Heya!

WOW! I LOVED the reviews you left for me – I just couldn't keep you waiting any longer lol! So I sat here and wrote this in one go… once I got the plot sorted that was!

Please R&R! I'm having a cookie on your behalf if you do (you don't want to deprive me of my cookies do you??)

xXx Tiana

'I'm gonna go see what Abby has for us.' Kate declared. Her and Jack had been back for 30 minutes now, and there was an uncomfortable tension between them that McGee seemed to not have noticed.

'Uh, Kate?' McGee started as she got up.

'Yeah, McGee?'

'Abby's not in her lab.' when Kate quirked an eyebrow, he continued. 'I mean she's gone out.' He corrected.

'Gone out?' Kate asked, wanting him to elaborate.

'She's gone to check up on DiNozzo.' Gibbs informed her as he entered the bullpen with two cups of coffee, handing one to Kate as he passed by her.

'She has?' Kate asked again, unbelievably.

'She's left all the results that she found downstairs, some work running and some for McGee to do.' Gibbs hinted. Probie jumped up and headed to the elevator, understanding his boss.

'On it, boss.'

Gibbs sat at his desk as Kate came and stood in front of it, staring at him.

'Something you want?' he asked roughly.

'You let Abby go, but you wouldn't let me. Why?'

'Must I remind you that you came in late several times, Agent Todd? And also, Abby had her work done and she is not an agent that I need while I am one down. Unlike you.' Gibbs said in his no nonsense voice.

'I had a good reason, Gibbs.' she argued. Gibbs nodded as he answered his cell phone. He murmured something before getting up and walking away.

'I'll be in MTAC if you need me.' He called over his shoulder.

'Gibbs!' Kate yelled as he walked away.

'Get back to work Agent Todd.' He shouted back as he climbed the stairs. 'You know what happens to agents who break my rules.' With that he disappeared into the other room.

Kate sighed and placed her hands on her hips.

'Which rule is he talking about?' Jack asked suddenly, snapping Kate back to reality. She hesitated before answering, sure of what Gibbs had meant.

'Rule 12.' She moved back to her desk. 'Maybe some others too.'

'Rule 12?' Jack asked. 'What's rule 12? I don't think I've heard it.' Kate looked up at him.

'I don't remember.' She lied. Jack looked confused.

'But you just said that that was what he meant. You must know what it means if you understood what he meant.' He explained his confusion.

'Gibbs always says that I've broken Rule 12.' She made up to cover herself. Jack looked at her weirdly, pretty sure she was lying, but didn't push it any further as Kate avoided eye contact. He didn't want to annoy her.

Kate tried to do her paperwork, but was too wound up to do so. Instead, she switched on her computer and checked her mail. The top one was from Abby, and it had been sent only an hour previously.

Hey Kate. Gone to see Tony.

Took your spare key from the draw by using my spare that you gave me for it. (did that make sense?)

um… don't worry – I'll take care of him (wink wink). If I'm not back in 2 hours, I guess you can assume I've taken care of him TOO well. Lol.

Well… I guess I wouldn't… but it just sounded funny. G2G before Gibbs doesn't let me go at all.

Abs x

She sighed as she read the email, and then opened the drawer with her own key to find the spares to Tony's and her own apartment gone. So not fair she grumbled in her mind.

--

Abby parked her car outside Tony's apartment and got out, climbing to the second storey in a matter of seconds. She took out the keys, juggling it around with her other hand grabbing a grocery bag with some delights for the two of them.

Opening the door, she walked in slowly, trying to not make a rattle so not to scare him. The last thing she wanted was to be shot by an ill Tony.

Sneaking into the kitchen, she dumped the bag before looking around the apartment. He wasn't in the living room nor in the kitchen. That only left the bedrooms and the bathroom.

Abby walked to the spare bedroom, and saw that it was empty, like it always was. She had stayed there a couple for times when she and Tony just hung out. She made her way to the main bedroom. The door was slightly ajar, and she could hear the faint sounds of a television playing.

Gently knocking on the door, she opened it. The room was dark as the drapes were closed and the lights were all off. The only light came from the TV. The light that allowed Abby to see Tony sleeping on the bed.

Abby smiled to herself at the adorable sight. No wonder Kate fell for him. He's just so innocent when he can be she thought.

