled him to the ground and Gibbs put up a good fight but Tony finally gained the upper hand. Like Tony had, Gibbs also struggled to break free. It had been awhile since he'd gone up against someone who actually held a light to him. Most of the time he took his opponents down easily. When he realized he wasn't going to be able to get free, he wiggled his hand around until he could grab onto Tony's crotch. Tony's eyes grew wide and he shrieked at the playful, intimate squeeze.

"You are so not playing fair," he objected, looking lustfully at his partner. He was torn between wanting to continue to wrestle and wanting things to turn a little more heated with the man he loved so much. Before he could choose, both their pagers went off.

"Bryce has the worst timing," Tony grumbled. He knew it had to be Bryce. The Deputy Attorney General was the only one who ever paged them and the only reason he ever paged them was because they had a case. A case meant playtime was over, regretfully.

"To be continued," Gibbs said.

"I should sit on top of you until you tap out," Tony grumbled.

"Why don't you?"

"Because I know we'd be here all day and with your hands current location, I'd probably end up being the one to tap out and when I say tap out I mean beg you to roll me over and fuck me right into the sand."

Gibbs smirked and took Tony's offered hand. Tony pulled his lover up and they headed into the house, brushing as much of the sand off their bodies as they could. After grabbing their shirts they went into the war room and brought Bryce up on the big screen.

"What can we do for you?" Tony asked, running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to straighten it. He hadn't looked in the mirror and was hoping he didn't look completely out of sorts for the video conference with their boss.

"I have your next assignment and it's a unique one," Bryce said. "I'm sending you two a helper."

"Helper, Sir?" Gibbs asked. He and Tony were still getting used to working with each other. He wasn't sure how thrilled he was about someone else being added to their team, no matter how temporary it was.

"Her name's Abby," Bryce said. "She's a little bit of an odd duck but I think you'll both like her. You'll need her computer expertise for this case."

"What's the case?" Tony asked.

"Two years ago a four year old little girl, Teagan, disappeared from her home in San Francisco. The local police and FBI investigated, hoping to find the girl, expecting a body but nothing ever turned up. A few months after she went missing hundreds of pictures of her were found on the hard drive of a computer belonging to a known child pornographer. We worked feverishly trying locate her but lost her trail shortly after it appeared."

"Is the trail hot again?" Tony asked, doing his best to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut.

"Yes and we're not going to let him get away again," Bryce said. "More pictures have shown up and have been traced back to a computer somewhere in Europe. Abby's damn good at her job. She can help with the computer forensics aspect of the case. I'm counting on the three of you to bring little Teagan home and the perpetrator to justice."

"Is Abby coming here or are we video conferencing with her?" Gibbs asked.

"She'll arrive at Honolulu International Airport at 1900 hours today," Bryce answered. "One of you will need to pick her up but did put her up in a hotel room. I'll fax you the rest of the information."

The three said their goodbyes then the screen went black and the fax machine started ringing with an incoming message.

"LJ, any chance we can wait to continue what we started earlier?" Tony asked.

"I'd prefer it," Gibbs said.

"Okay, what do we wanna get to eat?" Gibbs asked as he pushed a cart through the entrance of the grocery store. They'd cleaned the house then decided to go shopping for their guest. Their cupboards were once again bare.

"I think chicks from the city eat a lot of salads," Tony said.

"Salad, that's good," Gibbs agreed. "Grab some of that lettuce."

"Maybe we should get something a little fancier."

"Fancier?" Gibbs asked. "It's lettuce. Lettuce is lettuce."

Tony picked up a head of romaine lettuce and waved it in Gibbs' face. "This is a lot fancier than that ugly head of lettuce over there."

"Fine," Gibbs grumbled, grabbing it and dropping it into their cart.

"You're supposed to put it in a bag," Tony said. Gibbs glared at him and Tony glared right back. Tony knew Gibbs wasn't going to budge so he reached up and grabbed a produce bag. "Or I suppose I could do it."

"If you'd gotten the lettuce I suggested you wouldn't have to put it in a bag 'cause it's already in one."

"Really?" Tony asked. "Are we gonna keep arguing over the stupid lettuce or can we drop it now?"

