Abby had switched her music over to her laptop, keeping it quiet so as to not disturb McGee. She glanced over her shoulder at the agent, who was curled on his side, head buried into Bert's coat. Earlier, Abby had accidently dropped something, the sound bringing McGee's migraine back full force. She had apologized several times, Tim trying and failing to push her apologies away. It was kind of hard to do when he was groaning between 'it's okay,' 'Don't worry about it, Abbs,' and 'I'm fine.'
Besides, Abby knew Tim was not fine, despite the many times he tried to convince her.
"Abby," a voice said from behind her. She jumped, turning on her heel, nearly falling. Gibbs placed her Caf-Pow on her desk top, catching her arm to steady her, letting go when he knew she wasn't going to hit the ground.
"Gibbs, you scared me," Abby said hurriedly. "I don't have your results, yet." She had been too busy haunting the morgue, looking for Ducky or Palmer, hoping one of them kept some migraine medication in one of the drawers. Neither did, but Ducky did send Palmer out to get some. Jimmy still wasn't back. "But I am working on it. And, it's only been twenty-five minutes. I'm not a miracle worker, you know? Despite what people say.
"Not that anyone has ever called me a miracle worker. I mean, I can't do everything, even though it feels like I do sometimes. But I will not ask for another assistant, not after Chip tried to frame Tony and kill me. No, no more assistants…"
"Abbs, have you seen McGee?" Gibbs questioned cutting her off.
Abby eyes flicked to her office before she met Gibbs', took a breath, and said, "Yes, I have."
"And where is he?"
"Now, don't get mad, Gibbs. There is a medical reason why…"
"Where is he?" Abby couldn't be sure, but she thought she caught a flicker of concern in Gibbs' eyes when she said 'medical.'
"Lying in my office," Abby replied slowly and lead Gibbs toward the sliding glass doors. "He has a migraine, Gibbs. It was pretty bad, still is…" Gibbs let his eyes settle on the baking soda covering the ground. Abby followed his gaze, really not wanting to think about that mess.
"It was nasty, Gibbs. But I think I got most of the mess…" the doors slid open, both Gibbs and Abby walking inside.
"Has Ducky checked on him?" Gibbs asked crouching down, next to McGee.
"He said he had a couple things to do and then he'd be right down. He did send Jimmy to get some migraine medication, but he hasn't gotten…"
"I got it," a voice shouted, Tim clamping his hands over his ears. Abby had actually thought he managed to fall asleep, guess she was wrong. "I had to go to four different stores, got lost on my way to the fourth, and…"
"Palmer," she hissed cutting him off, "sh. You are not helping Timmy's migraine."
"Oh, sorry, McGee," he said lowering his voice to a stage whisper. He held the bag out to Abby who snatched it from him. She then moved, Jimmy's eyes widening at the glaring Gibbs.
"Gibbs, hey. Uh, how long, how long have you…" Jethro merely pointed at the door. "Okay." And Jimmy scurried away, slipping in the wet, mopped up area. He shouted in surprised, slamming his shoulder into the wall, and collapsed on the ground.
"Jimmy," Abby exclaimed, in a semi-whisper, rushing toward Palmer. Jimmy was already pulling himself up, his face beet red, stammering apologies as he backed out of the lab.
Abby watched him go, torn between worrying about him and screaming at him, before turning around and heading back to Tim and Gibbs. The latter had his hand resting on the former's shoulder, while McGee was curled in a tighter ball with his eyes squeezed shut, breathing heavily through his nose.
"Timmy, are you okay?" Abby whispered crouching down next to Gibbs, running her hand through McGee's hair. Tim didn't respond, burying his face into Bert's side again. He flinched when the hippo made his signature noise, but kept his head where it was.
"McGee," Gibbs said softly, "do you think you can take some pills?" Very carefully, trying not to let the bag make a crinkling sound, Abby pulled a bottle of Motrin IB from the inside.
She pushed herself to her feet, heading toward the tiny fridge underneath the table behind her desk. She pulled out a bottle of water, moving back toward McGee. "Gibbs, can you help him sit up?" she asked kneeling next to Tim.
Jethro nodded, coaxing McGee into a seated position. In an upright position Tim paled drastically, his breathing quickening. Abby could tell her friend felt nauseous but was trying to keep himself from throwing up again. And he was actually succeeding until…
"Hey boss, did you find…?" Tony's cologne filled Abby's lab, the usual pleasant scent enough to push McGee over the edge. He gagged, Gibbs instinctively wrapping an arm around Tim's front as he listed to the side. Bile dislodged from his throat, splattering onto the floor, Gibbs' face, as usual, not giving away how he was feeling.
"That's unpleasant," Tony muttered backing up several steps, his face full of disgust.
"DiNozzo, go get Ducky," Gibbs snapped waving DiNozzo away.
"I…I'm fine, b…boss," Tim mumbled, gagging again, his face ashen and sweaty.
"Go," Gibbs said glaring at Tony, ignoring McGee.
"On it, boss," Tony said backing out of Abby's office, nearly running into the door. He turned, trying to hide his embarrassment, and headed toward the exit. Abby could see him ushering Ziva away, the latter's face a mask of barely concealed worry.
Once they were gone, and McGee stopped trying to bring up a lung, both Abby and Gibbs helped him to take his medication. Abby offered him the bottle of water, McGee taking a couple small sips to help aid the pills.
Once he was lying down again, turned on his side with his eyes shut, did Abby and Gibbs leave him alone. Abby left the door open, just in case Tim needed anything, and walked toward one of her lab tables.
"Ducky doesn't need to be down here right this second, Gibbs," Abby said collecting the sponge and bucket she used earlier. If it had been anybody else (Tony and Gibbs notwithstanding) she would have had them clean their own mess up, but her Timmy was sick, he needed her help, and despite the fact that it disgusted her, she was willing to clean up his mess.
Besides, he would owe her later. Big time…
"It's just a migraine," she continued walking back toward her office, careful not to disturb Tim. "I know how to handle these. I've had a few.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine…"
"Still let Ducky check him over," Gibbs pressed watching as Abby quickly cleaned up the mess. Once it was clean, Abby coaxing Tim onto his other side so the scent of the soap didn't trigger more nausea, she lead Gibbs back into the front portion of her lab.
"Fine Gibbs, but it's totally unnecessary."
And Abby was right, when Ducky wandered into Abby's lab some ten minutes later, already aware of what Tim was going through, he fixed Gibbs with a stare and said, "You shouldn't worry so much, Jethro." Gibbs didn't verbally respond, but he did semi-glare at his friend. "And don't give me that look.
"Leave the poor lad alone, he'll be fine once the bulk of the migraine passes. Okay?" he wasn't speaking to Gibbs or Ziva, so much as Tony. It would just be like DiNozzo to poke at McGee in his current state. And as much as Abby loved Tony, she couldn't help thinking how immature he could be sometimes.
It was quiet for a quarter of a second then Gibbs turned to Ziva and Tony and said, "Let's go. We've got a case to solve. And you," he pointed at Tony's retreating back, "leave McGee alone."
"I would never…" Tony started turning to look at Gibbs only to freeze at the look Jethro gave him. He turned back around and exited the lab, Ducky, Ziva, and Gibbs steps behind him.
Abby walked toward her office, stopping in the doorway to watch McGee. He didn't acknowledge her at first, but then quietly said, "I'm fine, Abbs."
Instead of pointing out her disagreement with his comment, Abby just sighed and said, "Call me if you need anything." She then turned and wandered back to her computers, continuing with her work…
NCIS
Thanks for the reviews and alerts last chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed this one. And drop a comment if you can
I do not own these characters :(
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