AN: Spoilers for episodes from Hiatus through Witch Hunt. (If those even count as spoilers anymore.) This was written for megeesgeek at NFA for the 2012 White Elephant Exchange for the prompt: "Prompt 2: Slash/Het—"Come back to me."

Pairings: McAbby friends with benefits, Tony/McGee, Gibbs/Abby.

Warnings: Smut, emotional angst

Chapter 1

Gibbs walked back into the bullpen where the team was waiting. He took his wallet from the pile of belongings DiNozzo handed him, then gave the agent back the gun and badge.

"You'll do." He put a hand on the man's shoulder. "It's your team now."

Before anybody could say something, he walked across the bullpen and stopped in front of McGee's desk. "Tim, you're a good agent." The young man had developed quickly and was ready to step up. "Don't let him tell you otherwise." He could almost see McGee's spine straighten up. All the boy needed was confidence.

Gibbs stepped over to Abby. He couldn't let her talk, couldn't handle what she might say, about any of this. Not and do what he needed to do. He placed a finger over her lips, kissed her cheek, then forced himself to turn away before the tears in her big green eyes made him rethink this. He had to go; he couldn't stay.

As Ducky drove him home, he was silent, Abby's eyes haunting him. If she'd said something, he might have stayed. But he couldn't work for a government that would rather save face than save lives. Abby deserved better than him anyway. He'd almost forgotten that in the past couple of months, almost said what he really wanted to say when she'd flirt with him. Almost given in to the questions he saw in her eyes, wondering if he wanted more. He did, but he was too broken. He'd thought he was starting to heal, but Pin-Pin Pula had blasted him back to 1991 and once he remembered Abby, he knew he couldn't risk losing her the way he'd lost Shannon and Kelly.

~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~

Tony watched Gibbs walk out, still hearing "You'll do" playing on a loop in his head. Gibbs' badge and SIG were heavy in his hand, and he put them down on his desk. Abby looked devastated; Ziva, resigned. He didn't know if Gibbs had said something to make Ziva think he was leaving or if it was just her Mossad training, but she was the only one who didn't look surprised. The agent's final "Semper Fi" still hung heavy in the air, the creed behind those words so at odds with Gibbs' departure. Tony tried to figure out what he should do, but his brain kept stopping, skipping like a scratched CD.

Before he could unstick his mental record, McGee walked over. "How can I help?" McGee's expression was unreadable, and Tony couldn't help but think of Gibbs' final words to Probie. He was a good agent, and Tony didn't tell him that often enough, needing to keep that bit of space so he didn't do something stupid like try to kiss the guy who was probably his best non-frat buddy. Especially since McGee kept insisting he wasn't gay, no matter how hard Tony pushed. He wanted to pretend tonight was a normal night, that he could invite McGee over to watch sci fi movies and mock them while McGee explained why the technology wouldn't actually work that way. And maybe lose himself in the normal and forget what had just happened. But this wasn't normal, and Tony couldn't let himself be the one who needed McGee. Abby needed him more. Her feelings for Gibbs weren't a secret, and she still hadn't said a word since he walked out 10 minutes ago. Gibbs was gone, Ducky with him to hopefully talk some sense into Gibbs. He needed to take care of everybody else.

Tony realized he still hadn't answered McGee.

"Take Abby home," he said, his voice barely audible. "Take care of her."

McGee nodded, his mouth briefly slipping into a frown. As he walked over to Abby, Tony approached the director, Gibbs' gun and badge in hand.

"Here." He held them out to her, and she hesitated before accepting them.

"Agent DiNozzo. See me when you come in tomorrow. For tonight, you and the team can go home." Tension lined her pale face.

He nodded and turned away. Ziva still watched the elevator.

"Ziva?"

"I am fine, Tony." She looked up at him. "He needs time. We will give it to him, yes?"

Tony nodded. "We will."

She smiled, a small one, and crossed the bullpen to talk to the director. The director had been a friend of Ziva's before she joined NCIS, and Tony was glad Ziva could talk to her.