"You're the one that keeps talking about it," Gibbs said.

Tony gasped dramatically. "I am not!"

Gibbs smirked and bumped shoulders with Tony. It was a bit ridiculous to be arguing over a head of lettuce but they'd argued over stupider things than that. "What else?" he asked.

"Um… tomatoes," Tony said. "No, wait, cherry tomatoes! We don't have to cut those."

"Perfect," Gibbs said. "How about some of those croutons?"

"I don't know," Tony said. "Croutons… bread… carbs… chicks are weird about carbs."

"Yeah, but if we're stuck eating salad I want croutons."

"Good point," Tony said tossing a bag of croutons into the cart. "What else?"

"I don't know," Gibbs said. "What do you put in your salad?"

"I hardly ever eat salad," Tony said. "What do you put in yours?"

"I don't eat 'em either," Gibbs said as he pushed the cart around the fruit and vegetable section. "Onions," he suggested stopping by the rather large selection.

"Onions are good," Tony said, "but what kind?"

"I have no idea," Gibbs said. "I didn't realize there were this many different kinds."

"Do you guys need help?" one of the store associates asked.

"Yeah," Tony said, "if you were making a salad, which onion would you put in it?"

The clerk peeked into their cart before answering. "If you're making a lettuce salad I'd probably go with a red, sweet onion," she said pointing out the ones she was talking about.

"Thank you," Gibbs said.

The clerk helped them select a few other things then the guys thanked her and headed off to the meat counter.

"Can I help you?"

"Give me four of those New York strip please," Gibbs said.

"What are you doing?" Tony asked. "You can't put steak in salad."

"This is for us to eat after she goes to her hotel," Gibbs said.

"Oh, good idea," Tony said with a smile. "We can be all sophisticated and then eat some real food."

"Exactly," Gibbs said as he took the meat from the man behind the counter. He thanked him then they continued on their way.

The cart slowly filled with cereal and snacks, juice, beer and wine, side dishes and desserts. When they were satisfied they had everything they needed, they checked out, loaded up Tony's Mustang and headed back to the house.

"You wanna go pick this chick up together or just one of us or what were you thinking?" Tony asked as he backed into their driveway.

"I'm thinking you probably shouldn't refer to her as a chick to her face," Gibbs said.

"Oh, I know. I won't. What's her name again?"

"Abby. I'm not sure how to pronounce her last name. Let's hope we don't have to try."

"Abby," Tony repeated. "I think I can remember that."

"Let's go to the airport together," Gibbs said. "The house is clean and it's a beautiful night to be out."

"Together it is," Tony said with a smile. "I'll let you drive since the Jeep has four doors and there'll be three of us coming back."

The two unloaded the groceries and put them away then headed out again. It was a forty five drive to the airport and Gibbs was right, it was a beautiful evening. The airport was a little less crowded at night. Most of the tourists had arrived earlier in the day and had already been picked up. The busier part of the airport in the evening was the departures but that was on the opposite side of where Gibbs and Tony were headed.

"What do you think Bryce meant by 'odd duck'?" Tony asked as they walked into the airport.

"Don't know," Gibbs said. "He said he thought we'd like her."

"He barely knows us," Tony pointed out. "How would he know if we're gonna like her?"

"He probably knows us a lot better than we think," Gibbs said. "I doubt they randomly chose two guys they knew very little about to do this job."

"Good point. You're doctor friend should be coming soon too, right?"

"Ducky? Yeah," Gibbs said, "he should be here within the next week or two."

"Are we gonna have a problem sharing the house with him?" Tony asked. "I mean, he's not gonna like be grossed out if we kiss or hold hands or cuddle up in front of a movie or anything, is he?"

"He'd probably be uncomfortable if we went all the way in front of him but he won't have a problem with us being together," Gibbs answered.

"Good," Tony said, "because I refuse to keep my hands and lips and other body parts to myself."

"As long as I'm the only one you're sharing those body parts with," Gibbs said.

"Always."

Gibbs leaned over and stole a quick kiss before the two found the monitors announcing the upcoming arrivals. They figured out which gate Abby was coming in at and headed off to meet her.

