TIM

"I'm so sorry, Timmy."

Tim looked up. He'd been nursing a cup of coffee (he knew he had to look bad when Gibbs actually went and bought one for him), while trying, and failing, to immerse himself in catching up on emails and paperwork. Anything that would take his mind off this last disastrous few days.

Abby stood in front of his desk, one pigtail twisting between her fingers, and her eyes full of compassion. "I'm sorry about Amanda."

"Don't you mean Juliet?"

He knew his voice was harsh. He half expected Abby to retreat at his tone, but instead she moved round the desk and bent over to give him an awkward hug. He stiffened at her touch. Being offered comfort meant recognising that he was hurting, and he was trying so very hard not to acknowledge that right now.

"She wasn't Juliet to you."

That was true, he reflected. In his head, he knew that Juliet Tippon was an assassin, one who'd threatened his life, come perilously close to taking it. He knew that Lee Wuan Kai had likely saved him with those unexpected gunshots. He knew it had all been a ruse to get close to NCIS through him.

But in his heart, a girl named Amanda had died in his arms - a girl who'd got under his defences, who he'd rapidly begun to fall for. A girl with clear blue eyes and a ready smile. A pretty, sweet, intelligent girl he would never have expected to be interested in him.

"I should've known," he whispered. "I should've realised that a girl like that wouldn't go for me. I should've-"

"Don't say that! Don't say that." Abby squeezed him a little closer, and he relented enough to slip his own arms round her slender body.

"It's true, Abs. I'm not confident enough, goodlooking enough for someone like Amanda- Juliet, I mean. I should have known..."

"Don't you dare say that, Timothy McGee. You are sweet, and you're brave, and you are caring. You're smart and you're brilliant."

He laughed bitterly. "Yeah, and women really respond to geeks with multiple degrees, Abby. I'm overweight, I'm too shy. Women don't even see me. I should've known when she gave me her number... Girls never just give me their number. It doesn't happen. I should've known."