Just to warn you – I've been overdosing on The Wire so I may have gone overboard with the police brutality in this chapter.

People expressed a desire to at least clean up a backstory so I hope that Abby's is at least almost explained fully. I will still leave some bits to come later but this is the bulk of it.

Abby reached Billy in a matter of seconds as the crowd had dispersed the second that the 'incident' had begun.

Billy was lying on the floor with two cops tasing him, taking it in turns to shock him. Abby let out an angry howl as she pushed one of the cops away from her boyfriend, grabbing the taser out of his hand.

The other turned to her, his jaw set and his eyes fiery. Abby, however, was just as virile. Her eyes flashed as her fist lashed out, catching the policeman in the eye. He stumbled back, clutching his face. Blood streamed through his fingers and Abby stopped short in shock. She looked down at her hand in horror. She was still clutching her taser in her hand. A sharp edge had caught his eye and had caused unknown damage.

Her mouth fell open and she stepped backwards. The first cop that she had 'attacked' had scrambled to his feet and was cursing her with a flaming fury. Acting purely to protect herself, she swung her other fist. Due to her height, she caught his jaw with a sickening crack.

He let out an animalistic roar and launched himself at her. She was felled by his superior stature and found herself vulnerable on the ground. His boot was kicked into her stomach, forcefully and repeatedly. She curled up to protect herself and covered her face with her hands.

One kick moved further north, slamming into her nose. Blood streamed onto the road; creating a small waterfall of dark red liquid which pooled beneath her pale face.

Just as suddenly as the backlash began, it stopped. Frightened, Abby opened one eye and saw Billy throw himself on top of the policeman whom he had presumably just pulled down.

Abby crawled away, pressing her hand to her nose. She reached the far pavement and leant against a shop wall, watching Billy batter the policeman.

Other cops swarmed in, appearing from different arteries off the main road. Abby shouted out to alert Billy but either he didn't hear or he didn't heed her warning because he continued to lay into the helpless copper.

They wrestled him to the ground, each one pulling out a taser. Abby screamed and scrambled to her feet to run over and save him. She entered the mêlée with her fists flailing wildly.

Seconds later, she was tased and lying powerless next to Billy at the mercy of the policemen. They indulged in a few more kicks before flipping them onto their stomachs and cuffing them.

The rest of the day passed in a fog of confusion and pain but Abby distinctly remembered her first night in a jail cell.

Billy was in the adjacent one and, reaching their hands through the bars, they could just about touch fingertips.

'Thank you, Abby,' he whispered. 'I love you.'

Despite her hopeless situation, a grin broke out on Abby's face. In hindsight, she was glad that he couldn't see it because he would have teased her mercilessly and ruined the moment.

As it was, she was free to reply with the exact same words. 'I love you.'

Abby turned to McGee, feeling that an appropriate response was necessary after staring into mid-air for so long. 'Assaulting a police officer,' she replied shortly. 'Six years ago.'

McGee's mouth fell open. 'You…you…assaulted a…Abby…' he stuttered.

Abby placed her hands on her knees, moving her face closer to his. 'They attacked us first,' she defended.

'I believe you, Abby,' he replied sincerely. 'You would never hurt anyone without a reason.'

Abby smiled weakly and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. 'Thank you, McGee,' she whispered.

He nodded. 'Did you…?'

Abby took her hands off his knees. 'I was released on terms of bail,' she told him. 'I can't leave the state without permission from a Judge for another year.' She grinned. 'Luckily, I have a friend in the legal department of Phoenix police department.'

McGee smiled warmly. 'You have friends everywhere, Abby.'

She swallowed, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. 'You're so sweet, McGee,' she murmured. She leaned in to kiss his cheek again but he turned his face at the same time and she caught his mouth.

Instead of pulling away and laughing awkwardly, she kept her lips pressed to his. He opened his mouth and let her slip her tongue in. Sparks flew and, if it had been a graphic created by either of the two computers geniuses, fireworks would have exploded in all their glory behind the electrifying couple. Their mouths danced together until, finally, they ran out of collective breath and had to pull away.