Abby was so excited to be visiting the islands she had to remind herself to be calm and act normal, or at least what society would define as normal. She wasn't one who cared much about what others thought but she was a little nervous about meeting and working with the two federal agents. It was a far cry from the computer crimes job at the small police department she was currently working at. She was determined to be a calmer version of herself until she figured out a little more about them.

She waited as patiently as she could for her turn to get off the plane, happy to finally be able to stretch her legs after the long flight. She grabbed her carryon bag then filed out with all the others. She made her way out of the secure area of the airport and looked carefully at the mob of people waiting to greet the other passengers. She had no idea what either of the guys looked like.

Standing off from the crowd a little bit were two guys that looked fairly hardcore. They looked kind of like bad ass special agents, at least more so than any of the others standing around so she headed towards them. When she got closer, she noticed the younger one was holding a small piece of paper that read 'Abby S.' and smiled at them as she made her way over to them.

"Are you Abby?" Tony asked.

"That's me," Abby said. "Abby S."

"Couldn't remember how to spell you last name," Tony said with a chuckle. "The sign was kind of a last minute idea."

"It did the trick," Abby said. "Got me to you guys."

"I'm Tony, this is LJ."

"I'm Abby, obviously."

"Welcome," Gibbs said. "Do you have checked bags?"

"Yeah, I have one," Abby said. "I couldn't fit everything in my carryon no matter how hard I tried."

The group followed the signs to the baggage claim area and waited with the others for the belt to start moving and the luggage to start coming out. Gibbs and Tony were both subtly checking Abby out while she did the same to them. Abby was obviously Goth, considering the way she was dressed but she seemed outgoing and happy and those weren't two traits the guys usually associated with Goths. She was definitely different. They weren't quite sure what to make of her yet.

Abby discovered Gibbs and Tony were nothing like she'd expected them to be. Gibbs kind of was. He seemed tough but he was quiet. He looked like the kind of guy you didn't want to mess with. Tony was a lot more outgoing. He looked like he liked to have fun and be adventurous, the kind of guy Abby would befriend instantly.

"So, how long have you guys been living here?" Abby asked. "If I ask anything classified just tell me to shut up because sometimes I just don't know what's okay to ask and what's not and I kinda have a tendency to ramble."

"Do you always talk so fast?" Gibbs asked.

"Are you always this quiet?"

Tony smiled at the exchange. "He kinda is but he makes his words count," he answered for Gibbs.

"I try not to talk too fast but it happens sometimes when I'm nervous or excited and I'm both right now."

"No need to be nervous around us," Gibbs said. "And we've been here about two months."

"Wow, that's not long at all. I'm not really a big fan of the sun but I grew up in a swamp so I'm excited to see the sights. Not that I'm here on vacation. I'm here to help."

"We can show you around," Gibbs said. He liked Abby already. He had a good feeling about her. She seemed like the kind of person who could hold her own in any situation she was put in and wouldn't be afraid to challenge someone but she also had an endearing quality about her.

"Probably best to wait till tomorrow," Tony said. "It's too dark now to be able to see much of anything. Crap! You know what we forgot to do again, LJ?"

"Hmm?"

"We forgot to put the cover on the Jeep. We're gonna have to get better at remembering that."

"I'm totally fine with it, if that's what you're worried about," Abby said. "It'll be like riding in the back of a pickup truck. I used to do that all the time as a kid."

"Where'd you grow up?" Tony asked curiously. "A swamp would mean Southern Florida? Louisiana?"

"Louisiana," Abby said.

"Cool," Tony said. "I grew up in New York and a few other places in the Northeast. LJ grew up in a tiny town in Pennsylvania. I'm not really sure why I'm telling you all this."

Abby shrugged. "It's fine," she said. "We're getting to know each other."

"I think I see your bag coming," Tony said when he saw a suitcase adorned in skulls. "I hope that's not an offensive, stereotypical type thing to say."

Abby laughed. "It's fine. It is my bag."

"I'll grab it for you," Tony said before weaving his way through the crowd. He grabbed the suitcase then they headed for the exit. "So, are you Goth? Is that okay to ask?"