20 minutes later found Abby in the kitchen, making some lunch for both herself and Tony. Well, she wasn't as much making it as she was warming hers up in the microwave and placing his in the fridge. As her lunch warmed up, the microwave pinged a couple of times to tell her that it was done.

Tony woke up when he heard the microwave sound. At first he was confused, but then he got his bearings and tried to figure out who was there. I didn't leave anything in the microwave did I? he thought suddenly. When he looked at the clock, it showed 14:07. Been asleep for an hour he concluded. He got up, swayed a bit, before he stood still and then switched the TV off, trying to listen out for who was in the kitchen. Kate did go to work, right?

Abby heard movement in the bedroom, and she too stood still to listen out. When she heard Tony moving once again, she called out to him, making sure that he wouldn't come out at her with a gun pointed at her head.

'Tony? You awake? Or are you sleepwalking again?' she yelled.

Tony recognised the voice as the one and only Abby Sciuto. He walked slowly to the kitchen and climbed into a stool, placing his head on his folded arms onto the island top.

'You alright Tony?' she asked as she got her food to the table.

'Yeah.' He looked up. 'You brought me lunch?' he smiled, although his normal childish look was lost in the paling of his face.

'Yup! Stopped by at Subway. Couldn't think of anything else to get ya that wouldn't end up in Kate wanting to kill me for giving you 'unhealthy' food.' She told him as she took a bite of her melted sub.

'Huh. Did Kate send you here to check up on me?' he asked. Abby put on a hurt look, a hand on her heart.

'Anthony DiNozzo! Do you not think that I would come and see you if you were ill?' she snapped.

'Of course you do! That's why you're here right now.' He corrected himself.

'Yes! It is! And you better believe it.' She nodded her head furiously before taking a bite.

'But still… Kate didn't send you?' Abby looked at him with hard eyes. 'I'm just asking!' When Abby didn't stop looking at him, he smiled. 'So… where's my food?'

Abby pointed to the fridge, and he got up to get it. Well, he tried to get up, but in doing so, he collapsed back into the stool.

'Tony!' she yelled, standing up.

'I'm fine. Just a bit light-headed.' He waved her off before attempting to get up once again. This time he managed to walk to the fridge and get his sandwich out fine. Well, he hoped it look like he was fine to Abby. In reality, his head was pounding, and he couldn't see really well.

Abby watched him like a hawk. While they ate, she kept a steady eye on him. And just before she left, which was about an hour later, she eyed him carefully.

'I know I'm irresistible, Abby, but should you be doing that?' Tony joked. Abby whacked him upside the head.

'I'm just trying to see if I should leave you alone or not.' She admitted. Tony looked at her sympathetically.

'I'm fine. Ok. I assure you, you can leave me alone. In fact, I give you permission to go right now before Gibbs kills me for keeping you here too.' He told her, leaning against the wall near the door with his arms crossed.

'Are you sure?' she asked once more.

'What do you want me to do, Abs? Dance? Jump like crazy? Shoot a gun? I'm fine. And if I weren't, do you really think that Kate would be at work right now?' he reasoned with her. Abby understood what he meant. No matter how dedicated to her job Kate was, there was some things in her life that were more important.

'Ok. But I'm gonna call you later, 'k?' Abby made the deal as Tony ushered her out of the door.

'Ok. Bye Abby. Thanks for lunch… and the rest of the stuff.' She smiled her goofy smile at her before jumping down the stairs and into her car.

Tony watched her go before shutting the door and collapsing onto the couch. He had put on an act for the last hour and now he needed to recuperate.

--

When Abby got back to the lab at 3.30, everyone was out once again. There was note left in her lab, written by McGee, letting her know what he had done and what was left to do, and a cup of Caf-Pow! on top of it, obviously left by Gibbs. She got on with the work as quickly as she could.

An hour later, Kate came down into the lab with some more evidence.

'Wotcha got for me, Kate?' she asked, as hyper as ever.

'Some… stuff.' She replied, throwing the bag onto the table.

'Kate! You need to be gentle with the evidence! The evidence is like a baby!' when Kate raised an eyebrow, she continued. 'Evidence is what forms the case. Without any evidence, there would be no case. Just like without a baby there would be no… people.' She nodded her head.