They stared at each other, unsure how to proceed after that unplanned act. The mutual attraction was evident but neither had ever voiced the magnetism since they had first stopped seeing each other almost thirty years previously.

Affection left to fester for three decades inevitably grew stronger, especially when coupled with the push factors of obsessive ex-wives and incarcerated boyfriends. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Abby made an executive decision for both of them by leaning in one more time for the kill. The embrace lasted longer this time; with both participants in the embrace seeing it coming and taking a breath.

McGee was the first to pull away. 'I'm married,' he said flatly.

Abby knitted her brows. 'I thought you were divorced,' she replied slowly.

He shook his head honestly. 'We aren't divorced yet.' He sighed sorrowfully. 'I have to sort things out with her first. This isn't fair.'

Abby nodded. 'I understand.' Truthfully, she was almost glad that he needed some time to sort things out. It would give her time to talk to Billy.

She thanked the prison guard and walked over to the table where Billy was waiting. She kissed his cheek affectionately before sitting down opposite him.

Seeing him after two months of staying away was difficult. She had established a routine of going every weekend to see him but then her psychiatrist had suggested that she try to limit her visits. She had somehow survived the two months devoid from his sustaining presence but, now that she was reminded of how handsome and mesmerising he was, she made a note to cancel her appointments with that woman from then on.

'How are you?' she asked, her voice laced with concern.

He shrugged. 'I get by, you know,' he replied. 'I made a few friends, stay out of the way of the bad guys. I don't want to get into trouble, see.'

If she had not been so drunk on his charisma, she would have remarked on the unpunctuality of that resolution. If he had not been a regular in fights, he would have – most probably at least – been out and living with her, a free man, after three years. Now he was stuck in his cell for another four years.

She nodded. 'You want to get parole as soon as possible,' she agreed, not realising the irony in her words.

He held out his hands for her to take. 'Will you still be waiting for me?' he asked.

She laughed and placed her petite hands in his calloused ones. 'Of course,' she replied. 'I'll always be waiting.'

'I love you, Abby,' he said.

She smiled and repeated the words back to him. 'I love you, Billy. I always will.' She stood up and moved round the table, sitting down on his lap and kissing him. 'Always,' she whispered in between kisses. 'Always.'

Twenty minutes later, a bell went and Abby had to leave. She stopped in the doorway and watched him disappear back into the belly of the prison. That was his life now and would be for the rest of his sentence.

He had previous convictions; juvenile delinquency, trespassing, theft, assault, to name a few. Abby had none; in fact, she had a spotless record improved by many dedicated years as a renowned scientist at a federal agency. She had proved herself to be contrite for injuring the policeman whereas Billy had laughed and spat at the men when they appeared on the witness stand. That was the only difference between freedom and entrapment.

As she turned to leave the prison, she repeated her promise to him, which had become a ritual between them during her visits. 'I'll always be waiting,' she whispered to the empty air.

McGee patted Abby's shoulder. 'I think I had better get back to my room now,' he excused, a red flush creeping up from his neck to cover his cheeks.

Abby started and nodded. 'Yes, well, I'll be seeing you later,' she replied.

He hovered, perhaps wondering whether a kiss on the cheek would be appropriate. After all, they had not written off their kiss, they had just put any further development of a relationship on hold until he had sorted out his baggage. Eventually, he decided to go for it and bent over to kiss her cheek.

She accepted it stiffly, keeping her eyes fixed on the stained curtain. He murmured a goodnight before closing the door behind him.

Abby sat upright, as still as a professional human statue, before flopping backwards and closing her eyes. Sleep took a long time to descend and, when it did, it was restless and nightmarish.

It's the 10th chapter so I thought that I would give you a glimpse of the other side of this depression and moodiness. Moving towards the happier part of their lives, after I've tied up their post-NCIS stories.

This story is moving quite slowly, though, which I apologise for. Ten chapters for one evening. Perhaps I should go back to updating twice a day to press forward faster, or do longer chapters? This chapter is quite long, though, by my standards at least.