A/N: I know, I know, I already have 4 wip's. why am I putting out another one, right? I apologise, but this one jumped into my head this afternoon and it won't leave me alone. I promise to get back to my other ones this week.

Set Three Months after "Endgame"

Abby's heart was beating fast. She'd made up her mind. It was time. Watching Tim try to recover from what that assassin, 'Amanda' had put him through, had been a wake up call for her. Although she hadn't had a front row seat, she'd heard about it from Ziva. The look in his eyes as Ziva described the hurt and betrayal she saw there, left Abby feeling like someone had sucker punched her, through Tim. He was, after all, her best friend and he had almost gotten killed at this woman's hands. He deserved so much better than he kept getting at each time he had attempted to move on from being in love with her.

It didn't take a genuis to see that he was still in love with Abby; at the very least, still cared a hell ova lot about her. Then again, Tim was lousy at hiding how he felt when it came to something he felt this deeply about. Where she'd been scared of committment and the "family" mindset before; now she was afraid that her soulmate would be lost not just to her, but to the world, if she didn't save him from the witches that kept trying to ruin him.

There was much more to Abby's decision. She loved him; had never stopped. It had never been about not loving Tim. No, it had simply been a case of her being scared fall in love with him. Building on her feelings meant making a committment that scared her even more. Abby knew that Tim was cautious now, super cautious. He hadn't been out on a date; at least that he'd talked about, since the whole nightmare had happened. Maybe he was still nursing enough love for her, that he would be open to giving her another chance.

"Abby, Tony said you wanted to talk to me?" Tim asked as he entered her lab.

"Oh, hey, Timmy. Yeah, you guys busy?" Abby's demeanor was subdued compared to her normally effervescent bounce.

"No, working on cold cases til we get a call out. Abby, you okay? You don't seem like your normal self." Tim asked in concern.

"I'm fine. So sweet of you to ask, Tim. I've just been doing some thinking." she answered with the quiet tone that left no doubt she was serious.

"Well, you've asked to talk to me, so I'm guessing that thinking has to do with me?" Tim gently pushed.

"Yeah. Tim. C'mere. Sit." Abby quietly encouraged, leading the way to her desk and gesturing for him to sit in her chair.

"Abby, you're scaring me. What is it?" Tim asked with concern.

"Tim, I've watched you become more and more miserable since you almost got killed by that woman. It's time you realize that you're not who she 's got you thinking you are! You are special! You deserve someone who knows that and loves you for who you are! You deserve to be loved! To be happy!"

"Abby. Thank you, really. But, I have work to do. If this is what you anted to talk to me about, it really needs to wait til after work." Tim replied gently with a soft smile playing on his mouth but still not reaching his eyes.

"Tim, do you still love me?" Abby asked in a rush of words.

"You know I do." Tim reminded her seriously.

"No, I mean are you still in love with me?" the Goth pushed.

"Abby." Tim let out in a rush of air that seemed to escape from his lungs in a hurry. Suddenly, the pain was back in full force in his eyes; pain that had been slowly but surely fading from those gorgous eyes of his.

"It's a simple question, Tim!" Abby declared with a touch of impatience.

"No, it's not, Abby. I have to get back to work. Can we talk about this later, please?" Tim answered as quietly as he could while his heart was trying to go back to beating normally. Politely, he waited for an answer before he moved to leave.

"Ok, Tim. Later. Will you at least promise me you'll think about it? About giving me another chance?" Abby asked plaintively.

"Yeah. I'll think about it. I promise." Tim vowed as he entered the elevator and went back to his desk.

"What did Abby want?" Gibbs demanded when Tim reached the squad room.

"It was personal, Boss. I'm sorry. I should have made her wait til after work. I got back here as soon as I could." Tim offered, knowing it wasn't gonna fly anyway.

"Get back to work." Gibbs let it go. He knew what Abby could be like when she got on a tangent. McGee had only been gone for a short time, so no harm, no foul.