'That was the worst comparison ever, Abby.' Kate said in a monotone voice.

'Ok. What's wrong?' Abby asked her. Kate shook her head. 'Caitlin…' she said in her best imitation of Gibbs' voice.

'Where do I start?' Kate laughed hollowly.

'Aw… Kate.' Abby gave her best friend a hug. 'What's wrong? Is it Tony? Are you worried about him?'

'That's a part of it.' Kate shrugged. 'How was he?'

'He was… ok, I guess.' Abby half lied. 'He looked a bit pale, but he was like himself.'

'Yeah?' Kate asked her. Once again, the profiler in her could see the littlest difference in the forensic scientist as she spoke.

'Yup!' Abby replied. Just then, the elevator doors opened once again to present Jack. Kate stood straighter.

'Kate, Gibbs wants to see us upstairs. Abby, he sent down this for you look at.' He informed them.

'Alright!' Abby said in glee when she got some of the suspect names. 'Easy work!' When Kate and Jack both gave her a look, she shrugged. 'I've got a party to go to tonight…' she murmured. Jack laughed as he and Kate walked to the elevators.

'Everything ok?' Jack asked Kate in the elevator.

'Yeah. Just fine.' She replied. Jack knew she was lying, once again. Before he could ask her anything, they reached their floor.

Gibbs updated them on the case, telling them what to do and giving them a list of people to find. The three agents went to desks to read up on the suspects and the victim, while Gibbs went to see Ducky.

At almost 5 o'clock precisely, Kate's cell rang. She looked at the caller ID, but it showed up as restricted. She had no choice but to answer it.

'Agent Todd.' She automatically answered.

'Katie! Where are you?' Tony's voice came through. Kate couldn't help but smile. 'Are you still at work?' she noticed that his vice was quieter than normal.

'Yeah, I am. And before you ask, no I dunno when I'll be leaving.'

'You know me too well.' He sighed.

'It goes both ways, sweetie.' Kate replied.

'Are you working on another case?' Tony whined.

'Yup.'

'What's this one about?'

'I can't tell you, Tony. Gibbs'll kill me if I do.' She informed him.

Across from her, Jack listened to the conversation slyly. He knew that her and this Tony guy were close; they were partners after all, but he didn't know anything else. To be honest, the only things about Tony that he knew were that he broke most of the rules and did hardly any work.

'C'mon Kate.' Tony's voice cracked a bit at the end. Kate was going to say something but he continued. 'Maybe I could help and get you outta there quicker.'

'No, Tony. It's not going to work.' She laughed.

'But-' Kat never got to hear the rest of the sentence as Gibbs had came from nowhere, as always, and ripped the cell away from her.

'DiNozzo! Didn't I tell you not to distract my agents again?' he barked into the phone.

'Well, technically, you told me not to let you catch me doing so. Also, I don't believe that I was distracting Kate that much. She sounded really tired. Maybe you should send her ho-'

'DiNozzo! Shut up!' Gibbs gave the cell back to Kate, surprisingly not having hung up on him.

'Kate?'

'Yeah?'

'I think Gibbs hate me.' Tony said in astonishment.

'You think?' Kate snorted.

'Yeah. I mean… he just told me to shut up. No threats, nothing.'

'So that makes him hate you... how?' Kate murmured the sentence, knowing that Gibbs, especially, could hear what she was saying.

'Well, yeah. I mean,' Tony paused and swallowed. 'I mean, if he, if he-' Kate heard him gasp a bit.

'Tony?' she asked, curiously. 'Tony!' she said, worry poured into that one name. When the line went dead with a loud thump, she jumped up and ran to elevator, grabbing her purse on the way.

Gibbs, McGee and Jack watched her do so before Gibbs ran after her. There was only one thing that could make her jump and run like that. And Gibbs didn't like it.

'McGee! EMTs. Tony's. NOW!' he instructed as he went after Kate. He prayed to God that he was wrong.

OK – so I gave you a cliffie… but I just had to end it there otherwise it would've been too long.

So… theories anyone?? Does Tony die? And then Kate ends up with Jack? Or was Tony abducted by aliens?!?! (sorry – but I'm trying to lighten to mood.)

Please R&R!!

xXx Tiana