A/N: Thanks to all the reviewers for the last chapter as you've exceeded the number of reviews I got for the last stories I wrote, and I'm not even finished yet - diana teo, twomoms, silvanelf, bookworm2dance, inkpen1, Gloworm41, hudson911, CD57, SLE and hotchner. You guys rock! Thanks also to the readers who, although they might not have reviewed, their sustained interest in this story has kept it on track.

- SLE - Don't worry, you're not the only one who scares themselves with how evil they are! xD

Anyhoooo, here's the next chapter.


Previously

They both slumped onto the settee, Ducky with his arm round Abby's shoulders – hugging her to him – and Abby resting her head on his chest. He could feel Abby's silent tears soaking through his cotton shirt and dampening his skin but did not know how to comfort her until the doctors gave him more information. The medical examiner let her drift off to sleep, while he patiently watched the door.


Two Hours Later

Kate peered through the tiny square window in the door and instantly felt like she was intruding on a very private moment. She watched as the young woman's head rose and fell with the elderly man's chest. It was at that moment that Kate realised that the team she had stumbled into was more than just a team: it was a family. Then, as the older man raised his head and smiled at her, Kate stood rooted to the spot, blushing as if she had been caught spying on the pair.

Ok, so I was spying on them... But I was just about to go in anyway.

She gently pushed open the door, careful not to wake the sleeping goth, and stood just in front of one of the more comfortable plastic chairs that lined the room. Ducky cast his medical gaze over her, appraising her for injuries. Kate stayed silent as she waited for Ducky to finish – it was a bit embarrassing but she knew Ducky was only doing exactly what Gibbs would do.

I wonder who taught that to who...

"Are you alright, Kaitlin?" Ducky asked softly, his eyes resting momentarily on her bandaged forearm before flicking to her face. A short line of stitches ran along her forehead just above her right eye, and there were many more cuts that had not required stitching but still glowed angry red against the pale skin of her arms. "I'm fine, Ducky." She slumped down into the chair, making it grate backwards noisily and waking Abby. "Has that nurse come ba—" Abby stopped in the middle of her tired question and stared at Kate.

"Hey, Abby. Sorry to wake you." Kate smiled, standing up again and nervously awaiting the flood of words that would tumble from the young goth's mouth at any moment. It did not come. Instead Abby leapt to her feet and threw her arms around Kate, squeezing her tightly. Now, with Abby's arms thrown round Kate's neck, the jumble of words shot forth like bullets from a machine gun. "Kate, I'm so glad you're ok! I was so worried... How's Tony? How's Gibbs? Are they ok? Are..." Kate brought up her hands defensively, trying to stem Abby's anxious chatter, and managed to weaken Abby's vice-like grip enough to take several deep breaths. "I don't know, Abby. Gibbs was taken into a trauma room as soon as we arrived, and Tony was whisked away for an x-ray..." Abby opened her mouth to interrupt, but Kate continued. "...I only needed a few stitches and some treatment for some minor burns. But, by the time they'd finished bandaging my arm, I was starving so I went to the shop to get supplies for all of us." Kate rustled the small, white polythene bag she was carrying in one hand. "That's why I didn't meet you at reception when you came in, but Nurse Mendenhal told me you were waiting in here." Ducky remained quiet: he already knew most of the injuries sustained by the agents from Kate's rundown over the phone. However, he had decided that, until anything was definite, he would not tell Abby – she would only speculate and get herself worked up, possibly over nothing. "An x-ray for what, Kate? ...Wait! No, don't tell me..." Ducky squeezed Abby's shoulder, trying to make the young woman, who was rubbing the sleep from her eyes, calm down.

"Abigail, let Kate sit down: she's exhausted." Nodding in thanks, Kate sat down on the couch, leaning her head back and resting it on the back of the plastic couch. "What is the x-ray for, Kaitlin?" Ducky asked, keeping his hand on Abby's shoulder. The inexperienced NCIS agent glanced from Abby to Ducky then back again, suddenly hit by the realisation that Abby was missing something.

Ducky didn't tell her.

"Erm... Tony thought he'd broken his collar bone and dislocated his shoulder... To be honest, Abby, it looked like he had, but—" Fortunately, Kate was saved from speculating about Tony's condition any further by a knock at the door. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief at the interruption and closed her eyes, preferring to listen to the conversation when her head was not pounding with every heartbeat.

A tall, clean-shaven young doctor, with a captain's insignia on the collar of his beige shirt, entered the room and surveyed the group inside. Noting the way the room's occupants looked as if they had not slept in twenty-four hours, he smiled in sympathy then asked, "Are you the NCIS agents' colleagues?" All three nodded, but Ducky was the only one to step forward and shake the man's hand. Kate stayed seated on the couch but her eyes were wide open now, her earlier tiredness forgotten. "I'm Dr. Mallard, the medical examiner at NCIS. I'm also the agents' personal physician." The young man shook Ducky's proffered hand and supplied his own name. "Dr. Julian Mackenzie. I'm treating Agent DiNozzo at the moment, but I have Agent Gibbs' file here too, and his doctor gave me a short briefing before I came to you." He was true to his word: Kate counted two manila folders at the man's side. There were some small spots of blood splashed worryingly over one cover, but Kate could not read the name on it. Finally, she managed to work up the energy to drag herself out of the chair and offered, like Ducky had moments earlier, to shake his hand. "Special Agent Kate Todd." She said, noticing the way the man's eyebrows rose before he quickly schooled his expression back to normal.

Note to self: ask Tony what he told the doctor about me.