Tony and Ziva remained remarkably quiet and even kept their eyes on their own work. Both of them had taken great effort to cut Tim some serious slack in the last few months. While Tony still picked on Tim, it didn't have the cutting hard edge to it that it had before.

In the three months since Tim had almost been killed, it had been heartbreaking to see the light go out of the young man's eyes. His performance on the job had still been exemplary. It was who he was becoming on the inside that had Gibbs keeping an inconspicious eye on him. Watching to to make sure he was eating decently during the day and not coming in looking like he hadn't slept the night before. The young man wouldn't talk about any of it and no one pushed him.

Quitting time that night and the squad room was once again peaceful. Gibbs relished this time of the day, when he could sit back and think straight uninterrupted with a good cup of java. His usual routine of going after a fresh cup while the team was leaving , offered even more of a chance to clear his head. The last thing he expected when he came back, was to see McGee still sitting at his desk, lost in thought.

"McGee?" Gibbs asked.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry, Boss." Tim offered as he pulled himself up out of his chair, preparing to leave.

"McGee, sit." Gibbs directed, pointing to Tim's chair. As his agent settled back down in his chair, the question was asked. "Something you wanna tell me?"

"I..." Tim couldn't even finish. He didn't know how to explain it without sounding stupid or getting Gibbs' pissed at him about it.

"Spit it out, Tim." Gibbs encouraged.

"It's Abby." Tim managed to get out.

"This about what Abby wanted to talk to you about earlier?" Gibbs asked knowingly.

"Yeah. But the only reason it's work related is because of your rule." Tim admitted.

"Which one?" Gibbs asked.

"12." Tim said quietly.

"You gonna let me in, here?" Gibbs pushed with a hint of impatience.

"She asked me if I would think about dating her again. Asked me if I was still in love with her." Tim said with regret.

"And your answer?" Gibbs asked with as steady a voice as he could manage, despite his surprise.

"How I feel about it doesn't really matter, does it, Boss?" Tim answered. "Rule 12, remember?"

"That the only reason?" Gibbs asked pointedly.

"No. But, even if it was, it's the deal breaker. I won't jeapordise my job." Tim vowed.

"McGee. My rules aren't here to cost any of you your jobs. They're here to keep you safe, even from yourselves, if need be." Gibbs reminded him.

"I know, Boss." Tim said with his tone still quiet.

"McGee, look. Just because I don't say anything, doesn't mean I don't know what's going on. That I don't understand." Gibbs said surprisingly.

"Yeah, I know, Boss." Tim admitted. "We all know there isn't much that gets by you." The tone was respectfull and a simple statement of fact. Gibbs had to smile

"My point, McGee, is I know the last four months have been hard for you." the boss told him. "I'm proud of the way you've handled it, not letting it affect you on the job."

"Thanks, Boss." Tim said once he'd gotten his breath back.

"Doesn't mean you should let it affect you the way you have been off the clock." Gibbs quietly admonished him.

Tim's questioning look left little doubt he didn't know what Gibbs was talking about. Gibbs changed the subject a little.

"Bottom line, McGee, is if the time comes that you think you're ready to give Abby another chance, and you can promise me you'll be able to keep it out of the office, I have no problem with it." Gibbs said as calmly as if he'd been discussing the weather.

"Boss?" Tim asked in shock.

Frankly, seeing something akin to happiness on McGee's face for the first time in over four months, was long overdue and a relief for the boss. Yeah, taking the time to talk to him tonight had definately been worth it.

"You heard me, McGee. Humor me, you think you'll give her another chance?" the boss asked.

"Yeah." Tim said with trepeditation.

"You don't seem too happy about it." Gibbs declared

"Boss, I..."

Clamping a supportive hand on the suddenly silent young man's shoulder, Gibbs smiled encouragingly at him and turned to head toward his own desk. "Relax, McGee. Go home, think things through. Folllow your gut."

Tim's smile lit his entire face, even his eyes.
"Thanks, Boss!"