5:45 Gibbs home

Gibbs was sitting at his table, enjoying a fresh brewed cup of coffee,and the newspaper in front of him he didn't get a chance to read this morning, when he got a call.

Gibbs looked at the caller id. Director Borden. This was a call he could not ignore.

" Yeah. Gibbs. Dead body-Where?Okay,we're on it. Yeah,I'll talk to Fornell,see what he's got-yeah,we'll collaborate and keep you posted." Gibbs ended the call and contacted DiNozzo and McGee with a telepathic message.

"DiNozzo!McGee!Grab your gear!Dead SSE Agent,Anacostia Park. Meet me there,Asap!

He then called Ducky to get the autopsy van ready and to meet him at Anacostia Park. Gibbs grabbed his gear and shifted into his wolf.


Tony was relaxing on his comfy couch, watching tv, and just about to call in for a pizza when he received Gibbs message.

On it boss! Tony answered.

Crap!Crap! And double crap! Why now? He hadn't even gotten a chance to eat yet, dammit!He grabbed his pack and headed out the door. When he felt it safe, he shifted, and was a blur of movement as he headed for the park.

McGee was just opening the door to the beachhouse when he received Gibbs message.

"I'll see you in a few boss!"McGee answered.

He sighed,locked his door,and put his keys in his backpack, and he too shifted and took off with a blur as he headed for Anacostia Park.


"Whadda ya got, Tobias?"

"Something right up your alley Jethro. A horribly mutated dead body. A former SSE Agent from the Norfolk division. It appears he escaped from somewhere,before his death. Possibly from a laboratory. A jogger came across the body at approximately 3pm ,and called the police, who then contacted us. They're faxing me over the jogger's statements and police reports. Of course, you'll get copies too. Follow me."

Gibbs knelt down by the body as he asked,"Has the body been identified yet?"

"Yes. Agent Esposito, could you come here for a minute? She'll be able to tell you who this was."

"Sure."

"Please tell Agent Gibbs here the name that came up on the fingerprint scanner."

"Of course. That would be SSE Agent Jack Gibson, sir. Whoever this was that did this to him-" she swallowed hard and continued-"all I gotta say is that it went waaay beyond experiments."

She looked at Gibbs as she continued."Judging by his expression,I can see you knew this man-"I'm so very sorry for your loss, sir."

"Not your fault. Don't address me with sir. Agent Gibbs will do."

"All right-Agent Gibbs."

McGee noticed Gibbs expression as well. Oh yeah, bossman was upset all right. Time for him to speak up.

"Ma'am, Fornell mentioned he could've escaped from a lab. Can you be certain of that?

"Well, Agent-" she paused.

"McGee. Tim McGee."

"Well, Agent McGee, I believe that might be the case. If you notice here-" she shined her flashlight again at the dirt by his hand,"You can plainly see he started to write something."

Sure enough, when he bent down closer to look, there was a partial word. G E N TE-

"He had to have died at the time he tried to write this out. Apparently he was shot- but he still managed to come from quite a distance. As you can see by the condition of his feet."

"Boss. Take a look. He was trying to write Gen Tech."

DiNozzo had been examining the body as Gibbs and McGee were speaking with Fornell and Agent Esposito. He also took a look where McGee was indicating Gibbs look. They were right. He also spotted the partial words. He too noticed the condition of the body, and how mutated it was. Quite frankly, it was creeping him out. The black and white werewolf movie with Lon Chaney came to his mind, for some reason. He supposed it was because this was where you were supposed to see things like this, in movies, not in real life.

Gibbs noticed the writing too, and he was convinced like the others that Gibson was trying to leave a message. McGee was right. These bastards needed to be eliminated asap. No Agent, no matter from what department in law enforcement, deserved this.

"C'mon everyone, step aside, and let Ducky do his job."

"Thank you Jethro. Since it is getting later into the evening, would you mind if Mr. Palmer and I took the body back to autopsy, and from there report our findings? I think everything possible has already been done here."

"I don't see a problem with that, Duck. Okay with you, Tobias?"