"You guys can ask me anything," Abby said. "I'm just a forensic scientist. I love the color black and skulls and stuff like that but it's not what defines me."

"Gotcha," Tony said.

"Have you had dinner yet, Abby?" Gibbs asked, lifting her suitcase into the back of the Jeep.

"No, they gave us a little snack on the plane but I wouldn't mind stopping for something to eat," Abby said.

"We bought groceries!" Tony said proudly. "We haven't had dinner yet either."

"Why don't we head back to the house and get something to eat then maybe do a little work tonight," Gibbs suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Tony said. "You cool with that, Abby?"

"Fine with me," Abby said. "I'll go with the flow. I don't really sleep much anyways so I'm cool with whatever."

Tony pointed out some of the sights as Gibbs drove. It was too dark to see much once they got out of the city but they were still enjoying themselves. Tony had immersed himself in the Hawaiian culture and loved sharing what he'd learned and Abby was soaking everything in. She was settling in a lot easier than she'd anticipated. Tony was fun and funny and helped her feel at ease and even though Gibbs was quiet she was enjoying his company as well. She was glad she'd agreed to help them.

"Here we are," Gibbs said as he parked in front of their house. He and Tony helped her with her bags despite her insisting she could get them. They showed her around then headed to the kitchen to get dinner started.

"Can we get you something to drink?" Tony offered as Abby sat down at the bar and watched.

"Sure," she said, "what do you have?"

"We have wine and water and milk and juice and soda—"

"Got any beer?"

Tony jerked his head towards Gibbs in surprise then looked back at Abby. "Yeah," he answered hesitantly. "We have wine too though. Did I mention that?"

"Um, beer would be my first choice but wine's okay too," Abby said.

Gibbs reached over and smacked the back of Tony's head, trying to get him to snap out of it. They'd been wrong in assuming Abby would want wine instead of beer but he didn't want Tony to make a fool of either of them. "Get the girl a beer," he said.

"You know what that does to me," Tony muttered, glaring at Gibbs.

Gibbs smirked and glanced down at the front of Tony's pants. There was definitely a little bulge forming but not as big as the first time he'd head slapped him.

Abby watched with confused amusement but didn't ask. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Just make yourself at home," Gibbs said as Tony cracked a beer open and slid it down the counter to her.

Abby snatched the beer before it could slide by and held it out towards Tony. "Thanks," she said before take a drink.

The small talk continued while Gibbs and Tony chopped vegetables for the salad. Abby was easy to talk to and she actually had interesting things to say. In a sense it was meaningless conversation but it was also an intelligent, rewarding conversation.

Once they were finished making the salads, Gibbs put them on the bar while Tony got the croutons and salad dressing out. Abby looked at the salad then giggled at the guys.

"What?" Gibbs asked.

"I highly doubt you two sit around drinking wine and eating salads," Abby said. She was clearly amused and honored that they'd gone to all through trouble for her but it wasn't necessary and she didn't want the whole visit to go like that. "What would you be eating if I wasn't here?"

"Probably steak," Gibbs answered.

"Then let's have steak!" Abby said. "Don't get me wrong! The salads look delicious and I am definitely gonna enjoy mine but in case you haven't noticed, I'm not your typical city chick."

"You eat red meat?" Tony asked.

"I love red meat," Abby answered. "There's nothing better than a big, fat, juicy steak and an ice cold beer after a long day."

"You're awesome," Tony said. "LJ, fire up the grill! We're having steak tonight."

Gibbs smiled and nodded his approval at the turn of events. They'd totally misjudged Abby but she seemed to be cool with it. She appreciated the effort they'd put into it instead of getting after them for getting everything wrong. He definitely liked her and could see that Tony did as well.

They all headed out back and enjoyed their salads while they waited for the grill to heat up and the steaks to cook.

"Can I light the tiki torches?" Abby asked as she finished up her salad.

Gibbs pulled his Zippo out of his pocket and tossed it to her. "Go for it."

"We gotta be authentic," Abby said.

"If we were being authentic we'd be cooking in an underground oven and eating kahlua pig," Tony said.

