A/N: Holy cow! I was overwhelmed by the response to the last chapter, apparently, Gabby is the way to go! I mean, sure, a few were dissappointed that it's friendship and not romance, but I mean, Gabby is Gabby, yes? lol. So here is the next chap, hope it continues to live up to expectations and all that and let me know what you think. Enjoy! -pj
---
"Do you think she will be alright?" Ziva asked quietly once the elevator doors had closed between them and the lab.
Tony shrugged, "Something sure shook her up."
McGee remained silent, staring with a worried frown at the silver doors, waiting for them to open on the Squad Room.
"What do you think is wrong?"
"Don't know," Tony said helpfully, "but Boss'll find out," he said confidently.
And it was enough, so the three exited the elevator on the second floor and got to work on their assignments.
---
"Abby," Gibbs said a few minutes later, pulling away so he could look her in the face, "why don't you take the rest of the day?"
She immediately shook her head, braided pigtails swinging from side to side as she pulled away from his arms. She wiped her eyes quickly and returned to her computer.
"I'm still waiting on the results from the Mass-spec for the white powder we found all over the victims clothes, I need to run ballistics on the gun you found at the crime scene and the DNA isn't going to process itself." Abby rattled off her to-do list for the day with her usual enthusiasm but with a noticeably more dampened tone, staring blankly at the screen as she did so, still flashing a green 'match' alert on the fingerprint.
"Abby," Gibbs said and she could't hold back a wince. How he managed to fit so much meaning into a single word, she'd never know. The way he said her name just now managed to convey annoyance, worry, understanding, tolerance and impatience all at the same time.
"Please Gibbs," she said, turning to him, all pretense of normalcy vanished, "I can do this. I need to do this. I've got to start making arrangements and calls tonight but at least let me finish what I came here to do today."
She couldn't honestly explain what it was that terrified her so much about leaving now. As if disrupting her routine would somehow make the news of her brother's death much more real than it already was. And it was real, her nausea and the ringing in her ears made sure she knew that.
Gibbs studied her for several minutes from across the room, weighing her request to stay against his gut telling him it was best for her to make her go. Finally, the pleading look in Abby's eyes won out and he nodded.
"But you're out of here at five o'clock on the dot. Understood?"
She nodded adamantly and turned back to the computer screen, despite the fact that she couldn't have told anyone what was on it to save her life in that moment. He stepped over to her and, dropping a kiss on her hair along with a quick, reassuring squeeze of her hand, he turned to leave.
Abby let out a long sigh when she heard the elevator doors ding and then shut outside the lab, but quickly straightened her posture and began her work with renewed vigor, determined to prove Gibbs was right to let her stay.
---
"Boss?"
Tony and Ziva had coincidentally met up with McGee while parking the cars and the three were barely off the elevator and into the Squad Room when Tony's hesitant call reached Gibbs' ears.
The younger agent was fully expecting one of Gibbs' usual 'you better have a good reason for interrupting me' stares as he and his teammates all came to a stop in front of his desk. But today, he didn't care. Abby had been more than a little strange that morning he'd decided, after stewing over her behavior for the entire morning.
Gibbs did give him the stare, but it wasn't as harsh as it could have been. He slipped his reading glasses off his nose, "sitrep?"
Tony pursed his lips to keep a head-slap-worthy comment from slipping out and shifted his posture to be slightly less demanding.
"Roy Carlton wasn't at home and he hasn't been to work since Tuesday. I've got a BOLO out on him and his car."
McGee stepped in immediately after Tony stopped talking, knowing that the sooner they updated Gibbs' the sooner he would return the favor, "The CO wasn't happy about it but he gave me details about PFC Carlton's last assignment," he held up a thin manila folder for Gibbs to see.
Gibbs nodded and took the folder to begin reading, but the team didn't move from their spot in front of his desk.
"Gibbs," Ziva said, not even waiting for him to put his reading glasses back on, "what's going on with Abby?"
Gibbs shook his head, "she's going out of town tomorrow. Family business to take care of."
"What kind of family business?" Tony probed.
Gibbs looked at him, clearly not intending to answer.
"It's not good, is it?" McGee asked, his voice sounding uneasy.
"Well, I don't know, McGee. You were there this morning, what do you think?" Gibbs asked sarcastically.