But as he packed up his gear, he couldn't help but wish he had somebody to be there for him. It had always been Gibbs before, the man who was more a father than his own dad. But Gibbs had chosen Ducky now, even as he handed his badge over to Tony. He didn't have a friend handy, like Ziva did. Or a lover, the way Abby did. If that was even the right way to describe the relationship between the two geeks.

Tony headed to his car, alone. The way he always ended up.

~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~

McGee hadn't been able to resist going to Tony. He wanted to help his friend. Who was he kidding? He wanted to be there for the man he'd had a crush on since he joined the team — and have him to lean on, too. Gibbs... Gibbs had told him he was a good agent. The man who was even harder than his father, less willing to praise than the Admiral, had told Tim he was a good agent. He'd never gotten those words from his father, no matter what he'd done. But then Gibbs had left. He couldn't have said it before now? He had to wait until he was walking out?

McGee forced down those old feelings to help Tony, and the man just dismissed him, pushed him at Abby. Yes, sure, Abby needed somebody. The two of them had spent enough time talking about their respective hopeless crushes on Gibbs and Tony that he knew Abby would be devastated. But Tony was shutting him down as much as Gibbs had turned away from Abby.

He sighed and walked over to his best friend, wrapping an arm around her waist and turning her toward the back elevator. "Come on, Abbs."

She just nodded, and that's when McGee was able to push aside his own concerns. Abby was never quiet. She should be pacing and ranting and making plans for them all to go after Gibbs, not imitating a mouse. She didn't talk as they collected her things from the lab or as he drove her to her apartment. He walked her to her door, and still she didn't say anything. She fumbled her keys, and he took them from her unresisting hands, opening the door.

"Stay with me, Timmy?" Her voice was rough with unshed tears.

McGee nodded and followed her into the apartment, locking up behind them.

Abby disappeared into the bedroom and came out dressed in a tank top and cotton shorts a few minutes later, her face wiped clean of makeup. McGee didn't say anything about the redness around her eyes, just stepped close and hugged her.

"Why would he leave?" Abby's words were muffled by his shirt.

"He needs time, Abbs." McGee's words sounded hollow even to him. "It's been- He needs space."

Abby nodded, but her face was disconsolate.

"Abbs, what do you need?" McGee knew what she would say, and he didn't mind. After Tony's dismissal earlier, he needed it too.

"Be with me?" She looked up at him, the height difference they usually ignored noticeable now that she stood in bare feet.

He kissed her gently, wanting tonight to be about comfort for both of them. This would still be a mess tomorrow, but just for a few hours, they could forget, go back to the first days they met when they enjoyed each other rather than dreaming about their teammates. Tim led her into the bedroom. Her coffin was there, but she'd picked up a bed a few years ago, and that's where he led her. After what happened to the Cape Fear... No coffins or death tonight. They needed hope.

Tim stripped to his boxers, then slid his hands around Abby. His fingers slid up her bare back beneath her tank top, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, stretching up to kiss him.

It didn't take long before they were naked in her bed, the familiar rhythms coming back even though it had been more than a year. McGee found something comforting about this. He could almost hear Tony's saying in his mind, "Well, McDense, that's why they call it comfort sex." He pushed that thought aside.

Afterward, they lay in bed, Abby draped across him. "Thanks, Timmy." She kissed the center of his chest. "You didn't have to do this. You should have gone with Tony."

Tim shook his head. "He told me to go with you." He blinked away the brief sting in his eyes. "He doesn't think of me like that, no matter how much I want him to."

"Timmy, don't give up. He's just- Tony's-" She sighed. "He isn't thinking straight. Because Gibbs-" She bit her lower lip and closed her eyes.

"Abbs, he'll be back." Tim smoothed a hand along her back. "He just-" Tim sighed. "I still can't believe about his wife and daughter." He thought for a second. "Well, maybe I can. Tony told me how on one of our cases he slammed a captain into a wall because he intentionally put his wife and daughter in danger."

