A/N Thanks for the reviews. Hope you're still enjoying my NCIS Universe.

I hadn't thought the story would go this long but it looks like there is going to be another chapter or two yet.

Please let me know if you're enjoying the characters and storylines. I love writing but if there is no interest, I don't want to waste my time or yours.

I have some idea for some one-shots in this universe, so let me know if you want to read them.

Enjoy!

God bless, Jenny Wrens

Gibbs frowned as he forced himself to awaken. An incessant beeping had entered his subconscious pulling him out of his much-needed slumber. It wasn't until he opened his eyes that he realised he was still in the hospital with Aimee curled up in his lap. His own exhaustion had taken over and he'd fallen asleep with her in his arms. He gently planted a kiss on her blonde head and slowly slipped out of the bed. At the same time, a nurse scurried into the room to answer the beeping of the IV drip.

"So sorry, Agent Gibbs. I wanted to catch that before it woke you."

He waved a dismissive hand. "I guess I was more tired than I realised."

She smiled and reset the IV drip, checking Aimee vital signs. "You should go home and get some proper rest. Aimee will probably sleep for hours now."

"Why is that?" queried Gibbs, feeling his concern rise once again.

She smiled again. "Not to worry, Agent Gibbs. Aimee is fine; I promise. She just needs her rest as do you. Go on; get some sleep. We'll call you if anything changes."

Gibbs stifled a yawn and nodded. Grabbing his sports coat from the chair, he took one last look at Aimee sleeping peacefully and wandered out the door into the hall. As he walked down the hallway towards the elevator, his eye caught sight of Tony and Abby sleeping in the adjoined waiting area. Tony's head was leaning against the wall and Abby was curled up with her dark head on his lap. Gibbs ran a weary hand through his hair as he quietly entered the room and tapped Tony on the head.

"Hey, DiNozzo."

Tony's eyes fluttered a little and opened. "Hey, Boss. How's Aimee doing?"

"She's fine. How long have you two been waiting here?"

Tony sat up a little being mindful to not disturb Abby's slumber. "Not sure exactly. Couple hours maybe. We saw you and Aimee sleeping and didn't want to disturb you. The nurses said we could crash here if we liked."

"Should have taken Abby home like I asked before."

"I know, but I wanted to get her looked at…"

"Abby?" Gibbs' eyes shot towards Abby, giving her a once over. "Why? What happened?" His mind flew back to stuff that had happened at NCIS. Had something happened to Abby?

Tony blinked a few times and then worked his way to his feet, being careful not wake the dark haired Goth. Abby continued to sleep peacefully as he gently lowered her head to the chair. He pulled off his coat and covered her with it.

"Can we talk, Boss?"

Gibbs' blue eyes kept staring at Abby, taking in her exhausted form and what looked like tears still lingering on her cheeks. He felt his heart rate increase again sending a rush of adrenalin that woke him up fully.

"What's going on, DiNozzo?"

Tony started walking out of the room into the hallway with Gibbs following close behind not expecting what he was about to be told. Once outside the waiting room, Gibbs listened as Tony filled him in on all he'd missed searching and rescuing Aimee from the morgue drawer. The colour drained from Gibbs' face as he listened to what went down with Abby and her reaction to it all. Rinnert? The whole blasted thing had been spearheaded by Rinnert? Gibbs could hardly wrap his head around it let alone figure out why. It made no sense. And Abby taking the idiot on by herself? Gibbs groaned and leaned against the wall. Inherently, he knew Abby could take care of herself. She had proven it to him time and time again, but the thought of her being in danger and him not being close by to help made his blood run cold. What if something had happened to her? He would have never forgiven himself.

"You sure she's okay, Tony?" he asked again, feeling a mixture of sudden anger and disbelief.

Tony nodded. "She's fine. As far as I can tell and from what she told me, Rinnert didn't lay a hand on her."

Gibbs tried to let that appease him a little, but it wasn't working.

"Boss, Abbs…uh…she thinks…umm…"

Gibbs looked at Tony, his annoyance growing. "Spit it out, DiNozzo."

Tony sighed, looking about as wiped out as Gibbs felt. Tony made a horrible attempt at trying to explain how Abby was feeling…making Gibbs realise that he was failing yet again. So far he was batting a thousand in the worst dad in the world tournament. "She can take care of herself and all but, Boss, don't forget she's your Abbs, okay?"

Gibbs lowered his head and nodded. He understood. Abby was his daughter. She had been his daughter since the day the little Goth girl stepped foot into NCIS. She was fresh out of school looking as innocent and young as any college girl. There had been something special about her that caught his eye. Her vulnerability mixed with a spunk he couldn't resist. He had met her in the elevator after her interview. Her bubbly personality mixed with a downcast spirit and tear stained cheeks had tugged at his heart strings. The interview hadn't gone as well as she had hoped and she found a captive audience in him. She'd had no idea at the time that he was an agent and unloaded her whole life story to him that first day, including the recent death of her parents in a car accident. She had stolen his heart that day.

"Go home and get some sleep, Tony. I'll take Abby home."

