The next morning

Kort opened his eyes and glared at the alarm clock. Yawning he reached over and turned the alarm off. Hopefully "Team Gibbs" had their reports completed and his stop-over at the N.C.I.S. building would be a brief one. It was too early in the morning to deal with DiNozzo and his attitude. The only thing Kort wanted right now was to be able to put this whole case behind him and move on. "DiNozzo knows whats good for him he'll keep his mouth shut today," Kort muttered angrily before leaving.

Still thinking about the case Kort was slightly distracted. He drove a little faster than he should have on his way to N.C.I.S. What did it matter? If he got stopped he could just show his badge and claim important C.I.A. business, which was theoretically true. Parking across the street Kort sat in the car for a few more moments trying to put his 'game face' on. He waited until it was as good as it was going to get before he exited the car and started across the street. Completely absorbed in his own thoughts he never noticed the dark haired goth across the street heading towards the same building. Nor did he see the oncoming car until it was too late.

As she made her way back towards the N.C.I.S. building Abby checked the coffees she was carrying to make sure they wouldn't spill. Assured they were safe and sound she bobbed her head to music only she could hear. Today was going to be a good day. The last case had been really bad but at least it was over. Sometimes she felt bad that she didn't spend more time grieving those that were lost in the cases.

If she dwelled on the negative to much, though, Abby knew she wouldn't be able to keep doing this kind of work. Doing this kind of work helped a lot of people and she couldn't see herself doing anything else. In efforts to keep her sanity and continue helping others she pushed aside all the grief and negativity that came with the job. As she reached the building she turned to get one last look at the morning sky before entering. Abby was still looking at the sky, about ready to turn and enter the building, when she heard the squeal of breaks.

She snapped her head down to the street in front of her as she heard a thud and the sound of one car hitting another. Bringing one hand to her mouth she scanned the area trying to process the scene. One car had rear ended another car that had stopped in the middle of the road. Both drivers were out of their cars and seemed fine. What had Abby more shaken was the unmoving body that lay in the middle of the street. While she couldn't see all of the man's face, she did recognize him.

The ride to the hospital was scary and frustrating. The paramedics kept asking questions she didn't have the answers too. Abby felt like breaking down and crying. Keep it together for now, she reminded herself over and over again. She hated seeing anyone injured or in pain. To keep from paying too much attention to what Kort's wounds looked like Abby tried to listen to what the paramedics were saying instead.

Abby listened to the paramedics rambling things in medical jargon. Every now and then they would cast furtive glances her way. It seemed they were using overly technical speach to try to keep her from worrying. It wasn't working. Being a forensic specialist and having spent a lot of time with Ducky, Abby understood everything they were saying. She wished she could call someone for support, however, being in an ambulance and soon to arrive at the hospital she had already turned her cell phone off.

"Abby," Tony called out. There was no response. The lab was silent. He couldn't remember a time when Abby's lab had been this silent in the morning. Not finding Abby anywhere Tony was a little distracted. She was always in her lab at the start of the day. He always brought her a Caf-Pow. It was tradition. He was completely startled when Gibbs tapped him on the shoulder.

"Where's Abby?"

Tony shook his head. He didn't have a good answer, so he didn't offer one. One thing he had learned at N.C.I.S. was don't lie to Gibbs. He always found out. "Don't know boss, I just got here and haven't seen her yet."

The look on Gibbs' face was tough to decipher. Gibbs walked off towards the elevator leaving Tony to wonder why Gibbs had come down and where Abby was.

Abby wanted to flee. There was no other way to put it. As the only person who even knew Trent Kort she had to stay as a "stand in" proxie until his real medical proxie could be contacted. She almost couldn't bear to watch everything then she thought about how she would feel if it were her.

*Abbty POV*
Her eyes started to water and the dabbed them trying to herself from breaking down completely.

When they removed his shirt Abby couldn't help but gasp. There were bruises and cuts everywhere. Yes, she understood he'd been hit by a car but she didn't think it had been going fast enough to do that much damage. That thought gave her pause. Years of forensics told her a car going at the speed of the one that had hit Kort wouldn't have cause all of the damage she saw. There was something else going on here.

Tim sat at his desk double-checking that everything was in order for the day. He hoped Kort didn't stay long. Tony was almost imposible to deal with anytime they had to deal with Kort. Not that Tim blamed Tony, he just didn't want to have to deal with the attitude today. Hopefully today would be a borring day and then they could go home. As the elevator binged Tim looked up and watched Gibbs stride out.

"Trace this," Gibbs said as he strode past.

McGee checked the paper and frowned. "Boss?"

"What McGee?"

"This Abby's number."

"And," Gibbs asked blandly.

"It's just... I mean, isn't she downstairs?"

"If she was, would I have you trace her cell?"

"Um, no?"

"Good answer, McGee. Now get on it."

"Right boss."