Abby stepped from behind Ducky and introduced herself too. She was going to offer to shake Dr. Mackenzie's hand but could not make her hands stop shaking and they had become annoyingly sweaty all of a sudden. Understanding the young woman's nerves, the doctor stepped to the side and motioned for Ducky to follow him outside, but Ducky shook his head. "There's no point you telling me only for me to have to repeat exactly what you say to my colleagues a few minutes later." Mackenzie noted that the strangely dressed young woman had attached herself to Dr. Mallard's sleeve then nodded in agreement and gestured for them to sit down. He himself perched awkwardly on the arm of a plastic chair, knowing well from experience just how uncomfortable the moulded chairs were.

"I'll start with Agent DiNozzo, as he's my patient." He looked up at the expectant faces as if anticipating protests but there were none. "Well, he arrived with a suspected fractured clavicle and dislocated shoulder and I had him sent off for an x-ray, which confirmed it. However, it appears that during the course of his time spent trapped in the building he crudely put it back into place himself, and, unfortunately, we've had to redo it." Mackenzie shook his head slightly then continued to list Tony's injuries and the actions taken to treat them. "Also, the fracture was rather more serious than anticipated, and Mr DiNozzo required surgery to have a metal plate fixed to the bone and hold it in place as it heals, but the upside is that it should heal more quickly." Kate nodded dumbly, not really absorbing anything of what the doctor was saying. She knew she should listen more carefully – these were her colleagues the man was talking about – but she was just too tired to focus on it all. She could see Abby and Ducky also listening intently, Abby's eyes glistening with concern and fresh tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Hopefully Ducky'll be able to fill me in on what I miss...

Trying to confirm her hope, Kate glanced sideways at Ducky and found him looking at her with a sympathetic expression. His slow nod was barely perceptible to Kate's weary eyes, but, catching it, Agent Todd knew Ducky would tell her everything if she wanted to sleep. She could hardly keep her eyes open as she strained to listen to the doctor and eventually fell into a light doze.

Just in time to catch the tail-end of what the doctor, who was smiling encouragingly, was saying, Kate drifted back to the one-sided conversation in the room "He's been out of surgery for about an hour now and is resting in his room..." Dr. Mackenzie looked pointedly at Abby and smiled cheerfully. "So, Ms Scuito, you may visit him. There were also some deep cuts on his back which is why he's on antibiotics – to prevent infection. I'd like to keep Agent DiNozzo in for a few days – just to make sure everything is in the right place and to keep an eye on his concussion and the lacerations on his back. It's only a minor concussion, but..."

"...But you're just being careful. I'm sure Anthony will understand, doctor." Ducky finished, anxious to be informed of his other friend's condition. Mackenzie did not seem to catch the diminutive medical examiner's nervous tone and remained quiet for a while, waiting for questions.

As the silence grew between the two doctors, Abby began to get nervous. She still had tears running freely down her face, smudging her already ruined make-up, and occasionally her breathing hitched. "W-what about... What about Agent Gibbs?" She asked quietly, rocking gently back and forth on her feet. Without speaking, Dr. Mackenzie's furrowed brow told the three of them all they needed to know: it was bad. Dr. Mackenzie flipped open one of the manila folders and read a few paragraphs of scrawled text. "Agent Gibbs is in surgery at the moment having the wooden object removed from his shoulder..." He chanced another glance at the notes strewn across his lap, wary of the worried goth sitting a few feet from him, looking as if she would seriously injure, if not kill, anyone who suggested that Agent Gibbs might die. "Erm... Portable x-rays showed several rib fractures and a broken tibia. Fortunately, the wooden object that lodged in his shoulder seems to have missed all the bones around that area, which is a minor miracle really, although it is pressing a rib against his lung, making it harder for him to breathe. But the most pressing concern his doctors have at the moment is the volume of blood he's lost. From these doctor's notes I believe they are going to give him a transfusion." At the suggestion of a blood transfusion, Kate sucked in a sharp breath. "Just as well we didn't manage to get that 'wooden object' out then..." She muttered to no one in particular, but the doctor heard it.

"Yes, I suppose it is..." Abby looked as if she was about to erupt into another energetic volley of questions and fire them at Kate, but Ducky jumped in to prevent it.

"Is there anything else, doctor, or may we visit Agent DiNozzo now?"

"Ah... No, I don't have anything else to tell you about Agent Gibbs' condition, I'm afraid." To reinforce this statement, the young doctor shook his head firmly and then gathered all the pages of writing that had somehow escaped Gibbs' file and pushed himself to his feet. "Agent DiNozzo was awake when I left him and I don't see the harm in letting you see him – it might even give the nursing staff a chance to recover from his painkiller-induced antics. He'll still be groggy but he'll know you're there at least and should be up to talking after a while."

Ducky, taking it unto himself to be the leader of the remaining conscious member of the team and the highly-strung, emotionally intense forensic scientist, stood and shook the man's hand for the second time in an hour. "Thank you, Dr. Mackenzie." Abby and Kate then followed suit, standing wearily to one side as Dr. Mackenzie opened the door and stepped out, allowing the others to follow him as he walked slowly down the corridor.


A/N: Okay, so there's not much action in this and there's no Gibbs or Tony, but I wanted you all to know what was going on with our favourite characters!

Unfortunately, I'm going to be away with The Parents for the next two days and I won't have any internet access! :( Which means you will all have to be extra patient and wait until Thursday for the next installment... Sorry, but think how I feel - my exam results arrive on Wednesday when I'm away!! Damn you, parents!

So, until then, keep filling my inbox with lots and lots of nice review alerts pleeeease :)