"You sure, Boss?"

Gibbs nodded. He needed some time with Abby. Tony rubbed a hand over his face and gave Gibbs one last look.

"What happened today wasn't anyone's fault, Gibbs. Aimee, Abby…those incidents weren't your fault; you know that, right?"

Gibbs' face remained deadpan. "Thanks, Tony. Go home. That's an order."

Tony gave him a warm smile and nodded before turning and heading towards the nearest elevator.

Gibbs watched as Tony stepped onto the lift before turning back and walking towards the waiting room. Abby still slept soundly with Tony's jacket wrapped around her shoulders. Gibbs hated to wake her but he leaned over and shook her gently. Abby's eyes fluttered a little and she opened her eyes, bolting up and rubbing at her tired looking, swollen eyes.

"Hey, Gibbs. How's Aimee?"

Gibbs sat down beside her and drew her in for a hug. "Aimee is fine. I'm more concerned about you. You ok? Tony told me about Rinnert. He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Abby shook her head and pulled away. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs, resting her chin on her knees. Her body language was saying one thing and her mouth was saying the opposite.

"I'm ok, Gibbs. You know I can take care of myself. Besides, we were in my lab. I could have taken him down in 100 different ways and he'd never see it coming."

Gibbs nodded and smirked. Abby was a very resourceful woman no matter where she was. She might have looked vulnerable but there was no doubt that she could take care of herself. She'd proven that to him so many times over the years, and in her own lab, Abby was downright dangerous. Rinnert was a fool to think he could ever outwit her. Underestimating Abby was his first and last mistake.

"Let me guess, some kind of chemical knockout gas?"

"Of course, Gibbs. What else would be quick, easy and cause the least amount of danger to anyone else in the building?"

Gibbs went to put his arm around her again but she pulled away, dropping her feet to the floor and standing up.

"You must be tired, Gibbs. I'm going to get going. I was thinking I'd go stay with Sister Marjorie for a couple of days. Do you think Director Shepard would mind if I took a few days leave?"

Gibbs lifted a brow and frowned. "No, she probably wouldn't mind, but I would. Abbs, what the hell is going on with you?"

Abby drew her hands together, tapping her knuckles together in that telltale sign of nervousness he'd seen so many times.

"Nothing, Gibbs; I just thought you and the girls needed some quiet time alone together. You know, after everything that's happened, I'm sure you have a lot of talk about and you certainly don't need me under foot. Sister Marjorie offered to help me find an apartment when I was ready and there is no time like the present, Gibbs. The early bird gets the worm and all that…"

"Abby."

"I've probably over stayed my welcome anyway. Now that I'm back to work and making a decent salary again, I can afford a nice apartment. I hope it's okay if I leave my stuff in storage at your place until I find something. If not, I'm sure Timmy wouldn't mind storing…"

"That's enough, Abbs."

Abby continued talking faster and faster ignoring Gibbs words as he attempted to stop her nervous rambling. Something was bothering the Goth and he needed to get to the bottom of it for both their sakes. He found himself growing more and more impatient with her as she continued bulldozing through with her words and ignoring his.

"I'm sure you'll be glad to have the house to yourself again, Gibbs. It gets crowded with two adults and two kids occupying the same space day in and day out…"

Gibbs held his hand up. "Don't make me say stop one more time, Abby."

Abby's eyes widened a little and she hesitated for a moment but then continued on. "I bought a paper citing all the current listings in the area from the coffee shop before I feel asleep." She opened her purse, fished out a paper and opened it to some listings showing it to him. "I'm sure Tony or Ziva or even Timmy could come help me look. There was this really cute bachelorette on Borgne Street.

Gibbs closed his eyes briefly as she continued rambling. He forced himself to breathe deeply and count to ten. He honestly didn't know who frustrated him more: Aimee or Abby.

"Abby, I said STOP!"

Abby looked startled. "Gibbs…"

He reached out and put a gentle hand over her open mouth. "Not another word. Yes, I raised my voice at you. No, I don't do that often, but good grief, girl, you won't stop talking even when I ask you to stop nicely."

Abby pushed his hand away and turned to leave the room. Gibbs grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. His steely blue eyes swam with compassion mixed with a good dose of 'don't mess with me'.

"Sit, Abby." He surprised himself with how calm his words sounded when inside he felt anything but composed.

She pulled her arm away. "No! I'm leaving, Gibbs."

Gibbs stepped in front of her and used what little energy he had left to stare her down, making himself as intimidating as possible. He usually reserved such a glare for Tony when he was ticking him off.

"Sit down!" He inwardly winced at his tone. He hadn't intended for his words to be so harsh. They sounded like an ultimatum even to him. What was he getting himself into?

Abby's eyes widened again and she gulped in trepidation.

Struggling not to give in to his emotions, Gibbs felt like he was about two seconds away from applying a customised-for-Abby Gibb's smack. He was just waiting for her to challenge him again. He was exhausted and certainly not in the mood for an Abby-sized temper tantrum.

