"All Around Me- Acoustic"

It was a soft, chilly Saturday in April, and Abby was driving her hearse to a mall in Northern Virginia to buy a present for her young cousin. She parked in between an ugly brown car and a dark blue SUV, parked crookedly on her right. She opened the door carefully, avoiding the crappy parking job of the blue vehicle.

Gripping her purse, she felt a cloud of loneliness pressing upon her. She fought against the increasing pressure as she pulled open the door. She knew the dam was going to break soon. That's when she first noticed her walking toward her.

Abby ran to the nearest bathroom, knocking into various shoppers. She tried locking the door, but her hands shook too hard. She retreated into a corner, sinking down, sobbing. The girl walked into the room, then finished Abby's job of locking the door. She squatted down next to Abby, and embraced the sobbing woman. Abby clung to her. The girl let her cry for awhile.

"Abby, are you alright?" she asked softly.

"No, Sarah, I'm really not."

Tim got the text about two seconds after he lost his sister. It was short and to the point.

Someone's here. Get the car and go home. I'll meet you.

That could only mean one thing; an NCIS member was here. He started running to the parking lot, his purchases forgotten. He pulled out his keys and ran frantically, trying to locate his car. Then, he found his car.

Parked next to a long, black hearse.

God, Abby was here? And he had to leave her, again? And Sarah got to see her?

It was so unfair.

He just prayed that she had completely forgotten about him. He couldn't dal with the thought that he might cause her any more pain.

They'd had a long, tearful talk. Abby had let Sarah tell her about college life, and she had let Abby talk about NCIS. They both tried not to talk about what they needed to. After sitting silently for a few minutes, Abby broke the silence.

"I can't remember the last time I've been warm, Sarah."

"I know, it's hard."

"I can't even do anything. There's not even any bad guys that I can blame, nobody to go after."

Sarah's eyes grew hard. He voice was angry and harsh.

"You can catch those two SOB's that threatened him." She hissed.

"Oh, Sarah, I've been working on that. Nonstop."

As she falls, I try to catch her.

For one last touch, of warmth from summer.

As one thing leads, to become another, again.

I remember when . . .

Her radio played softly. She usually listened to metal, but she needed this song. It reminded her of Timmy. He had loved summertime . . .

She shook her head; she needed to stop dwelling on things like that. He was dead; she needed to focus on catching those two guys . . . the last people to insult him before his death. Her thoughts flew around Tim, remembering everything. His eyes; she'd never told him how much she'd loved his green eyes. They were bright, intelligent, and always watching out for her. And his smile; he'd always had this warmth in his smile. It was like his whole face lit up when he'd seen her. He was so open and kind.

And, best of all, he'd always smiled at her with such love in his eyes.

*BEEP*

Seriously, that easy? A match in under an hour? Just like that, she had them . . .

"I'll get them, Timmy, don't you worry."

She dialed speed dial 1.

"Gibbs."

"I got them! 1481, Oaken Drive. Go get them, ok? Do it for Timmy!"

She hung up.

His phone rang softly. He groped around for the call, glancing at the clock as he did so. Who could be calling at 2:27 AM? It's scream if it was a telemarketer.

"Holland residence," he mumbled sleepily.

"They're dead, Tim." Came a gruff voice.

"Gibbs?" he shot out of bed. "Who's dead? Is everyone alright? What happened?"

"The two guys, Carter & James. They resisted. We took them down."

Relief flowed in his veins. They were dead. He could return, thank God. He could rebuild his life, starting from scratch.

"So when do I go back to being McGee again?"

"Eh . . . you don't, Tim." He said gently.

"Wh- what? Why not?"

"You're dead to everyone, McGee. We can't just bring you back to life. It doesn't work that way."

He couldn't even speak.

"I'm sorry, Tim. It's the way it has to be."

He hung up before Tim could respond.

That one little spark of hope, dead so soon. He fell back against the headboard, alone again.

He felt dead.

Authors Note: the song playing is called "Summer Again" by The Afters.