I'm so sorry for the delay, but some kind of major writers block got me and I am close to just giving up for a while at this point. So send me a muse please ;) This chapter is not great and I kind of hate it myself but I had to get it out of my system for some reason.
As always thanks to everyone who hit that review button. I loved and appreciated every comment. You all thought Gibbs should go with Abby and while I agree this chapter is about that conflict. Please review. Thanks everyone (you all know who you are).
Gibbs watched Abby's sleeping form a long time deep in thought. He knew Fornell had the right idea by putting her in witness protection but he couldn't help to be afraid for her even more. He was painfully aware of the fact that not many people walked away from a situation like his Abby was in right now. Either people died or they had to live the rest of their life as someone else with no contact to their former life and constantly looking over their shoulders. Only a lucky few got out of witness protection ever again.
People often thought that individuals who were in witness protection just waited until the guys who it was all about were prosecuted and in jail and after that they just went on with their life. But it seldom worked out that way. More often than not the people prosecuted hired hit men or in the case of a gang, like it was the case with Abby, every member of it was on lookout for the person under protection. And they didn't miraculously stop when their boss landed in prison. So either people in witness protection died or they survived until the trial and vanished afterwards forever. Some could get out because the treat was eliminated in a police shootout or a few years later in a gang war. But most of them had to lay low the rest of their life.
As to the bombshell Tobias had planted with his question, Gibbs knew that this was not his decision to make alone. And even if it would be only up to him he didn't know if he could decide such a thing. There were so many things to consider after all. This would turn all their life's upside down.
Most things Gibbs only trusted himself with. The people he loved he had to keep safe himself. But how could he keep her safe?
In going with her he could make sure she was physically safe and sound. He would rather die himself then let them hurt her in any way. But could he trust Fornell and his team to find a way for her to come back to her life? Could they keep her safe that way? Because if not, could he let her go after the trial? Would he be able to say goodbye to the woman he loved when the bad guys were in prison but she would have to leave her life behind anyway because of the constant threat the rest of the gang would pose?
If he would stay behind he could make sure that everything would be done to make her life safe for her again. He would bring down everybody, in any way he had to, who wanted to hurt her himself if need be. But who could he send with her? Who could he trust to keep her physically safe?
He knew that there was another element to think of. It could take months until the trial. She and anybody with her would have to break all ties with the world they knew. No family, no friends and no co-workers could be contacted. Abby couldn't do what she loved anymore. She would have to be another person entirely. A new wardrobe, a new line of work, a new life altogether without the things she loved. He didn't know if she could do that, who could make sure that she was safe from herself?
With a sigh Gibbs stood and made his way to the coffee machine to pour himself some of the stuff they told him was supposed to be coffee.
Abby stirred after a while. Waking up in the unfamiliar surroundings brought the memories of everything that happened back to her with such a force that her heart skipped a beat and she looked around scared. The room was too quiet for her taste and she found that Gibbs was asleep in an armchair across from her couch. He looked drained and tense even in his slumber.
She took advantage of Gibbs sleeping to watch him for a while. She tried to memorize every feature, scared she would forget one day. Abby was a smart girl she knew what was coming next. The bad guys knew who she was. They must have seen her license plate number and had somebody who provided them with the corresponding name and address.
The only way she had a chance of survival was to go into witness protection until the trial and after that possibly forever. She didn't think that Vance would allow her to just live out the rest of her life in her lab and she didn't want to make anyone else a target anyway. She needed to vanish and leave everything behind.
Still looking at Gibbs she let the tears fall silently for a few minutes, regretting what she lost and that she never acted on her feelings with the man before her, but sure that it was too late now. Even if she could summon the courage and tell him, he was lost to her forever.
Abby stood up and walked over to the two Agents at the other side of the room. She asked them for a phone to call her family and friends, to say her goodbye's not sure her own phone was not tabbed. She hoped she would at least see the Team before the FBI brought her to a place where everyone she loved was out of reach.