McGee entered Abby's room again, his eyes going straight to the silent figure in the bed. He sighed in relief; they'd taken her off the ventilator and replaced it with an oxygen mask while he was gone. He'd been gone almost 6 hours this time. He hoped she'd been asleep the whole time. Apart from needing sleep to heal, he didn't want her stressing over the information she'd given him.

He settled down into the uncomfortable chair that he'd mentally tagged as his, dropping his pack to the floor. He really should go home, but he just couldn't. He wanted to be there when she woke up again, wanted to tell her that they'd caught Jacobi, that Gibbs probably had him in Interrogation right now. He didn't really want to tell her that he'd almost shot Jacobi himself; he wasn't proud of his loss of control.

He made himself consider his actions. What would he have done if Gibbs hadn't been there? Would he really have pulled the trigger? He never thought that he could murder another human being, but that's what it would have been; murder. He'd killed people before, sure, but they'd been armed, not defenceless and handcuffed. Did that make him any better than Jacobi? He shook his head at the thought. The impulse to kill Jacobi had been revenge, pure and simple. Would he have pulled the trigger? He thought back to that moment in the garage. He'd been looking for a reason to harm Jacobi the way he'd harmed Abby; going for Tony's gun had just been a convenient excuse. Fury still filled him at the thought of Jacobi deliberately running Abby over. It was a good thing that Gibbs had ordered him to leave. He really didn't think that he could continue to work on the case. He was too close to this. He loved Abby.

He dozed on and off again, turning the question over in his mind during his waking moments.

...

Gibbs cursed mentally as they marched Jacobi upstairs to Interrogation. He understood why McGee had reacted the way he did, he'd been there himself. The difference was there had been no one there to stop him when he'd reached that point. The memory still haunted him, years later. McGee was lucky, but he'd still have to face the fact that he was willing to take a human life in cold blood, even if he'd been prevented from doing so.

DiNozzo shoved Jacobi roughly into the chair in the Interrogation room, and then they left and locked the door. Jacobi could stew for a few minutes. Gibbs went back upstairs to the squad room, gathering up the case file they'd opened and the printouts from Abby's computer that McGee had left on his desk. Until he got McGee back into the lab, he didn't know if Abby's records were the only ones left; Jacobi may have been trying to erase his tracks.

He spent the few moments in the elevator restraining his anger. There was a time for anger in Interrogation, but it was a tool; it had to be used wisely or not at all.

Calmly he entered the room and sat down across from the trembling figure of Jacobi. He watched Jacobi with a practised eye; the bastard was obviously still half terrified from his encounter with McGee in the evidence garage. Good. He'd be easy to crack. He wanted a full confession out of this one so he could put him away for as long as possible.

He flicked open the file in front of him, spreading the sheets of bank records, wire transfers and evidence reports across the table. Selcting one, he handed it to Jacobi

"Recognise this?" he asked, keeping his voice level

"Should I?"

"That's a printout of a bank account, registered in your name, showing deposits totalling more than $100 000"

Jacobi was silent. He selected another printout, sliding it across the table

"This is a copy of a transfer from a dormant account belonging to this Agency to a holding account. And this is a copy of a wire transfer from that holding account to your account" He paused "We've got enough evidence to convict you of embezzlement, Jacobi. You'll do time for that" He watched Jacobi's face for reaction, catching the flicker of fear in his eyes.

He pulled another printout out of his piles. "This is a copy of the Agency motor pool records for yesterday. You tried to cover it, but we'll still be able to get enough points for a signature match. The car you used to drive to the airport this morning was signed out by you, yesterday morning. It's got a damaged headlight. We found headlight glass and tire tracks next to a badly injured woman in the Yard yesterday. She's in the hospital, still unconscious"

He rose to his feet, looming over the suspect

"You signed out that car and used it to run down the one person that had the evidence to convict you of embezzlement, didn't you?" He paused, waiting for Jacobi's answer. Getting none, he slapped the table

"Answer me!"

Shaking, the terrified Jacobi starting sobbing. Gibbs allowed himself an internal smile. Quietly, persuasively, he said

"Tell me what happened"

...

"Probie"

At DiNozzo's voice, McGee startled. He'd been dozing again. He checked the time. He'd been there for almost 2 hours. Getting to his feet, he moved to the doorway where Tony stood.

"Didn't expect you here this soon, Tony" he commented "Did Gibbs break him?"

"Yeah, Tim, he did. Though he was already half broken, what with your little stunt in the evidence garage. Thought you were going to kill him" his voice was questioning, searching for an answer to McGee's intentions in the garage

"I nearly did, Tony" the words were delivered in a bleak tone; McGee had come to the inescapable conclusion that he had meant to commit murder an hour or so ago. "If Gibbs hadn't stopped me, well..." he trailed off, unwilling to finish the sentence.

The sound of Abby's voice, scratchy and hoarse, made them spin and look towards her

"No, Tim" her eyes were wide with horror

...

The darkness that enveloped her was lifting again. She couldn't be sure now what was real and what wasn't. Had she really told Tim to check her computers, or was that a dream?

She could dimly hear voices nearby. Straining, she could tell it was Tony and McGee. Tony's words made her grow cold with fear, but it was the dead tone of Tim's voice that made her pull the mask away from her face and call out.

Instantly they were at her bedside, worried looks on both their faces. There was something else in McGee's expression as well; she filed that thought away for later.

"Abs-" Tim started to speak. She cut him off

"You can't kill him, Timmy" she needed him here, not in prison

"I know, Abs, I'm not going to kill him" his voice was soothing but sincere. She relaxed a little at the certainty, then stiffened again as memories started flooding back.

"I was walking to the cafe, to get lunch. I saw the Agency car come around the corner; I thought maybe it was one of you guys, so I stepped closer to the sidewalk. He saw me and aimed straight for me" her voice was getting higher as the panic she felt rose "I thought at first he was just trying to scare me, that he was going to stop, but then he didn't and I could see the car mount the kerb and come straight at me" she gulped, trying to take a deep breath with her damaged lung "And then he drove off, and I tried to call out for help but there was no one there"

McGee caught one of her wildly flailing hands. She was going to pull out her IV lines like this

"Easy, Abs, you're going to hurt yourself more" he told her. She didn't appear to have heard him. She turned, clinging to him now

"Don't leave me" she begged, sobbing

"I'm not going to leave you, Abs" he promised fervently. Across the bed he exchanged glances with DiNozzo. He wasn't going home any time soon.