Abby nodded. "It makes sense now." Her voice had a hitch, but her eyes were dry. "Lots of things make sense, like why he's always dating redheads."

"Trying to replace what he lost." Tim ran his fingers through Abby's black hair. "At least you know you don't need to dye your hair a different color. The red hair probably just reminds him of her. And you're not trying to replace a dead woman." He hesitated. "Right?"

Abby shrugged. "I can't be Shannon," she said. "And Gibbs... Can he ever love somebody else like he loved Shannon? You can't tell me he loved Diane or Stephanie or Jenny or that first bitch of an ex-wife." She looked up at him, propping her chin on his chest. "I don't want to be a replacement, Timmy."

"I know, Abbs. And I don't know. We're just going to have to wait for him to come back and see."

~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~NCIS~

Tim slipped out before Abby awoke the next morning so he could run home and change clothes without being late for work. He stopped to buy coffee for the team, hesitating when the cashier asked if he wanted his usual order. He shook his head and told her to skip the large black dark roast.

As he walked into the bullpen, he half-hoped he would get yelled at for not bringing Gibbs coffee, that last night was a nightmare. But the director was in the bullpen going over files with Tony, and Tim knew he hadn't imagined anything.

"Agent McGee." Director Shepard greeted him and handed him a folder. "Interim Senior Field Agent, until we sort things out formally. That will take a few weeks."

Tim looked to Tony, who had his own folder.

"Agent DiNozzo will be the team leader, and I'll assign you a probationary agent to start the first of the week." The director stood. "You're off rotation today and tomorrow so you can rearrange your desks and each of you can adjust to your new duties."

McGee nodded and straightened up. Gibbs had said he could do this, and Gibbs didn't lie about things like that. Gibbs had left, and the director wasn't pretending otherwise. Tony had circles under his eyes like he hadn't slept. McGee wanted to check on Tony, see how he was dealing with the situation. But Tony was now his boss. McGee was suddenly glad Tony had sent him home with Abby. McGee couldn't have comforted Tony last night, been the person he leaned on in the night, and then come in here and stepped away from the man who now supervised him. If today had to happen, it was probably for the best that he had gone with Abby last night, however much he wished otherwise.

He was still telling himself that after the sun had set and the bullpen emptied. He sat at Tony's desk — his desk now — and tried to adjust to the way the familiar bullpen looked completely different from this perspective.

Abby came up and sat on the edge of his desk. "He's going to come back, right?"

Tim hesitated. "Abby..."

"Timmy, he has to come back." She crossed her arms.

He sighed. "Tony doesn't think so. Or he'd still be sitting here, and Lee would have that desk I used to use when I was TAD here."

Abby set her jaw, a mutinious expression on her face. "Gibbs will be back."

"OK, Abbs." He didn't agree, but he wasn't going to argue with Abby in stubborn mode, either.

She tugged on his hand. "Come on, Timmy. Time to go home."

This time, they went to his house, and she offered to come up with him. "You were there for me yesterday," she said.

Tonight, there was no conversation in bed afterward. Really, what could they say? McGee just gathered Abby close, her familiar scent soothing him as they drifted off to sleep.

That set the tone of the next few months. Some days he needed her. Other days, she would seek him out. Before long, it was rare for them to spend a night apart. At night, after Abby fell asleep, McGee would gaze at her pale skin, only partially covered by a sheet and wish it was the tanned skin of his partner — now boss.

Each morning, Abby would wake just before the alarm and look at Tim's face, more youthful than ever when he slept. She wondered if Gibbs was able to let go of his worries in sleep and if she would ever get to marvel over how relaxed he looked as he slept.

By the time Tony headed off to a two-week security conference at the end of the summer, they had given up on Gibbs ever coming back. And if Abby occasionally closed her eyes and pretended Tim was somebody else or if McGee kept his hands away from her chest and the reminder that this wasn't the man he wanted in bed, neither said anything out loud. And they didn't call each other on the self-deception. They just made do.