AN: I am not currently planning to have Ziva appear, but she may. Now…brace yourself…here…comes…Abby…
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Abby huffed as she took her seat, turning her head away from the Doctors direction.
"Something the matter Miss Sciuto?"
She nodded once. "Yes, lots."
"Do you mind elaborating?"
"I don't mind at all!"
"Then by all means…"
She lifted her legs and sat Indian style on the chair. "Frankly…well I don't usually say Frankly, but it seems like a good word to use right now…anyway…Frankly, I am perturbed, usually don't use that either…but you pissed off Ducky, and well it takes a lot to make him angry so in turn, I will now be angry with you."
"So let me get this straight…you're angry with me for making him angry?"
She pointed at her. "You're good you…" Attempting to impersonate Robert DeNiro.
"You are quite the character."
"I get that a lot." She said, but still did not make eye contact.
"Would it help if I apologize?"
"It would."
"Then I apologize."
"You're just saying that."
"I'm saying it because you said it would help, and because I am truly sorry, I had no idea making Doctor Mallard upset would have such a ripple effect."
"Yeah well, when something happens to one of us, it happens to all of us, so I'd be more careful next time."
She nodded. "I sure will."
Abby then readjusted her legs to get comfortable. "Now, let's get right down to it then, you're talking to us because of Kate right?"
"Among other things."
"Well let me tell you first hand, that nothing has been the same since she was killed, and I'm really hoping you can help fix that."
"How would I do that?"
"Cuz you have a degree for, ya know, fixing things…"
"Have you tried fixing it then?"
"Of course, but as you probably know, we are all a melting pot of craziness, I mean Gibbs doesn't go a day without smacking someone, Tony bottles every thing up, and I swear McGee is like having another female on the team."
She laughed a bit. "So it's too hard of a problem for you to fix then?"
"Hey now, I never said that…sheesh, now I know why you pissed off Ducky…quit assuming things will ya…listen, I was just hoping you could give a little insight…not remind me of how incapable I am of solving the problem on my own okay?"
She nodded. "Okay."
"Good."
"So what seems to be the problem again?"
"Lady if you're mocking me, I have no problem reaching over that desk and punching you in the shoulder. I've done it before."
She held her hands up. "That won't be necessary I assure you…I mean, can you elaborate what has been different? Then perhaps we can tackle them one by one."
Abby reacted like a light bulb had just gone off in her head. "Ohh, okay, yeah…so Tony is always trying to act like Gibbs, and has completely given that up… Gibbs has been way nice and way overprotective...ya know more than usual…Ducky is barely telling his long boring side stories…and McGee, well, he's still McGee."
"I see." She wrote down a few things.
"So" she rubbed her hands together. "Let's fix 'em."
"It's not that easy Miss Sciuto, all of these can be complicated issues in each of them…Tony could have given up because he thinks Gibbs failed somehow…Gibbs may be more overprotective than usual because he feels he needs to be…Ducky may not want to tell stories because Kate enjoyed them more than anyone…and McGee may just cope in a private way…ya see all of these issues are quite complex."
Abby cocked her head sideways. "Umm, do they pay you to see things as more complex then they really are…cuz all Tony has to do is realize Gibbs didn't fail, Gibbs needs to ease off cuz his agents are sweet…and well Ducky needs a new fan of his stories…That's it." She clapped her hands and stood up.
"Thanks for helping me work this out…sorry for not looking at you before…you've been a big help." She shook her hand and started out the door, and the doctor could hear her repeating "that's it" to herself over and over as she left.
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