Taking care of lil' sis

NCIS is property of CBS and Don Bellisario, all characters are theirs alone.

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Thanks again to Chelsea1234, for helping me finish this!

While Ziva was upstairs with Gibbs, Tony and McGee headed down to check on Abby in her lab.

Knock! Knock!

Worried by the lack of an answer from their lil sis' Tony and McGee eased into the lab looking for Abby. "Abby, Abby are you in there?" McGee asked.

"Shhhh! McGee, found her." Tony said as he pointed to the sleeping form on the futon. Abby was laying on her stomach, head pillowed by Burt her farting hippo, still sniffling every so often. "Gibbs must have really worn her out today. If she is still on her stomach he must have spanked her awful hard."

"Awful is right. YAWN!" Abby spoke in a slight voice. Twisting to her side to look up at her big brothers, Abby put on her best pouty face. "Do you know what he did to me? " Abby was trying to work the sympathy card with her brothers.

"Uh, well considering you broke Gibbs grounding rules, hacked in NCIS, messed with all of us and then to top it off, you LIED to Jackson, I bet he took you to the woodshed and paddled your ass. Been there, done that. Not pleasant. But, come Abs, it does not take a MIT graduate to figure out that you would be in big trouble. I mean, come on you know the phrase Father know best was not just the title of a classic TV show, it is the truth with Gibbs."

"Yea, Abs, did you really think you would get away with this? I mean at first it was funny, if you could have seen these three bouncing from computer to computer. That was quite, OWW! What was that?" McGee said as he rubbed the stinging out of the back of his head.

"That" Tony interrupted, "was for laughing at my expense. It was not funny at the time."

"Oh, come on Tony, it was one of the best practical jokes I've pulled in a long time, you're just jealous that you didn't think of doing the same thing." Abby was starting to smile a little. Just having the presence of her brothers cheered her up a little. "Hey, guys, can I ask you a question? Truthfully."

"Shoot."

"Anything Abs"

"Do you guys feel the same way that Ziva does?" Abby gently bit on her lower lip, afraid of what they might answer.

"Truthfully, Abs, every so often that little green guy crops up, especially the times that Gibbs punishes me for something, you do something along the same lines and yet, you always seem to come off a little less punished. But, in all fairness, I know that you would never ask for differential treatment, that is just the luck of the baby." Tony explained.

Abby felt the tears start to well up in her eyes, she never thought they actually felt this way. Maybe Ziva was right and she did get special treatment.

"Yea, Abs, sometimes I feel a little jealous because there have been times when I get in trouble for helping you. Remember Mikel and you letting him in my apartment, after I repeatedly told you not to open the door. Afterwards, after I recovered from the scare of you almost being hurt, Gibbs lit into my ass for failing to protect you. Gibbs not letting me sit for a while was really a favor to hide just how sore I was, and you never get in trouble. But, once I looked back I realized the important thing was that you were safe and alive." McGee said. He hated to admit that but being honest was the best way for Abby to see that they were all family and families are not perfect.

"OHHH, MCGEE!" Abby stood up and started crying hard into McGee's shoulder. He gently wrapped his arms around her and Tony came to stand beside her enclosing the trio in a group hug. "I-I-I'm sorry that I didn't realize this. But, by the way, after that little episode, Gibbs voiced his displeasure with my actions over his knee in the basement. You weren't the only one who couldn't sit the next morning."

"Shhh, its OK Abs, we're a family, we will always take care of each other ,even though sometimes we may not get along or feel jealous, we're still all in this together." Tony gently pulled on her pigtail, hoping to get her out of this little pity party.

HRMPHH! "Is this invitation only or are others allowed?" Ziva asked with a hesitant expression in her eyes. She was doubting if they would let her in on this little pow wow. She stood in the doorway, waiting for Abby to make the decision, if Abby was not ready to forgive her then she might as well head on home.

Abby, always the one with the big heart, looked up into Tony's eyes, broke into a big grin and then turned to Ziva. "Nope, no invitation needed, but it is family only."

"Oh, well then I will just.." Ziva turned from the door, heart breaking as she felt cast aside.

"AGENT ZIVA DAVID, HALT!" Abby said in her best Gibbs impression. "Who gave you permission to leave?"

"Well, you said family and I knew that you are upset at me so I was …" Ziva sputtered.

"Did I miss a memo? Since when does a little sibling rivalry mean that you are not wanted anymore? I mean, DUH? It isn't called sibling rivalry just because it sounds good. Siblings infers brothers and SISTERS! Just walk that little patootie over here and join in. It wouldn't be complete without all my siblings here."

"But, Abs, I just wanted to say, I am sor…"

"Obviously, she is must have suffered some sort of head injury by Gibbs upstairs. Oh, did he head slap, you, just wait. I mean what is the rule for saying you're sorry. You are not a weak person, you are my big sister. So just forget it and get in here." Abby finshed as she pulled Ziva into the group hug. " We may not always be one big HAPPY family, but guys we are one family. One that I love. Ain't that right dad?" Abby said as she looked up at the flashing red camera that was mounted on the wall.

Gibbs gently shook his head, smiled and finished his coffee. All was well in the family of Gibbs.