"Sure. I don't see a problem with that, either. I'll get this wrapped up- taken care of, and we'll meet you later with the evidence."

"See ya soon, Tobias." Gibbs and the team shifted, and three blurs headed to NCIS, and in minutes were in the squadroom.


As soon as DiNozzo was at his desk, he was on the phone calling for pizzas. Gibbs headed out for a coffee run, bringing back coffee for the three of them. As soon as he sat at his desk, he got a call.

"Gibbs. "Yeah, tell him I'll be right up." Gibbs immediately headed up the stairs to the Director's office.

"Hmmm. Wonder what that's about."

"Don't know, Tony. If it's a need to know, Gibbs will tell us."

The elevator dinged, which immediately got Tony's attention. Finally! His pizza was here! As he rose out of his chair, he sighed. Damn. Just Fornell, with some woman. He watched as they, too, headed up the stairs to the Director's office. Aye carumba! What was a hot chick like that doing with Fornell? he wondered. More important, what were they discussing up there? Tony was itching to find out.

Tim was concentrating on the surveillance footage on his laptop when he felt a wad of paper hit his head. "Dammit Tony! I'm trying to concentrate here!"

"Hey, McOblivious, who was that hot chick with Fornell?"

"What?" Tim looked up from his laptop, a confused frown on his face.

"Didn't you see Fornell and a hot chick heading up to the Directors? They just got out of the elevator."

"Didn't notice. In case you haven't noticed Tony, I'm trying to concentrate and work over here. As I said before, if it's a need to know, Gibbs will let us know."

"Geez, McGrumpy, lighten up! Maybe you'll feel better when you've eaten something. I've ordered some pizzas for us. Hope they get here soon, I'm starving!"

Tony got up from his desk and headed to McGee's. "What are you working on, anyways?"

"Really, Tony? Don't you have anything to do?"

"Yeah. Just the usual, boring yada yada."

"Don't you think you should get on it before the boss catches you goofing off?"

Tony made a move as if he were going for the laptop. "Oooh, I've got an idea. Gonna need your laptop, McGee."

"Touch my laptop and you lose a hand!"

Ding!

McGee looked up and smiled with relief. Yes! Tony's pizzas finally were here. Good!

While Tony dealt with the delivery man, Tim continued looking at the surveillance footage from Gen Tech he had his laptop record. But he couldn't continue his task as he was once again interrupted.

DiNozzo! McGee! C'mon up here. Director would like to speak with you.

On it boss! Tony and Tim sent their message at the same time. Tim secured his laptop, and Tony put his pizza boxes on his desk and both headed for the stairs.

"Well, Tony, I guess you're going to get your wish. More than one, actually. We'll find out what their meeting was about, Plus, you'll find out who the "hot" chick is."

"Huh. That's true," Tony said with a wide grin.

They both said hello to Claudia and DiNozzo knocked softly on the Director's door.

"Come in," Director Borden called out.

He directed them to sit at the conference table, where Fornell, Gibbs, and a dark haired woman were seated. DiNozzo sat beside Gibbs, and the woman was seated across from him. McGee sat beside Gibbs as well.

Before Borden could explain why they were summoned here, Tony spoke up.

"Quien es la Rosita bonita?!"

Thwack!

"DiNozzo! Behave!" Gibbs hissed. "This is serious!

"Yes, boss," DiNozzo answered with an apologetic tone. "Sorry. Sorry ma'am."

Veronica had to bite her lip and put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. She'd heard about the Gibbs slap from Fornell, but now she was seeing it in action. Fornell was right. It was funny to watch. She knew Fornell enjoyed seeing DiNozzo get the head slap, and he also told her he would pronounce DiNozzo as DiNutzo just to yank his chain, since Tony had called him Toby, and Vee knew Fornell hated to be called Toby.

"Gibbs? You wanna tell your team, you've got the floor. Or would you rather I tell them?"

"Go 'head Steve. I believe this one here" Gibbs motioned towards DiNozzo "will take it more seriously hearing it from you."

