*Oohhh Look! Chapter 9! It's got McAbby, Tiva and Jibbs. Enjoy! Please read and review.*
Chapter 9
Abby's Lab
"You should probably get some rest while she is still out of it." Gibbs suggested as he walked into Abby's lab. After her attack Ducky thought it best that Abby stay at NCIS until she woke up again just in case she needed another sedative. Tony and Ziva had to go question a suspect on their current case. Gibbs had stayed at NCIS but gone upstairs to finish some work on the active case. Ducky and Palmer had an autopsy that was interrupted when Abby had her attack and Jen had a meeting in MTAC. McGee had stayed down in Abby's lab to watch over her while she slept. The team had rolled out her sleeping bag, turned off all the lights, found Bert and her black bear, and laid her down to sleep more comfortable. He had long since shed his jacket and placed it over Abby; partly to keep her warm and partly because it seemed to comfort her. McGee had lit a few candles that Abby kept around, and was sitting next to her in the quiet, just thinking.
"Can't sleep." McGee rubbed his hands over his face, "I want to make sure I'm awake when she wakes up."
"Then you'll need this." Gibbs said passing McGee a cup of coffee.
"Thanks Boss." McGee took it appreciatively and immediately started sipping it.
Gibbs sat down next to McGee, "You OK?"
"It's not me I'm worried about." McGee stated, pointing to Abby.
"I know you are concerned about Abby, I am too. Hell, we all are. But I want to make sure you're OK too." Gibbs said.
"I'm fine." McGee said not wanting to let his guard down too much.
"You didn't look fine earlier while she had her panic attack." Gibbs retorted.
"With all due respect Boss, no one did." McGee said, wondering where this conversation was going.
"True." Gibbs said sipping his coffee, "It's not your fault Tim."
"I know. But that doesn't stop me from feeling like there was something I could have or should have done." McGee confessed.
"There wasn't anything you could have done." Gibbs looked over at McGee, "You did everything you could to keep her from being taken by Chip in the first place. You hunted for her every minute until you found her. You stayed by her side in the hospital and stayed with her during her first night home. And don't think I don't know that she has been sneaking off to your place at night. Out of everyone in the team it's you that she trusts the most. It is you that is with her to help her through her nightmares." Gibbs explained.
"I just don't know what to do for her. And I know she's hurting but I don't know what to do to help her." McGee admitted.
"You're already doing it. Just be there for her." Gibbs stood up from his position on the floor as Abby started to stir. Gibbs clapped the younger man on the shoulder before leaving him alone with Abby.
"Abby." McGee said quietly as Abby started to wake up. She rolled over and slowly opened her eyes.
"My head…" Abby groaned, "Hey." She said noticing McGee for the first time. She took a minute to gather herself, "Why am I lying down? What happened?" She asked.
"Ducky gave you a sedative. You had a small panic attack." Tim said.
"I should have taken that week off." Abby said, pulling McGee jacket around her tighter.
"You want to talk about it?" McGee asked.
Abby moved over to sit beside Tim, "No. I just want you to hold me." She curled into his side, "Just keep me safe." She requested.
"Always." He promised with a small kiss on the top of her head. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders holding her close, "I'll always keep you safe, Abby."
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NCIS Sedan
"Do you think Abby will be alright?" Ziva asked Tony. They had gone out to question the suspect's friends, family and neighbors and were now on their way back to NCIS headquarters. Tony had insisted on driving so Ziva was sitting in the passenger seat, thinking about everything that has happened in the past few days.
"She's tough. She'll be fine." Tony said, trying to not only convince Ziva but himself as well.
"How can you be sure?" Ziva asked sounding very worried.
Tony sighed, "Do you trust me?" He asked, darting his eyes between Ziva's and the road.
"Of course, I trust you Tony." Ziva nodded her head and turned it to look Tony in the eye.
"She'll be fine. She's got all of us to help her and be there for her." DiNozzo took his hand off the shifter and grasped Ziva's hand in his. She smiled slightly as he gently squeezed her hand, "If we are all there for her, she'll be just fine."
"If being there when she needs me is what will help. Then I will be there." Ziva leaned her head back in the seat and closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the feel of Tony's hand in hers. It was nice to be able to enjoy something so small after the nightmare that plagued the team. The feel of Tony squeezing her hand slightly caused her to crack her eyes open slightly.
"Falling asleep over there?" Tony teased.
"I do not know about you but I have not had very much sleep since…" Ziva stopped herself not sure if she should go on or not.
"Sleep." Tony said, "We've got about forty-five minutes until we get back to DC. Take a nap."
"Are you serious Tony?" She asked not believing that he was being as nice as he was.
"Well it's not like you're driving and I have to worry about making it there alive. I actually obey the speed limit and street signs." He joked, "You know its kind-of like that movie…" He was cut off when Ziva placed her hand over his mouth.
"I think I will take that nap." She said, not removing her hand from his mouth.
"Mpham muhm mpmne" His words were muffled by her hand. Looking devilishly over at her he darted his tongue out of his mouth and licked her hand.
"Tony!" She yelled in repulsion, "That is disgusting!" She wiped her hand on her pant leg to get his saliva off of her. She looked over at him to see an ear-to-ear grin on her face. She sighed, leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Her last conscious thought was how Tony could act like such a child yet an adult all in the span of a few minutes.
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Director Sheppard's Office
"You going to stand there all day or are you going to shut that door?" Jen asked, knowing Gibbs had walked into her office but not turning around in her office chair.
"Abby's awake." Gibbs closed the door behind him and crossed the room to sit on the couch in Jen's office.
"How is she?" Jen walked over and sat down next to Gibbs, "I'm going to make her take at least another week off."
"She doesn't need that Jen." Gibbs said. He didn't want to banish Abby away for a week with no one around to keep an eye on her during the day. If she had another panic attack but no one was there he didn't even want to imagine what could happen, "She needs to be surrounded by us. She needs to know we are all here to support her. Jen, she thinks it is her fault that she couldn't fight Chip off." Gibbs rested his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, "Jen, I'm afraid of what will happen if she is left alone."
"Why?" Jen scooted over and placed her hand on Gibbs' shoulder.
"At the start of her panic attack she kept saying things like 'she wished it would all stop' and 'if she went away then the pain would go away'. I'm worried about her Jen." Gibbs looked up from his hands.
"You think she's suicidal?" Jen asked knowing if she didn't Gibbs wouldn't tell her what he thought.
"I think…" Gibbs paused trying to find the right words, "I think she needs a little more time to heal before she should be back to work one-hundred percent. But I don't think she should be home alone all day long."
"Well, we can have DiNozzo, Ziva and McGee rotate and take turns helping her in the lab or we can have her only do a few easy tasks and have another forensic tech do the harder and more complicated tasks for each case." Jen suggested.
"We can try rotating. Abby won't like if we disperse her work to another forensic tech. She'll want to double check it all." Gibbs felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket, "Yea, Gibbs….Be right there Duck." Gibbs hung up his phone and stood up, ready to leave.
"Jethro." Jen said making him turn around to face her, "Abby will be fine. She gets her stubbornness from you." She said with a smile. Gibbs just walked out of her office with a smirk on his face. Jen was right, Abby was just as stubborn as he was and that stubbornness is the one thing that made it so hard to help her when she needed it but it could also be the one thing that keeps her afloat when everything else wants her to drown.
