Here I am already with the second chapter! Please review or give feedback guys I really would like to know if you like my story!

Two days past by since they found the dead petty officer and still not much has come out of all the investigations so far. They were still busy contacting family members or other relatives to gather even more info but nothing that seemed crucial or led to any kind of breakthrough. They worked lots of long hours in these past days and that was starting to have an effect on all of them.

"Mr. Palmer would you be so kind to bring this up to Abby's..?"

"Yes doctor." Palmer left autopsy and headed straight for Abby's lab with the current evidence in his hands. When the elevator dinged, he stepped out of it and right into the lab where he was greeted with noisy music from Abby.

"Got something for you Abby."

"Great, even more work!" She was being sarcastic towards Palmer and snapped the papers to sign off the handed over evidence out of his hands. Palmer was watching her curiously and waited till she returned the filled in papers.

"Are you going to keep standing there? Don't you have work to do?"

"Uhm.. Yes... I will go see Dr. Mallard."

Palmer left the lab with a sigh. He also noted the side-effects of a case that was taking too long to process. There weren't any clear clues as to why this young man died or what could be a possible motive. He went back to autopsy to find Ducky waiting there for him.

"Ah Mr. Palmer right on time! Would you be so kind to hand me over that scalpel?"

He did as he was told and talked a bit with Ducky. "I'm noticing a lot of pressure and a certain amount of stress on the team."

"That's not awkward... Seeing the case isn't processing at all. But we all do our best Mr. Palmer. The greatest success comes at a great cost!"

Palmer smiled at his quote. He could always rely on the doctor to ease up any tension that was going around. Ducky was one of the few people that would never let stress take the better of him and would simply execute his job in peace.

Tony was getting restless and annoying at always having to look up the same papers over and over again. He was starting to see the letters fade away on his paper due to lack of sleep over the past days.

"This really isn't going anywhere..."

"Keep looking DiNozzo."

"Boss, I already viewed this file a million times and I can't come up with anything useful. I think we're overlooking something."

Gibbs didn't look at him because he knew he would see a tired and annoyed look on his senior agent's face. Instead he got up and walked out of the office.

"I'll go and get some coffee for you all, be sure to have something by the time I get back! DiNozzo go and check if Abby's found anything, tell her I'll bring her a Caf-Pow too."

Tony nodded and got up from his desk. "Aah... Finally some footwork... My back is killing me!"

"Is that admitting you're getting old, Tony?"

He threw a glare at Siva who just seemed to smile back at him with a slight hint of sarcasm. "Excuse me I am not old! I'm just... More experienced... I did go through a lot already."

"A lot of women that is." She giggled.

"Hey! That of no business to you besides I got to get down the lab. Get to work both of you!" With that he left for the elevator and when it arrived he headed downwards to the lab.

"He sure feels in charge when the boss isn't around." McGee added when the doors of the elevator closed.

"Hey sunshine, what's up?" Tony entered the lab with a smile and went over to check on Abby's to find out if she'd come up with anything new.

"Not much."

Tony was slight disturbed by the annoyed answer he received from his best friend. He'd never seen her so annoyed when she was doing her favorite job, processing evidence. He looked over Abby and tried to notice why she seemed so off today.

"Anything you want to tell me about?"

"Nope."

"You're very short of answer and not happy and it's so not you.."

"What's wrong with you people today? Can't you see I've got tons of work to do? All I ask is a little alone time so I can come up with something."

"Wow hold your horses there. I meant it good."

"Just leave it Tony."

Without adding another comment, Tony turned around to leave the lab. He stopped halfway to look over his shoulder as he was about to say something but turned around again and continued towards the elevator.

Meanwhile Gibbs had returned to the office and stepped out of the elevator. He delivered coffee to his agents as a reminder they're doing good work and a little boost to keep going.

"Ah that I could use." Tony added whilst he sipped from the coffee.

"It's not like we haven't come across a difficult case before, DiNozzo."