"Very well. I'll just cut to the chase. DiNozzo, McGee, meet your temporary team mate, Probationary Field Agent Veronica Esposito. She transferred from the FBI to NCIS SSE. She is one of us, a shapeshifter."

"Director Borden, I don't mean to interrupt, but can I say something?"

"Sure Fornell."

"Gentlemen, as it's quite obvious, I'm not getting any younger. It won't be long before I have to retire, which is why I came here to talk to Director Borden about the possibility of Agent Esposito becoming an SSE Agent. You see, no one else at FBI has got a clue she is a shapeshifter, and I've done everything within my power to keep it that way. I'm afraid that somehow, someway, someone will find out. To prevent that shit from hitting the fan, I thought her transfer here would be the best option. She's one hell of an Agent, and I'm gonna hate to lose her." He paused to let that sink in.

McGee extended his hand out towards Veronica, who, in turn, extended hers. He spoke as they shook hands. "Congratulations Agent Esposito. Welcome to NCIS. I hope you'll enjoy working here as you have with the FBI."

"Thanks for the welcome, Agent McGee. I'm looking forward to working with your team."

"So, what did you do at FBI?" DiNozzo asked.

"Similar to what you do here, I investigated cases that were considered "unusual."

"Cool! You're just like Dana Scully!" He almost added "and a hot one too!" but didn't want to insert his foot in his mouth. He was in enough trouble with Gibbs, judging by the glare he sent his way.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs spoke softly, "Do you realize who Agent Esposito is?"

"Uh, yeah boss, she's a former FBI Agent who's going to work with us."

"The name, DiNozzo. Does her last name sound familiar? Ring any bells?" Gibbs asked with a big smirk on his face.

Fornell was smirking right along with Gibbs. He was enjoying this little show. Immensely. Especially when the proverbial light bulb turned on over DiNozzo's head. The look on his face was priceless.

"Esposito. So, you're related to Javier Esposito?"

"Yes, he's my brother," Veronica said with a grin. She was enjoying the show as well as watching DiNozzo squirm at that revelation. Even McGee was smiling.

"Thanks for the Scully reference. I'll take that as a compliment." She smiled at DiNozzo, at the same time subtly checking him out. He had very nice hazel green eyes, she noticed. He also was nicely dressed. Handsome too, but she wouldn't be admitting that any time soon. Not if what she'd heard about his reputation as a playboy who thought more of himself than he should was true. No, she would get to see what he was like for herself, because she didn't believe everything she heard, or was told, nor would she rely on scuttlebutt as the gospel truth.

Working with this team was going to be an interesting experience, of that she had no doubt. She had a feeling it wouldn't be dull working here.


Suddenly, and with no warning, Director Borden's flat screen attached to his office wall turned on, split screen footage popping up on the screen. One side showing a place with supplies and equipment strewn all over the floor, along with a rear door torn off its hinges. The other side showed a figure running with two other figures running after it, shooting at it with their rifles. The images looped over and over, as if someone was studying them.

Gibbs noticed McGee standing near the flat screen, looking up at it as if he was in a trance. He was studying the footage on the screen, taking note of every detail he could get from the images. He zoomed in on the first running figure on the right side of the screen, enlarging the face of the image, then freezing it. He also noted the date/time stamp on the bottom of the screen. He was so focused on what he was doing, he almost didn't hear Gibbs getting up to stand beside him.

"McGee. Talk to me," Gibbs spoke softly.

Oh! Sorry boss, before we were called up here, I was going through the surveillance footage on my laptop. That was the reason why I came in so early to work this morning, to hack into Gen Tech's surveillance. Apparently, I was lucky enough to get the footage of Gibson's escape. That's who I believe this is. The clothes, height, and build seems to match up with the body that was found at the park.

As soon as I was successful at hacking in, I left the laptop to record while I took care of other tasks. I'm sorry I neglected to check up on my laptop, because if I had, we would have known about Gibson's escape before we got the call to go to Anacostia Park."

"Hey! Don't beat yourself up over it, and don't even think about apologizing. You're doing one hell of a job, McGee. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have all this evidence we have on these Gen Tech bastards. And soon, they'll get the punishment they deserve. As well as justice for the victims and their families."