The youngest agent pursed his lips and nodded, seemingly unfazed by his boss' outburst.
"Very bad then."
Gibbs gave a barely distinguishable nod and dropped his eyes back to his paperwork. The team exchanged looks and then, as if communicating silently, and knowing them, perhaps they were, they all returned to their desks, dropped their things backpacks, and moved back toward the elevator.
Gibbs' first instinct was to stop them. Make them finish up on their leads, check the BOLO at least, first. But he didn't. Partially because he knew none of them would get anything done while they were worrying about Abby, and partially because if Abby had taught him anything, it had been that family came first.
He couldn't stop a small smile born of pride from kicking up the corner of his mouth as he watched them all leave.
---
The knock on her door that evening had not been unexpected. It was just a matter of who would be on the other side. The team, her three musketeers, had been by to see her that afternoon and she'd told them her news.
McGee had been sympathetic and sensitive, as she'd known he would be, and he showed up every twenty minutes like Swiss clockwork for the rest of the day with one lame excuse or another to keep her company. It was a little annoying, but entirely flattering and she'd given him a hug each and every time he was within arms reach.
Tony had immediatly kicked into Overprotective Older Brother mode and given her his 'serious eyes' the ones he'd given her through the entire Mawer investigation only slightly gentler this time. He'd even offered to talk about it with her, and the uncharacteristic sinceraty of his offer had almost caused Abby to burst into tears right then and there.
And then there was Ziva. She'd been silent the entire time, but after the boys left she'd suddenly reached out and crushed Abby to her with a hug, something she'd never done before, and began mumbling things in Hebrew that Abby didn't know the meaning of, but understood completely. She did cry that time.
Abby reached for the door and opened it slowly.
"Gibbs," she said with a small smile that came nowhere near her eyes. She turned away, allowing him to let himself in.
As he was shutting the door Gibbs spotted a packed suitcase on the floor nearby. It was vintage nineteen fifties and not really Abby's style and he guessed it was something her mother had given her to use when she left for college that Abby never got around to giving back.
He looked up and saw she had made her way back over to the couch, legs folded underneath her and her hands wrapped around a small glass tumbler of scotch.
On the table there was an address book, a phone book and about a dozen wadded up tissues alongside her cordless phone.
"All done?" he asked, indicating the mess on the table.
"Yeah," Abby nodded, the pigtails she'd not bothered to take out yet bobbed up and down, "thank God."
Gibbs caught the muttered two words as he slipped out of his coat and his gut twisted a little bit tighter.
"I would have helped you with that," he said, and Abby knew he meant it. Gibbs knew how hard it was to inform strangers of a death in their family and he knew it was a hundred times worse when it was your own. He hated the idea of his Abby having to go through that, alone no less.
She shook her head this time, her eyes traveling back to stare blankly at the muted television.
"No, they deserved to hear it from me."
Gibbs pursed his lips but didn't respond. He wasn't so sure about that. He knew Abby came from a rather large family and that the majority of them had never really been a part of her life, always keeping their distance from the 'deaf ones and their weird kids'.
Not waiting for an invitation, he came to sit beside her on the couch, close to her but not quite close enough to be touching.
She felt strangly numb, though perhaps that was the Scotch talking, and it was as if she hardly knew he was there. But the sense of strength and security that seemed to linger about him, and cascaded over her when he was near, confirmed his presense to her subconcious mind and she allowed herself to relax a little and shifted position, causing their upper arms to touch.
"Still gotta tell Gloria," she said after a moment. Gibbs looked over at her and she took a slow sip of her drink, still staring blankly ahead, "didn't want one of the nurses to tell her," she smiled and Gibbs almost winced. It wasn't a good smile, "The thing is…I don't really want to tell her either."
"You don't have to," he said quietly, hating himself a little bit for suggesting it. But it wasn't as if her mother would know the difference, and if it would save Abby the heartache…
"Yes I do," she said, no hint of argument or protest in her tone. Merely stating a fact. She took another sip and Gibbs turned away, letting the subject drop.
"Is this a dirge?" He asked finally, referring to the slow, dramatic music emanating from the stereo on the other side of the room.
She nodded and sipped her drink, still looking as if those green eyes were registering nothing they passed.