"I'm looking forward to some steak," Abby said with a laugh as she lit the tiki torches.

Gibbs pulled the steaks off the grill then they all enjoyed another cold beer with their meal. After a bumpy beginning things had taken a turn for the better. All three of them were settling in and relaxing and just enjoying each other's company.

After dinner was cleaned up, they headed into the war room to get started on their case. It quickly became evident that the computer aspects of the case were far too complicated for both Gibbs and Tony but Abby knew exactly what to do. Pictures were tacked to the bulletin board, reports were gone over and maps were studied. The happy, carefree evening had turned serious and a bit depressing.

"When I signed up for this job I didn't think I'd be looking at child porn," Tony muttered.

"Is this your first case like this?" Abby asked.

"Yeah," Tony answered.

"Mine too," Abby said. "It feels wrong looking at this stuff."

"Not to mention sickening," Tony said.

"Just remember we're helping Teagan," Gibbs said. He didn't like it anymore than them but it was a necessary part of their job.

"And try not throw up while you think about what other people are doing with these pictures," Tony added.

"I think that's enough for tonight," Gibbs said. They'd managed to get their case laid out and it was getting late. "We'll start again tomorrow. Abby, you're more than welcome to stay here with us or we can take you to the hotel. It's up to you."

"You guys really don't mind if I stay?" Abby asked.

"It'd be easier," Tony said. "Less time running back and forth between here and the hotel. Plus it's a lot homier here. We have food and full size bathrooms and we have a pool and a hot tub so it's like being at home and in a hotel."

Abby giggled at Tony's analyses. "I'll stay. Thank you."

"Anybody wanna go swimming?" Tony asked. He didn't want to try to go to sleep so soon after looking at those pictures. A refreshing dip in the pool always relaxed him.

"I do," Abby said. "Which room should I take? I need to get changed."

"Come on," Tony said. "I'll show you." He walked her across the living room and flipped the light on in both spare bedrooms. "You can have either one of these."

"But where do you sleep?" Abby asked. "Where does LJ sleep?"

Tony swallowed hard. This would be a true test of how their friendship with Abby was going to play out. "He and I share the master bedroom."

"Oh. OH! I didn't realize you guys were gay... are you gay?"

"We're both bi," he said, "but we're in a relationship."

"That's cool," Abby said with a genuine smile that immediately put Tony at ease. "I'm happy for you guys."

"Thanks," Tony said. "If you're not cool with it, that's okay."

"I'm totally cool with it!" Abby said. "Now get outta here and let me put my bathing suit on. Are you gonna make LJ join us?"

"I'll try," Tony said.

The two shared a laugh then Tony went off in search of Gibbs while Abby changed. He found him standing in their bedroom in the dark, staring out at the ocean.

"Hey," he said quietly as he stepped up behind Gibbs and wrapped his arm around his waist. "Something's bothering you. I can tell."

"Just this case," Gibbs said quietly. "I don't understand why the evil has to touch innocent children. Nobody should have to deal with something like this but a child? I just… I don't know."

"I know," Tony said. "I understand what you're saying but we are helping. You said it earlier."

"I wish we could do more. I wish we could help 'em all. I wish we could stop it from happening."

"Me too," Tony said, "but right now we're doing all we can. We may be bad ass federal agents but we can't rid the world of all evil singlehandedly. Will you go swimming with us? Might help you relax, take your mind off things."

"I think I'll soak in the hot tub for a little while," Gibbs said. He turned in Tony's arms and shared a kiss and a smile with his lover. It was nice to have someone to talk to about difficult cases, especially since he didn't have a basement with a boat in it like he'd had in DC.

"Abby knows about us," Tony said stripping out of his clothes. "I wasn't thinking when I let her pick which room. She figured out that only left one room for us so I just told her. She's cool with it though."

"Good. She woulda figured it out at bedtime anyways. If she still likes us after we screwed up just about everything we did tonight I don't think we're gonna scare her away."

"Let's just not screw anything else up," Tony said. He pulled his board shorts on and fastened them then turned and looked at Gibbs. "Come on, get changed, let's go have a little fun before bedtime."