It had all started out simple enough.
Jason had been a nice guy, if not a bit too vanilla for her. He was clever and made her laugh, and Abby had genuinely enjoyed the time that she'd spent with him.
The relationship had lasted a long time, if several months could be considered a long time, mostly because it was comfortable and not because she felt anything particularly special towards him. It was just nice to have something to do when she wasn't working, and Jason never had any protests about their less than passionate dates.
Still, something always seemed just a bit off about him. Nothing major, just little things. Like the fact that he didn't seem to understand that she liked to be the one to answer her own cell phone.
He was always jumping for it the minute he heard it ring, no matter how many times she reamed him out for it. But then, he would tell her how sorry he was and assure her that it would never happen again, before planting a kiss to the spot on her neck like he knew she loved so much and everything would be alright again.
It alarmed her how quick to anger he was. He'd never outright hurt her, but he had the tendency to get fired up over everything. Abby found herself hurrying home to avoid agitating him by being late. No, he wasn't controlling her, she assured her friends often. It was just easier not to provoke a fight, and they certainly got into some of their worst ones on the subject of being late. He didn't like her spending so much time away from home. Away from him. She supposed he was right.
It really was rude to be gone so often.
Despite his minor quirks, Jason was good for her. He never bugged her phone, stole her mail, slashed her tires, or any other Mikel-like habits that would cause her to panic. He wasn't like the others, and this would end well. She was sure of it.
The first time that he'd hit her was the last time. Abby knew that he had to go.
And that was exactly what she told him.
Her friends were relieved to have her back, cheerful as ever. Jason had never let her spend any time with them.
Let.
It was disgusting to think that he'd ever had to let her do anything. She could think for herself, rather quickly and efficiently in her opinion, and he had absolutely no right to tell her what to do. To let her do the things she wanted to do.
Abigail Sciuto was her own person, and nobody let her do anything.
Except Gibbs, maybe.
It was another month before Abby heard from Jason again.
She'd done her best to act civil and maybe even a bit polite when his number showed up on her caller ID. All of her answers to his questions had been clear, no mixed signals. Yes, she was doing alright. No, she would not like to meet for lunch.
The second time he called, three days later, her patience began to wear thin. No, she did not want to give it another try, and it would be appreciated if he would just leave her alone.
When he showed up at her apartment, Jason had been beaming from ear to ear. He talked like they were still lovers, and he was coming home from a long trip, anxious to see her and perplexed by her frigid behavior.
The door remained firmly closed.
Abby didn't see the man for weeks after that. It was easy and comfortable to think that she was in the clear. Until one night, when she came home from work, juggling a bag of groceries and weary from the overtime that she'd been putting in, something made her pause.
It had only been moments before she would have slipped her key into the lock when she saw the light on under the door. Now breathing heavily, Abby set her bag down and reached into her pocket looking for something to defend herself with. Coming up empty, she flicked a single key into her palm, wincing at her pathetic weapon.
She took a deep breath and pushed the door open, brandishing her key in front of her like a sword.
There stood Jason. In the process of flicking through her mail.
When he saw her, he grinned.
The door slammed shut behind her as she dashed out of the apartment, leaving her groceries on the hallway floor and heading for the elevator. She heard his voice call out to her, confused and upset, as she pressed the button to close the door.
Out of habit, Abby's hand reached out and smacked the emergency stop button. Tired in body and mind, she slid to the floor.
Oh God, not again.
And there on the elevator floor, Abby cried.
Her coworkers couldn't find out, Abby knew that much. She was doing a good job hiding it, as far as she was concerned. They hadn't noticed anything unusual about her.
In fact, there were so few differences in her behavior that it would be difficult for anyone to know what was going on.
There could be a lot of explanations as to why she would no longer accept a ride home from any of her friends, the most obvious of them not being that she was hiding away in a hotel room, praying that she wouldn't come home to find him there.
All of her odd actions could be reasoned away, and that was the way Abby liked it.
Of course, the people she considered to be her family were a little preoccupied with Ziva's rescue and readjusting. And then the whole ordeal with Mike Franks, and all of Gibbs's problems that year...
She didn't blame them. Everything had been so crazy lately, it and was important that the team put everything they had into starting to make things right.
They didn't need to have to deal with her silly little problem. She'd gotten herself into this mess, and now it was her responsibility to get herself out, without Gibbs or the rest ever finding out.
It was best for everyone involved if the entire thing was concealed, even if she had to step on a few toes and tell a few lies to keep it that way.