Disclaimer: NCIS and all associated characters belong to DPB and CBS. I make no claim on them and write this purely for my own entertainment and the entertainment of others.

A Second Chance
For the Hiatus Creative Drive, Week 12, at the Gabby Forums

Gibbs had always thought that he'd have time to make her see, or that she already knew, how he felt. He and Abby had always been able to understand each other without words, so why mess with a good thing?

He should have remembered his own rule – take nothing for granted. Hell, his own losses should have been warning enough.

What started out as a case like any other soon became anything but that. Two Marines were dead, the primary suspects being their own COs. What started as a murder case quickly became much, much more. The COs had an accomplice, an unknown, who sought to drive the investigation off the scent by kidnapping their own forensic scientist. The FBI quickly jumped in, citing that kidnappings were their jurisdiction, but Fornell was hardly stupid enough to try and keep Gibbs out of the loop. Not when it was Abby they were talking about. The investigation continued along with the search, and they began to uncover an enormous drug ring spread all over D.C., from the remotest residential area to Capitol Hill itself.

Eventually, they discovered where the drug ring was based, and raided the place. What happened next was a blur. Gibbs remembered shooting it out with several drug dealers, covering McGee as he worked to free Abby from the restraints they'd found her in. She had been keeping her head down, but she obviously spotted something, because next thing Gibbs had known, Abby had flung herself behind him just as a series of shots were fired. As they all turned, Gibbs had seen Abby drop to the floor lifelessly and the gun in the hands of a drug runner, aimed right at them. The runner went down seconds later, riddled with bullets from all their guns. Under other circumstances, Gibbs might have gotten some satisfaction from that, but not now.

It was when he saw Abby lying there on the cement, her blood gushing from her chest like a fountain, that Gibbs saw not just her, but every woman who had ever died for or because of him. He saw Shannon and Kelly, their faces covered in scrapes and bruises, staring at him solemnly. He saw Kate, her bullet wound gaping open like a black hole, sucking even the light into it. He saw Paula Cassidy, burns covering a face made recognizable only by her eyes, which seared into his own skin like a brand. He saw Jenny, her shirt soaked in blood. All of them were silent, but their eyes spoke volumes.

Will Abby join us?

Gibbs wasn't sure how it happened, but Abby managed to survive the reckless trip to the hospital. He rode in the ambulance with her, leaving DiNozzo, McGee, and Ziva to clean up the mess before they joined them. As they pulled out, he vaguely recalled Tony shouting at Vance's secretary to put the director on now or he'd have McGee crash every network NCIS had. None of it really sank in; he had eyes only for Abby.

She was in surgery for three hours before they wheeled her into recovery. The doctors had no problem talking to him, since, apparently, Abby had listed him as next-of-kin for some reason, even above her own brother. There was talk of a punctured lung, of high blood loss, but one thing still made sense – she was still alive. Hence why he was now sitting in her room in the ICU. The room was silent, except for the heart monitor, which beeped steadily and quietly. It was a constant reminder that she was still alive, that she hadn't joined the list of dead women Gibbs had failed in his life.

The team had been in and gone. Ziva had been pale and quiet, her eyes suspiciously bright. Tony had grabbed a hold of Abby's hand and could barely be convinced to let go of her so someone else could come in and visit. McGee had brought Bert from her lab, carefully settling the hippo underneath her arm without upseting any of the wires and tubes connected to her body. Ducky's visit had been brief, kissing Abby on the forehead and exhorting her to get better soon, that he had tests that he needed her to run. He had then informed Gibbs that he would take great pleasure in weighing the liver of the man who had attacked their Abigail. Neither of them mentioned about how Ducky had been denied that with Kate's killer, but it had been in Gibbs' thoughts and Ducky's eyes. Even Vance had stopped in, a bouquet of black roses in hand. They now sat on the table next to Abby's bed.

Now Gibbs was alone with her. Her skin was even paler than it normally was, almost chalky white, which stood all the more with her black lashes laying over top it.

She had almost died, right there in front of him, because of him. He should have been watching his own back, making sure none of the drug dealers flanked them. After dealing with how Kate and Jenny died, he'd sworn that no other woman would take a bullet for him, and yet there Abby lay, her blood pouring out of her body. She could have died, and then she would never have known... He couldn't go through this again. Losing Shannon had damn near killed him; watching Abby's life drain away... in some ways, it was worse. At the very least Gibbs hadn't actually watched his wife die.

Her hand was enclosed in his, limp and unresponsive. Gibbs kept his grip on her, and somehow managed to dose for a little while, a resolution unformed but still confirmed in his mind.

Everything hurt. Her body, her throat, even her hair seemed to hurt. She forced her eyes open, and saw white. Everything was white. The ceiling, the walls, all of it. And there was something in her mouth, in her throat, and it hurt. She reached up, clawing at it, trying to get it out –

– only to have someone grab her hand in a firm grip. A face appeared, a young man she didn't recognize. "Miss Sciuto, it's okay," he said hurriedly. "You're in the hospital. Do you understand me?"

Miss Sciuto? Oh, right. She was Abby. She nodded frantically and jerked her hand, trying to get to whatever they had in her mouth.

"Do you want the breathing tube removed?"

No shit, Sherlock. Abby nodded again.

The following procedure was quick, but exceedingly uncomfortable. As the tube finally came all the way out, Abby coughed and sagged back against the bed. Breathing heavily, she forced herself to look around. In addition to the young man – probably the doctor – there was also a nurse present. Then she saw the third person, standing in the corner of the small room. She recognized him. "Gibbs," she whispered hoarsely.

It all came back. The case. Being grabbed on the way to work. Being held in the drug ring's safehouse. Knowing she was probably as good as dead. Gibbs and the team breaking in, guns blazing. Timmy tugging frantically at the knots. The drug dealer, taking aim at Gibbs' unprotected back.

The pain that followed before mercifully losing conscious.

Abby trembled, ignoring the repeated questions of the nurse and doctor, and stared at Gibbs. He was alive, and so was she. They were still here.

"Gibbs."

Note: I've marked this as complete, but there is a possibility that there might be a sequel/second part to this story. Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!