Gibbs had whipped out his cell as soon as he and Tim were out of the Intensive Care Unit and dialed the number for Abby, knowing that the Goth wouldn't be asleep yet or even if she was, she wouldn't mind getting up for this.

"You have reached Abby, the queen of the lab and the mistress of the-" Her exuberant hello was cut off by Gibbs' terse voice

"I need you back at the lab."

"Well good evening to you too Gibbs. I'm actually in my lab and before you say anything I know you told me to go home but I couldn't sleep knowing that Tony was still in danger of getting shipped off to god knows where and I just wanted-"

" Abs, take a breath, we'll see you in ten" Gibbs hung up the phone before Abby could respond and he and McGee got in his car as they had reached the parking lot during the call.

"She already in?" McGee asked as he buckled up as the car screeched away from the hospital's lot. It didn't take a genius to figure out that since Abby lived quite a way for the navy yard that in order for her to be there in ten would mean that she was already there.

"Yeah." The terse answer told Tim that Gibbs wasn't in a mood to talk. Tim did a mental snort at the thought of Gibbs in a talkative mood.

In all seriousness though Tim could understand his lover's silence. Maria's revelations and actions had given both men a lot to think about and the stress of not knowing what would happen with Tony was adding to their already heavy minds. To top it all of Tim was still carrying with him the guilt of leaving his son alone and essentially getting him kidnapped. He had known that Marco was planning something and his actions had given the man a prime opportunity to make his move and get his hands on the innocent little boy and hurt him.

Images of Tony's bruised neck and face came to his mind and as if sensing where the young man's thoughts had gone, Gibbs took his hand in his free one and gave it a reassuring squeeze. McGee turned bright eyes to the older man and gave him a small smile that the man saw from his peripheral vision and returned.

The silence lasted for the whole drive since neither man really felt the need to say anything. When Gibbs had to extract his hand form the other man's in order to work the stick shift, Tim mover his to rest on his arm so that they were physically connected the whole drive. Both men drew strength from the other and as they reached the navy yard, they both felt in control of their emotions and had processed the events of the day to their best ability.

The two agents made their way to the elevator and pushed the button for the lab. Once the car started moving, Gibbs pressed the emergency stop button and turned to his companion who just stood there watching him.

"You holding up okay Tim?" Now that the ride back had helped to clear his own mind the senior agent could concentrate on making sure his lover and agent was holding it together.

"None of this is making sense. I mean Marco is going to a lot of trouble to get Tony away from us and I just can't see why. I mean I'd get it if he'd do some little things to piss me off and maybe even try through official channels to get Tony, but he kidnapped a child and abused him, not to mention that apparently he's going to fake a paternity test! And he's resorted to Blackmail and bribing. Why would he do that?" Gibbs watched as Tim started pacing in the small confines of the elevator and thought that it was only logical that his lover's thoughts mirrored those of his own.

"I don't know, Maybe he just couldn't handle his wife's death and somehow blames either Tony or you for it" He stepped into the younger man's way and placed his hands on his shoulders.

"But it doesn't matter right now, all I need to know if you're doing alright and after we've brought the samples to Abby we can try to dig into his motives more." Gibbs looked the other man straight in the eyes and tried to convey his determination to get their boy back with just one look.

"Yeah, I'm not okay but I'm as good as I can be, I'll be better once I have my son back."

"Well get him back, I lost one child, I'm not losing another" Gibbs said as he reached to flip the elevator back to life and turn away from his now a bit shocked agent. It wasn't like Tim didn't know that Jethro cared for Tony, but hearing him say it in do plain terms made his heart warm and his determination to settle this that much greater.

When they reached the lab they could noticed the absence of the pounding music that normally assaulted you as soon as you got of on Abby's floor, but this time there were gentle and more melodic tunes coming from the lab. The men exchanged a puzzled glance before entering the Goth's domain.

Both men were fully expecting to find Abby hunched over her desk working on her computer, but instead the girl was jumping around the lab with her usual bouncy way even if the music was a far cry from he usual death metal and the like.

"Bossman! And Timmy!" She cried as she noticed the men and launched herself at them giving both a quick hug before dragging them towards two stools.

"What's with the music Abs? And how many caff pows have you had?" Gibbs asked as he was being shepherded towards the stool and he tweaked one of the Goth's pigtails as he was pushed to sit.

