AN: Thank you for all who read and reviewed, it is much appreciated. Here is the next chapter. Enjoy!

"McGee, find Ducky and don't let him leave your side," ordered Gibbs.

"On it, Boss," answered McGee as he tore his eyes away from Abby. He turned and practically sprinted out the lab, almost colliding with Tony as he entered the room.

"Boss, the evacuation is in progress," informed Tony.

"You should have gone too," said Gibbs.

"You can fire me later," huffed Tony as he went to stand next to Abby.

Gibbs shook his head at his senior field agent's lack of self preservation. Ignoring to comment, he tilted his head to the former Mossad agent, indicating for her to follow him away from Abby.

"Abby is correct, the bomb is triggered by a motion detector. Any disturbance in the level of water and it will detonate," Ziva explained with a detachment that hid her concern for the Goth. "It is a very risky type of detonator, there is no guarantee that-"

"Can you disarm it?" cut in Gibbs. He did not need a lecture on detonation techniques today.

"No," she sighed. "Any attempt at trying would disturb the water too much resulting in detonation. I am sorry Gibbs."

"It's okay," said Abby, trying to hide how scared she was. "If you-" she choked on the words. "If you seal the lab door behind you, the blast should be contained."

"Abby, you're not dying," Gibbs insisted.

Abby gave a small smile, "I know your hearing isn't that bad Boss man, Ziva said-"

"I don't care what Ziva said," he yelled. "You. Will. Not. Die. You hear me?"

"Loud and clear," she whispered, the tears starting to run down her cheeks again in silent rivers. She focused on the vase in her hands, slowing her breathing again. She would not move.

"If we can't disarm it, we need to be able to move it," said Gibbs. Looking back at Ziva.

"That is too risky," said Ziva, "Any-"

"Have you got a better idea David?" growled Gibbs. He didn't like this feeling of being helpless. In fact he hated it.

"Pudding," said Tony quietly.

"What?" snapped Gibbs, glaring at his senior field agent.

"We need something like pudding," repeated Tony, crouching in front of the bomb to have a better look.

"DiNozzo-"

"Stay with me Boss," he grinned up at Abby. "We need something to solidify the water enough so that Abby can move and not detonate the bomb, right?" he glanced back at Gibbs and Ziva to see them thinking it over.

"Where would we find pudding?" asked Ziva, not sounding overly convinced.

"Abby, what have you got in here that might work? Come on think, there must be something?" he urged.

Abby was silent for a moment, before answering with a smile. "Calcium sulphate hemihydrate." Her smile grew wider at the blank looks she got in return. "Plaster of paris," she informed them.

"Where Abby?" Gibbs asked. He didn't need any more of an explanation. This was the only idea they had, he'd run with it. He could already see Abby was getting tired, she wouldn't be able to hold still for much longer.

"There's a tub in the cupboard under the window," she directed. "It's a fine white powder."

Gibbs was already on his way before she had finished her sentence and was back within seconds, the correct container in hand.

"That will get heavy Abby," Ziva warned. She did not want the girl to drop the vase because of the added weight.

"I know," Abby said, resigned to what was going to happen.

Gibbs handed the tub over to the senior field agent. Then he placed his hands underneath the vase to help support it, being careful to not jostle Abby's hold.

Tony added the powder slowly; he didn't want to disturb the water. But he could see the strain the added weight was putting on Abby, even with Gibbs help at keeping her steady.

"That's it, there's none left," he said.

"That is not enough," said Ziva coming to take a closer look. "There is still too much water for the mixture to set properly, the vibrations of setting it down could still set off the bomb."

"I know," Abby agreed.

"However," Ziva paused in what she was going to say.

"What, Ziva?" prompted Gibbs when she didn't continue straight away.

"You may have enough time to get far enough away from the device if you were to hold the vase higher and then drop it."

The four people in the room were silent for a moment, all trying to think of another way to help the situation. Abby was the one to break it.

"Lets do it," she said in a tone that she hoped was confident and not showing how scared she was. It was all or nothing now.

"Abs, that's not a lot of time," pointed out Tony.

"I know. But it's a chance, right?"

"Okay, You two out," Gibbs ordered the other two agents. "Abby needs space to run," he continued before either of them could protest, like they usually did.

"We'll be at the door, ready to close it once you get through. Contain the blast," Tony said remembering Abby's earlier words. He ignored the niggling thought that it wasn't enough time, that she'd never make it.

But he gave a quick nod to Abby in support before walking back to the main door of the lab.

"Do not toss the vase up, okay? Only drop it," Ziva instructed her concern showing through before she followed Tony out.

Gibbs felt a slight relief as he watched his agents leave the room. Turning back to face Abby, he asked if she were ready.

"As I'll ever be," she said her fear showing through clearly. There was no way she could even try and hide it now. "You should go to."

"I told you, I'm not going anywhere."

He helped her raise the vase above her head, "I'm going to let go now and keep the sliding door open, okay?"

Abby's answer was only the slight twitch of her lips. Fear making her unable to talk.

Gibbs let go of the vase slowly and stepped away. The sound of the doors seemed deafening in the tense moment.

"On your mark, Abs."

Abby took a steadying breath in, before letting it all out again. She could do this, she had to. "Ready," she took another breath in and let it all out again. It was now or never. "Go." The word came out choked.

She released the vase and simultaneously turned towards the door. Her heart pounding in her chest she was past Gibbs and the sliding door. She was only moments away from safety.

She didn't hear the sliding door close behind her; her whole focus was on the corridor in front of her. She did hear the glass of the door shatter as the explosion ripped through it before something heavy collided with her back.

-NCIS—

The fire alarms blared though the corridors of NCIS. A man in a grey janitor's uniform, watched from the end of the hallway as four people sat on the floor all staring at the closed door of the forensics lab. A red light flashing above it, warning people of the danger.

He couldn't believe they had all made it, and by the looks of it none of them were hurt. He chuckled to himself as he turned away and started walking towards the staircase. This was going to be a well played game indeed.

-NCIS—