"Gibbs, I'm tired…" she muttered, attempting to edge past him.

Gibbs reached out to grab her arm once again more sternly. "Sit your ass down now and I won't say it again!"

Abby stared at Gibbs in shock as tears flooded down her cheeks. It wasn't often he was this severe with her.

He glared back at her. "Are we going to sit and talk or do I need to insist further?" He didn't need to say anything more; she knew what he meant.

Abby sat.

Gibbs pulled another chair up and sat directly in front of her. "Now, talk to me!"

Abby blinked as tears continued to stream down her cheeks and fall onto her pink skirt.

"It's nothing, Gibbs," she whined.

Gibbs took a deep breath, sighing with a pained expression on his face. "Abby, I'm about one nothing away from pulling you over my knee, and right now, I don't even care we're in a hospital waiting room where anyone could walk in on us. Does that tell you something about my tolerance level about now?" Gibbs cursed his own paternal instincts. What on earth was he even saying? Thankfully, Abby was backing down, looking sheepish and not at all threatened. Gibbs took that as his permission to continue. "Look, I'm tired, and I already feel like a complete failure; don't push me into doing something we'll both regret and that will make me feel even worse than I do already."

Abby chewed her lip and nodded.

"Abby, I never once asked you to leave. Remember whose idea it was for you to stay with me in the first place? You're not overstaying your welcome. If you want to find your own place, that's a different story, but let's take some time to look for a place together. There is no rush. I will help you."

Abby looked down at her platform boots and fidgeted in her seat.

Gibbs continued. "Where is this all coming from anyway? You seemed fine this morning. I know we're all shaken up after today but that means we should take some time to regroup, not pull apart. Now, if you want to stay with Sister Marjorie, that's your choice but don't you dare dump that 'time alone with the girls' crap on me." He used his fingers as quotes to show his point, despite the fact that Abby was refusing to look at him. "That's not true and you know it!"

Abby continued to stare at her boots.

Gibbs sighed. "Abbs, look at me."

When she didn't move, he gently reached out and lifted her chin with his hand. She blinked back tears and chewed on her lip.

"I'm going to take a stab in the dark here, mostly because Tony already told me some stuff…"

Abby's eyes widened again and she opened her mouth indignantly, "He shouldn't have said anything!"

Gibbs lifted a brow. "Oh, why is that? Because you are so forthcoming on your own? Is that it?"

Abby closed her mouth.

"Abby, Aimee, and Janessa don't change anything between us. They don't change how I feel about you. I'm still the same ole Gibbs, the same grumpy guy who brings you Caf-Pows and makes unrealistic demands on you. I'm still going to make you tell me about your life and who you're dating. I'm still going to keep poking my nose in where it doesn't belong."

Gibbs saw a hint of a smirk graced her face.

"Aimee and Janessa are my daughters, but so are you. You were my first after Kelly. You are helping to heal my heart, Abbs, and I'm sorry I dropped the ball today. I wasn't there for you when you needed me most, and I feel like a failure all the way around."

Before Gibbs could finish his sentence, Abby launched herself into his arms sobbing. Gibbs embraced her, feeling his heart rate increase in his chest. He was choked up himself. He loved Abby more than he cared to admit. He loved all his team like they were his kids. He probably shouldn't let himself get so personally involved but he had. It was who he was. He had spent the better part of his career pushing people away or so he thought, but in reality, those same people had inched their way into his heart. It was why his front door was unlocked and open all the time. It was why his team felt so free to come and go in his home. On the outside, he was gruff and impossible; on the inside, he was jelly and they all knew it.

"I was so scared, Gibbs. I kept hoping you'd come and when you didn't, I thought you didn't care anymore. I know it's stupid because I know you had to rescue Aimee. She needed you! She's just a little girl and I'm not. But, Gibbs, I need you too. I'm sorry I'm so hopeless."

Gibbs held her and pressed a kiss onto her head. He never knew where this insecurity and jealousy came from with Abby, but it was there. And it wasn't the first time he'd seen it. For some reason, she had a strong bond with him. Maybe it was because he was the first authority figure in her life after her parents died. He couldn't be sure but she craved his attention and his love. He was bonded to her as well. He couldn't help himself. She was his Abby.

"It's okay, Abbs. I'm here and you're safe now." He gently pushed her away and looking into her green eyes, swimming in tears. "I'm just one man, Abby. I'm not the superhero you think I am, but know this, I promise to be here for you as much and as often as I am able. You're going to need to be patient with me while we figure all this out, okay?"

Abby nodded again and sniffled. Gibbs reached out and tapped her nose playfully.

"So what's it gonna be? Sister Marjorie's place or mine?"

Abby sucked in her bottom lip and sighed. "Yours."

Gibbs smiled. "Okay then, let's go home and get some rest."

He pulled Abby to her feet and into another warm embrace. "I love you, Abbs. Ain't nothing going to change that. I hope the guy you marry someday is ready for a father-in-law like me."

Abby giggled in his arms and Gibbs smiled as well, pulling her in tighter. Maybe, just maybe, he'd figure it all out.