"It is when the forensic fort is about to blast apart."

Gibbs frowned at Tony's comment and motioned for him to continue as to why he would make such a comment.

"Something wrong, Tony?" McGee asked.

"I don't think so, it's just... Abby seemed a little off, not really herself. It's probably the same effect we're all having right now. Lack of sleep... Much work."

Gibbs didn't need anything else to know what needed to be done. He grabbed to Caf-Pow he bought for her and went over to her lab. Ones arrived; he had to cover an ear with his empty hand for her blasting music.

"Abby!"

She turned around to face Gibbs, snapped the remote and shut down the music.

"What?"

"Hey, no need to shout... I brought you something..."

"Put it there, haven't got time now..."

"Make time?" He moved over to her standing just an inch away. His gaze was meeting hers. His blue eyes meeting her green pearly ones. "Are you okay?"

For a moment she thought Gibbs would be out for something more than just the "are you okay" question. For a moment she really thought he was going to ask her out to relieve her a bit from work and for a moment she thought there was a slight chance their friendship could turn into something bigger. All of it crushed ones she heard the question. She turned around facing away from him and then turned around again, this time with anger in her eyes.

"Am I okay? Am I okay? You even dare ask me that? No I'm not! I'm not okay! Did you even see this pile of work? Did you even slightly notice I've worked more hours then I actually slept? No, no you didn't! All you guys do is being busy with work!"

"Abbs..." He could sense the hurt in her voice and the trembling in her hands. He wants to say something, anything that could help her get through this.

"Don't Abbs me now! Just leave, please..."

Gibbs was slightly taken back by her abrupt comment. He could notice she clearly wasn't herself and wanted to offer help. For the moment he thought it would be the best to let her be and let her cool off and return in a while. He didn't mention any words, he just turned around narrowing his eyes and feeling slightly hurt himself. After he left her lab, Abby slipped a tear down her cheek that he obviously didn't notice.

Abby was feeling bad about snapping at her co-workers and especially at Gibbs. She didn't even realize as to why she was doing this. She sat down at her desk popping her head into her hands staring at her desk. What's going on? Why is everything getting so messy...?

She leaned back in her chair watching the ceiling this time. I need... Need some time off...

She was able to ask Director Vance for the day off. He found it unusual for her to ask for a half day off as she loved being at her lab and doing her work but he couldn't refuse. The past few days have been hard on the entire team and it was no use to overwork people.

Abby hung up her lab coat, took her coat and purse and left for her apartment. On the drive home she kept thinking about her previous actions. Ones she arrived home; she dropped her coat and purse and took her boots off. She went for the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water and also poured some water over her face. Need some cool off time…?

She dropped herself on the couch and felt her head pounding. Work seriously takes a toll... She held her head with one hand and felt herself drifting away thinking about Gibbs and the fact why he didn't offer her some time off. The ringing of her cell made her snap up and answer her incoming call.

"Hello?"

"Abbs, you okay?" It was Gibbs calling with a certain concern in his voice.

"Yeah... Yeah I'm fine." She was still sounding short, she was not in the mood to talk to anyone and certainly not Gibbs at this moment.

"You don't sound fine."

"I said I'm fine! Stop pretending something's wrong with me."

Gibbs was taken back again by her answer. He knew something was wrong but he also knew this wasn't the time or the way to find out. His gut was aching something was wrong and he was keeping himself from leaving the office and going to her apartment but he thought she could probably use the time off.

"No need to snap at me, you're the one taking time off."

"If you know that, stop bothering me then."

She snapped her phone shut. Her head was aching to bits and she really couldn't take another argue. It would only make things worse. She decided it was better to get some rest so she could get to work again tomorrow. She had a hard time falling asleep so she decided to take a painkiller and hoped it would soon get better. Lying down again in the couch, she slipped over a blanket and left one arm lingering over her head. Few moments later she drifted off...

TBC…

(Reviews are welcome and let me know how you like the story.)