Goodbye, Abby: Broken Principles

Author: AnonymousNCISFan
Rating: T (PG-13)

Summary: The first in a series of one-shots about how Abby might possibly leave. I don't necessarily want to see any of these scenarios play out on-screen but think each one would have significant emotional impact.

Main Pairing: Gibbs/Abby friendship

Spoilers: Up to & including Season 15

Warnings: Angst, Possible character deaths

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and am making no money off this – I appreciate the creative minds at NCIS and the brilliant actors who bring these beloved characters to life.

Goodbye, Abby: Broken Principles

Chapter 7: Choices & Priorities

NCIS Headquarters

Squad Room

It was nearly 10:00PM as a bleary-eyed McGee stumbled out of the elevator to his desk, coffee in hand. Sitting down, he gave a heavy sigh, looking around the dimly lit bullpen to see the empty chairs. He sent Bishop and Torres home hours earlier, knowing they'd been bouncing between the hospital and finishing up the paperwork on the Blake case. He was on his third day as team leader, yet it felt like an eternity. The ringing of his cell phone jarred him from his moment of silence.

"Hey Delilah," he rasped, his voice strained. "Yea, hon, I'll be home soon, I promise. Just tying up a few loose ends here…No, I haven't been up there today. Gibbs has been keeping watch, and her brothers…Last I heard there was still no change."

The elevator dinged and McGee looked up, his face filled with relief and sadness as he saw who was approaching him. "OK, honey, I gotta go. Love you. Give the twins a kiss from me. I'll be home soon."

Ending his conversation, McGee stood up.

"Hey, Probie," his old friend and colleague replied, a small grin doing little to hide his concern.

"Hey, Tony," McGee replied putting out his hand. Former Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo shook his head, pulling McGee in for a tight hug. McGee closed his eyes, swallowing.

"Congratulations," DiNozzo said, moving from the embrace to get a good look at him.

"What?" McGee said, perplexed and hovering on anger. If DiNozzo was being sarcastic, he had no patience for it right now.

"On your marriage, your kids, and of course your new apartment," DiNozzo smiled genuinely, patting him on the back. "Though it looks like I dodged a bullet with that last one, huh? The guy who owned the place before me was a serial killer? Really?"

"Yea," McGee laughed. "You really know how to pick 'em."

"Well, I told you there was a murder, Tim," he said, putting his hands up.

"I know, I know…hey, how's Tali doin'?"

"Good, she's with Senior. She's speaking full sentences now … think she may've tried to head-slap me the other day, but I can't be sure…"

"Tony…"

"Status update, McGee," DiNozzo said grimly, his mood shifting. He knew he was delaying the inevitable.

"Well, like I was just telling Delilah, there's no change. Abby's been unconscious for three days now. Her vitals are stable, but she's just not coming out of it."

DiNozzo sighed, leaning on his old desk. "What about Gibbs?" he asked, staring at his former boss's empty chair.

"I don't know," McGee said in a low voice. "He's been very…un-Gibbs."

"Well, not a big surprise there. Abby is … they've always been close."

McGee could hear the edge in DiNozzo's tone and it made him wonder.

"You talk to her at all lately?" McGee asked, his eyes narrowing. It felt like DiNozzo was hiding something.

"Just last week," Tony sighed.

"You know, I've been so busy with Delilah, and the twins, and work … I haven't had a chance to really catch up with her lately."

"Life does get in the way sometimes," DiNozzo replied, still staring at Gibbs' chair.

"Has she…I mean did she ever…"

"What, Probie?" DiNozzo asked sharply. "Just spit it out."

"She mention anything about work, about being unhappy?"

"Now why would you say that, Very Special Agent Timothy McGee?" McGee could tell by DiNozzo's sarcastic tone that the answer was yes. "C'mon, Tim," DiNozzo said, jabbing at him, "you're a very special agent now, you should sense these things. Abby's always been very sensitive. That's why I can't figure how the boss could do this…and how you could let him."

"Let him?" McGee replied defensively. "And what was I supposed to do? 'Sorry boss, why don't you go down to Abby's lab and get the results?' Yea, that would've went over well."

"You and Gibbs went through hell together, Tim," DiNozzo rasped. "He probably respects you more than anyone in this bullpen right now. You had a chance."

"Oh, like you would've-"

"Damn right I would've," DiNozzo growled. "I would've tried. Not that he would've listened, but maybe, just maybe, he would've realized the mistake he was making."

"Think he's realizing it now," McGee said sadly, sitting down. DiNozzo glanced back at him.

"You don't know the half of it, Probie. The boss lives to beat himself up over things like this. Remember Kate, and Jenny…and Diane? This one beats them all, in spades."

"You know what happened?"

DiNozzo bit his lip, contemplating whether to say anything. The desperate look on McGee's face made him cave.

"She said they had a fight, not longer after you two got back," DiNozzo admitted. "That time, when you were … gone … Abby would call me every night, and every night I'd try to give her hope, hating that I was so far away, that I couldn't help. But I made my choice; and you and Gibbs made yours."

"Tony, I-"

"She was angry, Tim – angry that Gibbs basically committed suicide by jumping off that helicopter, angry that you followed him, both without a thought to who you left behind."

"Without a thought?!" McGee yelled, slamming his hands on the desk as he stood up. "If I hadn't gotten off that helicopter, Gibbs would be dead now. Sure, I could've been safe at home with my wife, but I'd never be able to live with myself, never be able to look my kids in the eye without knowing deep down their dad was a coward. Leaving a man behind - it wasn't how I was raised, it wasn't how Gibbs trained us. And you know damn well you would've done the same thing."