"I'm sending positive thoughts and vibes to Tony and I thought that some music might sooth him and I really didn't think that scaring him with some heavy metal would be a good idea. And I've had only three drinks since I came back here so not much more than usual" She shoved Tim to sit as well and didn't notice the baffled look on the younger man's face or the amused look Gibbs was sending her.

"Okay spill, why do you need me in the lab and how'd it go with the nurse? And hows Tony? Ooooh did you bring me a gift?" The last part was asked as she caught sight of the package with the blood samples.

"Maria gave us samples of Tony's blood and I need you to test it and compare the DNA to McGee." Abby took the samples and set to work getting a DNA from them and putting rest of the samples to her small evidence fridge.

Gibbs watched as she worked and at the same time filled her in on everything that happened during their visit to the hospital not leaving out any details.

"That bitch!" Abby exclaimed as Gibbs finished his recount of the events and Maria's explanations. McGee shook his head and looked at both of the other occupants of the lab.

"I don't think she's a bad person, she was desperate and made a bad choice. God knows everyone has regrets and things we wish we could change, but she tried to make it better the only way she could." Tim thought of his own regrets and thought how he'd like to go back and change things, but as he defended the nurse's actions and understood some of them, it didn't mean he approved.

Gibbs shook his head, he understood McGee's thoughts and even agreed with him to some degree, but in the end he just wasn't willing to forget and forgive that easily.

"But Tim! If she had kept her big trap closed maybe Marco wouldn't have had so much ammo against you and maybe if she hadn't been feeding him info he would have given up." Abby wasn't ready to give in, but Gibbs quieted her down with a look that brook no argument. He knew where McGee's thoughts had again strayed and the more Abby pressed the point of Maria's errors, the more Tim would fret over his own mistakes. He wished he could take away all of the guilt Tim was feeling, but unfortunately there really wasn't much he could do but to be there and support the younger man and hope that once Tony was back with them, the guilt would go away.

"Abby, Ducky will take a blood sample from McGee in the morning for you to compare Tony's to. I don't want to use the one on record because it might have been tampered with. You mind if we grab a few hours of sleep in your office?" Gibbs gave a pointed jerk of his head in the direction of Tim who looked exhausted after the last few days.

"Of course you can. Take the futon, I won't be sleeping yet anyway and I can grab a few hours of shut eye after you." Gibbs nodded his thanks as he stood up and pulled Tim to his feet.

"C'mon Tim, lets get some sleep"

"What about Marco's-" Tim tried to protest not wanting to sleep when he could be doing something to help his son.

"It can wait a few hours Tim, we can't really do anything before we get the test run and can talk to the people at CPS" After his protests had been cut off Tim let himself be taken to the office and he watched as Gibbs spread the futon.

"Come on" The older man ordered as he laid down on the futon and held a hand out to Tim who took it and laid down next ti him with his head on Jethro's shoulder. Gibbs wrapped his arms around the younger man and they both fell asleep quickly as the stress of the past few days and of the hospital visit took their toll on the exhausted duo.

Both men slept deeply and neither woke up as the door to the office opened and a dark figure came inside and snapped a couple of pictures of the sleeping couple that was snuggled tightly together. Abby grinned as she excited the room and closed the door behind her leaving the two men to their slumber.

She looked at the photos on the screen of her digital camera and smiled at how adorable the men were together, but the smile faded as she couldn't shake the feeling that the picture was incomplete. She sighed as she hoped that Tony would soon be brought back to where he belongs so that the picture would be whole again.

TBC...

A/N: So as you see this chapter was pretty much a filler, but you gotta write what you gotta write ;) Anyways next chapter will have more action I promise.

School started and I've been messing with the new students all week and I'm thinking some of them are completely loco, but I'm thinking you have to be a bit wacko to become a nurse... at least that seems to be the case with every nurse student I've encountered :D And of course you all have noticed that I have a few screws loose... Anyways, I'm thinking the next chap will be up... Next week, maybe Monday or Tuesday. If I get some writing done tomorrow I may be able to post over the weekend.

Thank you again for all the reviews and alerts! Hello my name is esprit and I'm a reviewaholic (what do you mean that isn't a word?) Yep, this happens when you post new chapters at two in the morning... was that a thunder? *goes hide under the bed*