DiNozzo noticed Veronica and Fornell looking up at the flat screen with a mixture of shock and awe on their faces. He knew for some, McGee's "talent" took a little getting used to.

"I looked just like you do when I first discovered McGee's ability. Even Gibbs was a bit freaked out by it, if you can believe that." DiNozzo said.

"Wow. Gibbs doesn't strike me as a man that gets freaked out easily," Veronica said as she too studied the screen.

Director Borden spoke up. "Okay, guys, I'm sure this can be handled in the squadroom. I'm going to send Claudia home, and I'm heading home as well. Keep me posted and keep up the great work. That goes for all of you," he said, looking directly at Veronica.

"Thank you, Director Borden, sir. For giving me this opportunity, and for the chance to prove myself as an asset to this agency."

"I know you'll do fine. You have an impressive work ethic, not to mention Fornell singing praises over your work, which is again, most impressive, as well as your file. Work for me like you did for Fornell. That's all I ask."

"No worries on that score, sir. I will work just as hard. I guess I'll say goodnight then, and take care."

"I'm going to head home too. Vee, can I speak with you for a minute?" Fornell asked, motioning for her to walk to the elevators with him.

"Okay, what's up?"

"Just wanna say my goodbye to you." He pressed two twenties into her hand. "As well as keeping that promise to make it up to you. Take care, and if you ever need to talk, you know how to reach me."

Veronica gave Fornell a huge hug. "Thank you. For everything. I'll never regret working with you. I've learned so much."

"It's a relief I won't have to worry about you or your secret. And, you're welcome. I loved working with you, too. I know you'll enjoy working with Gibbs-" he saw Gibbs and the team heading down the stairs. "Go on, go-join them. You're SSE now." Fornell gave her a hug back and stepped into the elevator.

Everyone filed out of the office and headed down to the squadroom. Tony immediately made a beeline for his desk and grabbed a slice of pizza. He had a look of pure bliss on his face as he took a bite. He didn't care if the pizza was almost cold. He was just happy to have some food in his stomach.

Thwack!

"DiNozzo!"

"Ow! What,boss?"

"Anything you're forgetting?"

"Um- OH! Yeah! I got the pizza for us, not just me. Help yourselves, guys. Sorry it isn't hot, but hey-it's food." He held out the box towards Veronica. "Would you like some, ma'am?" He asked Veronica.

"Sure, why not? Thank you," she said as she chose a slice.

"Boss? McGee?" They also reached for a slice.

"Agent Esposito."

"Yes, Agent Gibbs?"

Gibbs pointed to the desk to the right of his, and across from DiNozzo's desk. "This will be the desk assigned to you while you work with us."

"All right." She sat down on her chair, happily eating her pizza.

Gibbs gave the team some time to relax a bit,and to get acquainted with their new team mate. They deserved a break, they all did good work today, he thought.

Gibbs got up from his desk. "I'm getting some more coffee. Anyone else want any?"

"I wouldn't mind some," Veronica answered. "If that's okay-"

"Wouldn't have asked if it wasn't," Gibbs answered her with a smile. "DiNozzo? McGee?"

"Yeah, sure. That would be great. Thanks boss!"

"McGee?"

"Sure, why not. Thanks!"

"While I'm gone-McGee- go check the evidence garage and make sure the evidence Fornell left us gets to Abby's lab. Then, tell her and Angela they could head home."

"Sure. On it, boss."

"DiNozzo. Call autopsy and see what Ducky can tell you. Then tell he and Palmer he can head home."

"On it boss," DiNozzo answered as he dialed the number to autopsy.

"Anything I can do?" Veronica asked.

"Yeah. If you like you can go with McGee, help him take the evidence to Abby's lab. I'm sure she would be pleased to meet you."

"Okay. On it boss." Veronica looked at Gibbs and bit her lip.

Gibbs smiled. "A quick study. I like that. Go-"

Veronica followed McGee to the elevator. DiNozzo watched her until the elevator doors closed. Gibbs smirked as he noticed DiNozzo watching Agent Esposito. If only he knew, he thought. He had a grin on his face as he headed out for their coffee.