"Would I, Tim?" DiNozzo asked, arching an eyebrow. "Maybe before Tali … but now … I'd be damned if I'd stand in the way of Gibbs finally fulfilling his death wish."

"You don't mean that."

"I do, Tim," DiNozzo said firmly, looking McGee square in the eye. "He wants to play hero, without any thought of who might go down with him, who he might hurt, then who are we to stop him?"

"Is that you or Abby talking?" McGee wondered.

"Both," DiNozzo answered with a sad shrug, looking away. "We were both angry. And I'm glad things worked out, Tim, but you gotta be careful."

"I'm a federal agent, Tony," McGee replied strongly. "I know I have to put my life on the line. And I'm not the only one with family – plenty of agents have houses filled with children or loved ones they need to get back to. We do what we do to keep our families safe, to get the bad guys before they get us. You may not be willing to take those risks anymore, Tony, but I am."

"We've both got so much more to lose now, Tim," DiNozzo said softly. "I just don't want you to forget that. It's about choices, and priorities."

"Believe me, I've thought about it," McGee rasped. "But this is my home, too, my family, where I belong. And right now, all I can think about is how I failed to protect Abby. How this guy slipped right under our noses, in our house-"

"This isn't on you," DiNozzo reassured him.

"We suspected the son, questioned him at the house, but didn't have enough to bring him in."

"Well, there you go. This guy was unhinged, McGee. You find out what made him so desperate?"

"During his autopsy, Palmer found years of abuse – broken bones, fractures, even a punctured lung. Think he finally found the courage to fight back."

"But something's still bother you."

"Yea, Tony – the part where he shoots Abby - an innocent person - and tries to kill Gibbs. Up until three days ago, this guy didn't even have a parking violation on his record – he was clean."

"Well, people do desperate things not to get caught. Wouldn't be the first time. Just look at your serial killer pal."

"Pal? He's not my pal," McGee replied defensively.

"Way I hear it, he offered to be godfather to your twins," DiNozzo said in a teasing tone. "Can't believe I'm playing second fiddle to a psychopath."

McGee rolled his eyes, grabbing his coat. "C'mon, let's get out of here. You wanna grab some coffee or somethin'?

"Rain check, Probie," he replied. "Just wanted to see how you were holdin' up. Gotta get to Georgetown to see Abby. I just can't imagine her..." DiNozzo drifted off, his eyes narrowing. McGee put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you're back," McGee said.

DiNozzo nodded in appreciation, walking with McGee to the elevator. "Not lookin' forward to seein' the boss," he sighed, pressing the down button.

"Why? Bet he'd be happy to see you – maybe take his mind off some things."

DiNozzo gave a sour laugh. "Oh, I don't think so. I don't think he'd want to hear what I have to say."

"Tony, you're not gonna lay into him on this, are you? It's not his fault either."'

"It's not about this. It's about family. He turned his back."

"I can tell you when he saw her, when she was lying there, Gibbs was … he was devastated, Tony. Whatever happened, I think he owned up to it."

"I saw the tape, McGee," DiNozzo sighed. McGee gave him a look. "Bishop showed me. Still doesn't erase the months of heartache he caused."

McGee stared at the corner, fighting between his love for Abby and his loyalty to his boss. "I know," he finally replied in a whisper. "But Gibbs had to have a reason. He always does."

"May have his reasons, but Rule 51, Probie – sometimes the mighty Gibbs is wrong."

"And you think making him feel even worse than he already does is going to help?"

"Look, I know I owe Gibbs…he may've knocked me on the head one too many times but he taught me a lot, taught me how to be a man more than my father ever did. I'm not lookin' to hurt the guy, but he can be ice cold sometimes, and it stings."

"When's the last time you talked to him?" McGee asked, stepping out of the elevator with him as the doors opened to the parking garage.

"His basement, almost two years ago," Tony said flatly, pulling out his keys. McGee looked at him, shocked. "C'mon, McGee, you know he's not much of a talker to begin with. He did send me a Christmas card, nice little note inside. But I get the feeling he doesn't want much to do with me or Tali."

"Tony, I don't believe that – he cares. Last time I showed him a picture of the twins, his face lit up like I've never seen."

"That's with you, Tim. I think maybe Tali, and me, we're both painful reminders that he'd rather not have around."

"Reminders of Ziva, you mean," McGee replied, seeing DiNozzo's face fall at the mention of her name. "She was like a daughter to him."

"So is Abby," DiNozzo huffed, shaking his head. "God, she really needs to pull through."

"For Gibbs?"

"No, not just for Gibbs – for the rest of us."

McGee looked down as DiNozzo opened the door to his rental car. "Look, Tony, don't do anything-"

"Don't worry, McGee. I'll be on my best behavior. Abby wouldn't want it any other way. And besides, it's not about him, it's about Abby. Maybe all she needs is a bit of the DiNozzo charm to get her out of this."

"That'd be a real miracle," McGee said with a smirk, which faded almost as soon as it appeared. He looked up at DiNozzo, tears stinging his eyes. "We're not gonna lose her…I don't think I could…"

"We'll get her back," DiNozzo replied strongly, gripping McGee's shoulder. "She's tough."

The ringing of McGee's cell phone interrupted whatever else the two men were about to share. A worried look crossed McGee face as he picked up.

"Hey, Kyle, everything OK?" McGee asked. DiNozzo's eyes widened as he realized it was Abby's brother on the other end. Both men held their breath, awaiting Kyle's response.

TO BE CONTINUED…