A/N: Ok, I know I said this chapter would be longer; I ended up having to separate it, otherwise this chapter would have been over 2000 words. This is the second last chapter. Thanks for reading :)
The days dragged by. Soon a week had passed since his return from Washington, and the only contact he'd had with anyone from headquarters had been an email from Vance's office, assuring him of a place on Gibbs team if he chose to return. He'd received similar emails at least once a month since his transfer; regretfully, he deleted it like all the others.
As the days went by without a response to his phone calls and messages to Abby, the wild hope he'd felt slowly dimmed and faded into something akin to despair. While she was fiercely loyal, Abby didn't trust people easily; it was fast becoming obvious that he'd shattered her trust in him beyond repair.
Slowly, he let himself settle back into the routine that his sister had once scornfully described as an existence, not a life.
...
McGee grumbled to himself as he opened the door into his apartment building. It was late; he was coming home from one of the few late night stints he'd had to pull in the Norfolk field office, and the small lobby was dark. From the doorway, he could see that the elevator call buttons weren't illuminated. The building was old; the power supply was occasionally unreliable, and it looked like it had gone out. He fumbled in his pack for a flashlight, using it to find his way into the stairwell.
His apartment was on the fourth floor; the flashlight provided only dim illumination, but it was enough for him to make his way slowly up the stairs. He breathed a sigh of relief as he reached his floor, glad that he was fitter now than he was when he was first posted at Norfolk. Stowing the flashlight back in his pack, he started looking through its compartments for his keys. Intent on his search, he didn't see the dark figure huddled against the wall next to his door until he almost tripped over them. Surprised, he grabbed the flashlight out of the pack again and switched it on, shining it over the person he'd almost fallen over.
"Geez, McGee, will you turn that off?"
Squinting at him against the light was Abby.
...
He felt frozen to the spot, not quite able to believe what he was seeing. His mouth was dry and his heart started to race at the sight of her. She stood, looking at him expectantly. When he didn't react, her brow creased in worry and she started to ramble. "I'm sorry to just turn up like this, but I got your address from the DMV and I wanted to see you. But maybe I shouldn't have come..." she trailed off, taking a step or two backwards. He managed to unglue his tongue from the roof of his mouth long enough to say softly "Don't go, Abs."
She turned back towards him. Realising he was still standing there with his keys in his hand, he unlocked the door of his apartment, ushering her inside with the flashlight.