Abby looked up as she heard the whoosh of the doors to her lab. She smiled and immediately headed to Tim to give him a bear hug. But then, stepped back since Tim was carrying a box in his hands, and she noticed a woman by his side. Who was she? And what was she doing with Tim?

Abby smiled, and tried not to let her jealousy show. "Tim! You shouldn't have! A present-for me? Already?" she teased, trying to lighten the mood.

Tim grinned back. Something better. Evidence. From Anacostia Park. And Agent Esposito has some bagged evidence for you. Speaking of which, I'd like you to meet Probationary Agent Veronica Esposito, our new team mate. She'll be working with us on the Gen Tech case. Is Angela around? I'd like for her to meet Veronica too."

"No, sorry. She went home."

"No problem. There's always tomorrow. Gibbs said for you and Angela to head home anyway. You can go over all this tomorrow." Tim and Veronica set the evidence on her table.

Abby walked over to Veronica. "Welcome to the team, and welcome to NCIS. I'm Abby Sciuto, Forensic Scientist extraordinaire." She smiled and held out her arms and gave Veronica a welcome hug.

"Nice meeting you, Abby. You have a very nice lab. I like it."

"Thanks!" Abby looked at Veronica, hoping she didn't look like she was rudely staring. "Wait- Esposito- are you related to Agent Javier Esposito?"

"Yep. I'm his sister."

"I thought the last name sounded familiar. Well, it's still nice meeting you. and that you'll be our team mate."

"Temporary. Director Borden I'll be working with Gibb's team for this case. No guarantees I'll be assigned to the team once it's solved."

"One thing you need to know about Director Borden is he never ever does things without a reason. I have a feeling that when this case is solved and over, you will be our permanent team mate."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Abby."

"You're welcome."

"Well, come on, Agent Esposito, let's head back up. Don't want to keep the boss waiting too long."

"Sure."

"Um-Tim?"

"Yeah, Abby?"

"You'll get to go home soon too, right?"

"I'm sure Gibbs won't keep us here for too much longer. We need to go over a few things, then we'll be done for the night."

"Okay, I'll stay then. You'll need a ride home?"

"Okay, Abby. Sure. Thanks."

What about Veronica. Will she need a ride? Abby asked telepathically.

I believe Gibbs or DiNozzo will take care of that. I'll talk to you more about that later, okay?

Okay, Tim. Abby was intrigued. There must be more going on if Tim didn't want to talk in front of the new team mate.

Tim and Veronica entered the squadroom, each grabbing one more slice of pizza before heading to their desks.

Veronica took a sip of her coffee and sighed in bliss. That was sooo good. How did Gibbs know what coffee she liked? Hmm, she thought, maybe that was one of his special abilities.

Gibbs spoke up. "DiNozzo. Has Ducky told you anything?"

"Yeah boss. He said time of death was between 12 and 1 pm. He'll give us more information tomorrow when he performs the autopsy."

"Okay, good job everyone. Why don't we all head home now, and we can continue our work in the morning. I'm sure we can all use some rest. Be here by 8am tomorrow."

"Thanks boss," DiNozzo said, grinning. "Works for me."

"McGee. Do you have a ride home?"

"Yeah. Abby said she'd wait for me." How did Gibbs do that?

"That's good. I'll see you in the morning. DiNozzo! Esposito! With me. C'mon," he said, motioning for them to follow him to the parking garage. He waved to McGee and Abby as they drove off towards Tim's place.

DiNozzo held the door open for Veronica and she sat in the front seat. He closed the door and got in the back seat, sitting behind her. Gibbs asked directions to her place as he drove off the Navy Yard. As he pulled up to her place, he said his good nights as DiNozzo got out, again holding the door open for her as she exited the vehicle, thanking Gibbs for the ride and saying her good nights.

DiNozzo followed, walking her to her door. She opened it, and turned on the lights to the living room. She then turned back to DiNozzo.

