Gibbs stepped forward to stand in front of her. He reached out and gently touched her cheek, sweeping his fingers under her chin to make her look up at him. "You told me not to touch you, so I was respecting your request."

Abby's eyes grew wide. "Gibbs, I didn't… I… I don't remember saying that."

"I reached out to you and you shyed away, kept saying 'don't touch' over and over again."

Abby closed her eyes and sighed. She tried to remember the events as she had stepped off the elevator. "I was covered in blood, and everything… everything hurt so bad. I just… what else did I say?"

"You don't remember?"

"Not really. I remember the elevator ride up. I remember being so tired, thinking maybe I should just wait until someone found me in the elevator. Then I remember waking up in the hospital, the nurse changing the bandages."

"The only other thing you said was that you needed Ducky."

Abby gave a slight shrug. "Well, at least I meant that. I remember walking through the woods thinking that Ducky would take good care of my wounds so that I didn't have to go to the hospital. I hate hospitals. Ever since Tony, you… Not a place I enjoy. I guess I was hurt a little worse than I anticipated."

"You only let Ducky near you. He had to give you a sedative when you got to the hospital so the doctors there could work on you. You don't remember that?"

She shook her head.

"I guess it's for the best."

"I'm really sorry. If I had realized that I had said that… Gibbs, I never meant to…" Abby sighed and rolled her eyes as she stood, a slight smile on her lips. "And since when do you ever follow requests?" She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her body softly against his.

"Since you were the one making it." He whispered softly against her ear. He closed his eyes and held her as tightly as he dared, against his chest. "Doesn't this hurt?"

Abby squeezed a bit tighter. "It'll hurt worse if I don't."

When she decided she could let go, she pulled away slowly and sat down on the steps, patting the spot next to her, urging him to sit. "Thanks, I needed that."

"I did too."

"It was, like, a week overdue." Abby leaned her head on his shoulder.

"It was."

They sat silently for a few minutes.

"Gibbs?"

"Hmm…?"

"You can't blame yourself."

"Abby, I…"

"No, Gibbs. You can't. I called the number, I agreed to meet Jason, I agreed to give myself over, and I didn't listen to anyone. There is no 'you' in that." She silenced him with a finger to his lips. "Gibbs, I did what I did because I love you."

"Abby…" Gibbs turned her face so that she looked at him. He leaned in to kiss her, but stopped when he saw a large tear well up and roll down her cheek. "Abby?"

A second tear formed and then a third. "I was so scared," she sobbed "I was lost in the woods and bleeding and I thought I was going to die and… and… and never got to tell you that I love you."

"Shhh, Abbs. It's ok." Gibbs kissed her cheek, tasting her salty tears on his lips. He turned slightly to pull her against his chest and let her cry. He was sure that there would be many more tears before she was able to move on. He wasn't so sure that he wouldn't end up shedding a few as well. As her sobs turned to a soft whimper, he stood. He fished his wallet out of his back pocket and handed Abby a folded piece of paper. "Can I throw this away now?"

Abby recognized the paper she had scribbled her note to him on, and nodded. "Yeah, toss it."

Gibbs flashed a grin and dropped the paper to the floor. He'd come back down later and tuck it away for safe keeping.

Abby sniffed and wiped at her eyes. "You didn't start on a boat, did you?"

"Nah." Gibbs shook his head. "I hadn't given up yet." He reached out and took her hand, noticing how she smiled at the simple contact. "Come on. Let's get you tucked back into bed. You need some rest."

"You'll stay with me?"

"Up you go, come on."

"Gibbs, you'll stay with me?"

"Relax, I wouldn't leave. Not even if you told me too."

"Funny." Abby started up the stairs with Gibbs behind her, a gentle hand on her lower back.

Once again Gibbs tucked the sheets around Abby, this time kissing her softly as he did so. Abby's eyes grew wide. "Gibbs?"

"Shhh, Abby. Sleep. We're going to get you through this before we talk about us."

"Us?"

"Close your eyes and sleep. I'll be right back, I just need to turn some lights off downstairs."

Abby nodded and her eyes closed.

Gibbs was quickly back down in the basement. He picked up the note that Abby had written. He tucked it into a small box and placed up on the top shelf in his basement. He hit the top of the stairs and flipped off the lights. In the kitchen he filled the coffee filter for the next morning.

He expected Abby to still be awake when he returned, but was please to find her sound asleep. He crawled onto the bed to lie beside her. She moved towards him in her sleep, and he wrapped his arms gently around her.

"I love you Abby, I'm going to get you through this."

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TBC…