She wakes up crying.
She can't remember the dream, but she doesn't need to.
She gropes for the cell phone on her nightstand and presses number two, waiting for it to dial before pressing it to her ear.
Tony answers after only one ring,
"The dream again?"
Her voice is thick from crying,
"Yes."
He sighs and she can hear him moving around.
"I'll be over as soon as I can."
She starts to protest but he silences her.
"You haven't called me in the middle of the night in months, in over a year. I'm coming over, you don't have a choice."
He stays on the phone with her as he gets ready and drives over.
Abby bursts into tears as he knocks on her door, grateful to have a friend like Tony.
"Abby?" He engulfs her in a hug, trying his best to stop her tears.
"You're so nice, to drive all the way over here, for me, when I had such a silly dream."
"It's not silly." Tony moves her across the room, to sit her on the couch.
"You need to talk to him, Abby. If the dream is back, you need to talk to him. There's no wife now, he can help you."
Abby starts sobbing again, unable to stop.
"He doesn't see me that way, he never has. I got over him, I moved on. I can't do this again."
"I know, I know. But you've got to talk to him."
Abby drags a hand across her face.
"About what, Tony? That sometimes I wake up crying, because of a dream I've had for over two years? Yeah, that doesn't stupid."
Tony sighs and looks down for a minute before replying.
"If a girl as wonderful as you came to me and told me that she was having trouble sleeping, because of a dream that I was in, I'd want to fix it. I'd want to help her."
Abby impulsively hugs him, "That's because you're great Tony. You'd help anyone."
Tony makes a face, "Well, maybe not McGee, depending on what he wanted."
Abby laughs before sighing, "What do you think he'll do? Sweep me into his arms and tell me he's always loved me?"
Tony shrugs, "You never know until you try."
Abby shakes her head.
"I'm not trying. He doesn't need to know about this. It wouldn't do anyone any good."
"Listen. Abby, don't take this the wrong, as much I love our middle of the night chats, you need to fix it. You can't keep doing this. You need to talk to him."
Abby gives a noncommittal nod, yawning. Tony chuckles softly and helps her to bed, pulling the covers over her before taking a blanket to the couch.
Tony is gone when she wakes, but she's not surprised. He gets to work almost as early as Ziva.
She makes it work on time, but spends most of the day bored, running DNA from old case files through search databases.
It's nearly four when Gibbs comes down to see her.
She's not ready, but she doesn't have a choice.
"Bored, Abs?"
She looks up from where she's making paper chain cutouts of the team and shrugs, not sure what to say.
He pulls up a chair and sits across from her, "What was so important or upsetting last night that my best agent is now asleep at his desk?"
"Nothing."
He doesn't say a word, just stares at her. She can feel him looking into her mind, she's positive he's got that power.
As he continues to stare at her, she cracks under the knowledge that he can read her mind.
"Alright! Stop using your powers on me."
He arches an eyebrow but says nothing.
"It's just a bad dream. A recurring dream, but bad all the same."
"Why didn't you call me?" The hurt is tingeing his voice.
"Because I couldn't. So I called Tony and it's been dealt with. I'm fine."
He leans forward, "You can always call me, Abby."
She shakes her head.
"No, I couldn't. I wanted to, but you were newly married. I couldn't call you every time I had a bad dream. That's ridiculous."
He sits back heavily, sighing.
"What's it about?"
But before she can tell him, they're interrupted by McGee who came to say goodnight.
Abby takes this opportunity to jump up and start cleaning her mess.
"I'd better go to. I want to beat the traffic."
Gibbs watches her for a moment then says, "Dinner tonight? My place? I'll pick up Chinese."
She considers this for a minute then nods, "Sure."
When she turns back around, he's gone.
She cleans up, turning off her machines, switching off lights and gathering her things. By the time she finally makes it to her car, it's almost six, and she drives home slowly.
She changes clothes, not wanting to smell like boric acid when she goes to Gibbs' house.
His blinds are open so she can see his silhouette when she pulls up to his house.
Her heart aches as she wonders how many lonely nights he spends sitting on that couch. She lets herself in, and kicks off her shoes, hanging her bag on the hooks.
"Dinner's on the table."
As she walks to his table, and looks over the choices, it occurs to her, that she's done this a million times, and suddenly she doesn't feel so awkward.
As they sit down on the couch with their food, he speaks, "Tell me about this dream."
Abby chews slowly, trying to take long enough that he'll forget he asked. It doesn't work.
"Abby."
"We're out, in a park, all of us, the team. Someone starts shooting and suddenly everyone is dead and I'm all alone. Then I see the shooter, it's Hollis, and she's smiling at me, but not a nice smile, a creepy smile. You start moaning, and I rush to your side, but she shoves me away and tells me it's her job, because she's your wife. She holds your hand and shoots you in your forehead."
Gibbs is staring at her, but the memory of the dream is enough to cause her to start crying.
"Abby…"
Abby struggles for a minute then stops her tears and looks at him,
"It hurt a lot when you married her. But it made you happy, so I let it go. I tried to be happy for you.
Then the dream started, and every night, it was the same. I had to talk to someone, so I called Tony. He understood. He's one of my best friends, he knows everything."
"Everything?"
"Yes. He.. Wanted me to talk to you before your wedding, but I couldn't do it. You were happy."
Gibbs looks down at his hands, studying them before looking up.
"If you had talked to me, I would've postponed the wedding. You never gave any indication that you wanted more than what we had."
Abby is incredulous, "How did you not notice? I thought going out to dinner, the flirting, everything we did meant something to you. But you started going out with her more often, and I realized it meant nothing to you."
"It meant a lot to me. But I'm not a mind reader Abby. You have to talk to me."
Abby bit her lip, willing herself not to start crying again.
"Why didn't you ask?"
Gibbs stared at her, "Do you know how stupid it makes a man feel to ask the person he likes if they like him? Especially when they're You. You flirt with everyone, how am I supposed to know when it means more?"
Suddenly the tears start coming and won't stop. The implication that if she had only talked to him, everything could have been different swims before her and it makes everything worse.
She feels his strong arms encircle her, and hug her tight. She cries into his chest, unable to bring herself to stop.
After a little while, her sobs subside and she looks up at him.
"You okay?"
"I think so." She looks at the clock,
"I'd better get going. Work tomorrow, and my boss is a stickler, you know."
Gibbs doesn't let go of her. "He'll be fine."
Abby's phone rings and she looks at the caller id. "It's Tony."
"Hello?"
"Abby? You okay? You didn't say goodbye." He sounds wounded and Abby laughs,
"I'm at Gibbs' house."
"Oh." He sounds embarrassed now, "Did I interrupt anything?"
"No. You're fine."
"I'll let you go then."
"Bye Tony."
Gibbs takes a drink thoughtfully before turning to her, "He really worries about you, doesn't he?"
"He took good care of me while you were busy."
He pulls her into a hug, "Won't be busy again."
And in that moment, Abby knows everything will work out.
Done. Not sure I like this, but every time I'd sit down to work on it, someone needed something. Ah, well. I might write an epilogue, a much more romantic-gushy epilogue.