"Everything looks okay. Thank you, Agent DiNozzo. You didn't have to walk me to my door."

"It's the least I could do. Wanted to make sure you got home safe."

"Thanks again. I appreciate it, I really do. Good night then, and take care. I'll see you in the morning, 8 am sharp."

"You're welcome. Get some rest, and sweet dreams. See ya tomorrow."


"Okay, Tim, I can't stand it anymore. You have got to tell me!" Abby exclaimed when they got inside the beachhouse.

"Tell you what, Abby?" Tim asked. He smiled. He enjoyed teasing Abby, especially when she reacted like this.

Abby playfully slugged his arm. "C'mon, it's not fair to keep me in suspense!"

"Okay. DiNozzo tonight was awfully attentive when it came to Agent Esposito. It started when we came back from Anacostia Park. We were in the squadroom, and Fornell and Esposito headed upstairs to the Director's office. He asked me who the "hot" chick was with Fornell. Of course I knew, but I had to play it like I was too into my work to notice."

"That must've drove him crazy."

"He was itching to find out what the Director wanted to talk to them for, and then we got the telepathic message from Gibbs for us to come up. The first thing outa Tony's mouth when we entered the Director's office was "Quien es la rosita bonita?" He got headslapped, and Agent Esposito was trying to hide her laughter behind her hand. He even told her she was like Dana Scully."

"Oh boy. I can see the Gibbs glare now. I bet he wanted to do more than headslap Tony. I wish I was there to see that."

"Well, I have a hunch, maybe I'm wrong, but I think Agent Esposito might be Tony's lifemate. She was also taking notice of him as well, and liking what she saw from what I could see from her expressions."

"Oh my god, O-M-G that would be awesome!" I hope it's true, because-" Abby sighed, and took Tim's hand. "Well, at first, when I saw you entering the lab, I was thrilled to see you- but then I got jealous when I saw Agent Esposito with you."

"You were. Really?" Tim asked with a smile.

"Tim McGee! Do not say I inadvertently turned you on by saying that!" Abby exclaimed, hands on hips, eyes shooting sparks.

Tim laughed. He couldn't help it, it was fun baiting Abby every once in a while. "If it makes you feel any better, Gibbs told her to help me bring the evidence to you. He thought you would like to meet the new team mate."

Abby tried to keep a straight face as she shook her finger near Tim's face and said- "Cahoots! You and Gibbs!" She couldn't. She laughed. "Gibbs has a wicked sense of humor, I see."

Tim grinned. "Maybe Gibbs wanted to see how DiNozzo would react, what he would do. Tony wanted to tag along, I could tell, but I think the only reason why he didn't was because he didn't want to get another Gibbs slap."

"Hmm, like a test. Okay, I can see that. That is a possibility. A question, Tim. Am I passing mine?"

"What do you mean?"

Abby rolled her eyes. "C'mon Tim, don't play dumb with me! Although I wouldn't mind playing with you- You know what I mean! I'm not going to change my mind, you know. You're stuck with me. Like super glue." She then wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a thorough kiss on the lips.

"That should give you a clue as to how serious I am about us. And you're lucky it's late as it is- I'm going to shower and then sleep- because- she whispered in his ear- "if it wasn't as late as it is I would give you an awesome seduction you wouldn't be able to resist!"

Abby saw Tim's expression, and immediately blocked her thoughts. "Oh no you don't, mister!" She smiled. "I'm keeping that little secret to myself. It's for me to know and you to find out." She smirked.

Just as Abby was heading to her room, Tim's hands snaked around her waist, and he spun her around to face him. Then proceeded to give her the most thorough toe curling french kiss she'd ever received. As he kissed her, he gently backed her to the wall, holding her hands above her head while molding his body to hers. She wriggled and a huge groan escaped her lips.

She had forgotten just how talented Tim was with his tongue. She imagined him using it in other ways, and groaned again. Then she gasped. You should have blocked those thoughts! she chided herself.