"I kind of like this one. I played it before my father's funeral," she shrugged, looking down at her drink, "it's not like he or Mom could hear it, but I played it anyway. Bobby was only twelve but he liked it too, he said it sounded like dad."
Gibbs tilted his head to listen closer to the slow, somber tune. Heavy on the trumpets as most of Abby's 'back home' collection was, but deep and soulful, filled with strong melody from instruments he couldn't name. It sounded like an apology, a vow and acceptance. Sorry to be leaving, promising to always be nearby and wishing it wasn't but knowing leaving is inevitable.
He could see why Abby liked it.
"Christmas Carol?" He guessed after a few minutes of watching the muted television.
Abby nodded and answered his unasked question with simply, "Bobby's favorite."
Gibbs nodded and they lapsed back into silence. A few moments later Abby shifted and Gibbs wordlessly raised his arm, allowing her to lean into him and he dropped it again, wraping his arm around her. She could barely keep her eyes open and, after removing the half full glass of liquor that was threatening to spill from her lax grip, he gave her a gentle squeeze that told her to sleep and promised he would be there when she woke.
---
McGee was outside waiting to drive her to the airport the next day. Gibbs had nodded at him and Abby hugged him long and hard, "Thanks Tim" her only words so far that morning.
After they arrived Gibbs went to the trunk to pull out her bags. Abby hadn't questioned it when he'd pulled a small leather overnight bag out and set it next to hers. She'd hardly blinked when he placed plane tickets into his coat pocket along with his wallet.
Gibbs wondered if it was because she knew there was no point in arguing, or that she'd always assumed he'd come. He liked to think it was the latter.
"Tony and Ziva couldn't come, paperwork from the Carlton arrest. They had to transfer him to the County Penn," he apologized but Abby waved him off.
"It's fine. Tell them I'll see them on Monday when I get back."
McGee's eyes flickered to Gibbs and back again, "Monday? Abbs don't you think a couple days off would-"
He stopped when Abby immediately began shaking her head.
"My work is important, McGee. I'll be back just…" she paused, pursing her lips, "I'll be back."
She turned to retrieve her bags from the sidewalk and and strode purposefully into the airport, planting a quick kiss on Tim's cheek as she passed along with a promise to call when they landed.
"Boss I-" Tim began, worry creasing his forehead, Gibbs nodded, not even waiting for him to finish.
"I'll handle it, McGee," then he bent to pick up his own bag and raised an eyebrow at the younger man, "Sunday at 9:30."
McGee nodded, "we're all set."
Gibbs dipped his chin once in both approval and farewell, and strode into the airport.
---
Gibbs went on a coffee run while they waited to board the plane, Abby had her laptop out and was playing a game though, judging from the look on her face, her heart wasn't in it.
He nudged her gently while they were in line to board and she turned to him.
"How you doin'?" He asked softly, still looking straight ahead.
She stepped forward, handing her ticket to the woman at the counter.
"I'll be fine, Gibbs."
Gibbs distractedly handed over his own ticket as he watched Abby make her way down the tunnel. Between Tony, Ziva and now Abby, he was seriously considering calling up someone at Webster to tell them they'd gotten the definition of 'fine' wrong. Whenever someone on his team used the word 'fine' it definitely meant they weren't.
When the attendant gave him a nod he picked up his bag and followed Abby down the tunnel.
The plane ride had been spent in silence, Abby pretending to sleep while Gibbs finished a crossword puzzle from two weeks before. When the plane landed in Louisiana an hour later he'd turned on his phone long enough to check for messages but resisted the urge to call in. Tony was capable of handling anything that came up, he'd proven that when Gibbs was in Mexico and he would, no doubt, prove it again.
Besides, one glance at Abby, with bags under her eyes, a pale face and hair down in a low, uncharacteristic ponytail, convinced him that he was needed elsewhere.
"Ready to go?" Abby looked at him after collecting her bags from the claim area, her voice full of false cheer that fell far short of being believable.
Gibbs nodded, picking up his bag with one hand and squeezing Abby's shoulder with the other. He looked at her for a few seconds and Abby didn't even have the energy to protest the prolonged stare. He nodded again, as if in answer to a question that hadn't been asked aloud and pulled her close so her side was pressed against his.
"Yup. Let's go."
TBC