Tim slowly parted from kissing her and whispered in her ear- "does my kissing and my talented tongue get you all hot - and wet? Eager for my touch?" Abby gasped. "Hmm, I believe it does. You see, Abby, two can play that game." He gave her one last thorough kiss, then let her go to head to his room for a shower and bed as well, a smirk on his lips.

It took a few minutes for Abby to head to her room. She was leaning against the wall, hands against her chest, eyes wide, trying to catch her breath. The way he said that to her- drat the man for being dead on right!


She woke up in a dark and scary room, in excruciating pain. She was curled into a ball on the floor, and on top of that, her back, legs, and face felt like they were on fire. She was also wet. What she had feared the most had happened. She had been captured by those Gen Tech loons. She was lying in a small puddle of water. She tried sitting up so she could find a dry spot. She screamed, suffering from more pain. She remembered the beatings. Her back was raw from the whippings. Her legs and thighs as well. All because she wouldn't obey their demands. She couldn't. They were asking the impossible. He was right. These guys were douchebags besides being beyond whacko.

How many days since her capture? All she knew was she needed to get the hell out of here. She needed him. He once told her he would move heaven and earth to rescue her, so why wasn't that happening? Did they have him too? Exactly how long had she been here? Days? Hours? Weeks? She simply didn't know.

A metal door opened with a loud clang, startling her. She shook with fright. Uh- oh. The torturer was back. She swallowed hard. And awaited whatever hell he had planned for her. Who was that with him? Oh no! Not-him! NOOOO! Not that! NOOOOOOOOOOO! Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim!

Tim woke up immediately, running quickly to Abby's room when he heard Abby screaming his name. He sat on the bed, his arms firmly wrapped around her, stroking her hair as her head rested on his shoulder.

"Abby. ABBY! Shhh, it's okay. You just had a nightmare. You're safe. Shhhhh..."

Abby was shaking like a leaf, tears flowing down her cheeks. She started calming down the minute she felt Tim's arms around her and hearing his soothing voice. She was so relieved it was only a nightmare, and not real this time. She smiled through her tears, listening to Tim giving her comfort. She took deep, calming breaths before speaking.

"It s-seemed-so- r-real, Tim! I thought- I thought I was captured, and g-getting tortured at Gen Tech. I'm scared, Tim. Really scared. What if they succeed?"

"Abby, look at me." Tim very gently lifted her chin up with his finger to look into her eyes. "I will do all I can to make sure that doesn't happen. If the inevitable happens, you can be assured that I will move heaven and earth to get you out of there and safe again. I can promise you this for a certainty, that as long as I'm alive I will not stop or give up. Ever. I can promise you that, Abby."

He framed her face with his hands and gently wiped her tears with his thumbs. And gently kissed her forehead.

Abby smiled through her tears, a shaky smile. Leave it to Tim to know what to say.

She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Tim? You would do that- for me?"

"Of course, Abby! And you know what? I know Gibbs feels the same way. Same with Tony. He or Tony would never give up on finding you either. Nor would your brothers."

Abby hugged Tim tighter to her. She loved this man so much! He was right.

"I believe you would do that. With all my heart. That's why I love you so very very much, Tim. Please believe that. Stay with me? So I can go back to sleep?"

"Sure, Abbs."

"Thank you Tim." She then pulled his head closer to her and gave him a kiss on the lips. She could tell Tim was pleased with her kiss as she was kissing him.

"What was that for?"

"Oh, for being so good for me. And for being you. I would like to do this every night."

"Abby-"

"Don't worry Tim, nothing major. I want us to kiss each other every night before bed. A good night kiss. And maybe tell each other I love you? You know-" Abby hesitated and swallowed hard "while we still have a chance to? You never know what each new day may bring-"

Tim hugged Abby and gave her a kiss of his own. A nice, toe curling french kiss he knew Abby liked. "I''ll always love you Abby." he whispered in her ear. "Now, lay down and get comfortable."

Abby complied, and smiled when she felt Tim positioning himself to spoon with her.

"Good night, Tim. Thank you so much."

"Good night Abby. You're welcome. I hope you have pleasant dreams this time." Minutes after he spoke, he and Abby were both sound asleep.