Gibbs sat alone in the bullpen. He sat in the dark, not having bothered to turn on the lights. Distantly he heard the sound of the elevator opening up, but he already knew that it was Ducky, maybe Palmer as well. It didn't take them long to join him in the bullpen. Palmer slid instantly into a chair, only Ducky stopping to turn on all four of the desk lights, including the one on Gibbs' own desk.
"Jimmy, my boy, go see if Abby's down at the lab already would you?" Ducky suggested. Palmer rocketed up, vacating the chair he had just been sitting in. "I'll be right back." He said as he pretty much ran to the elevator.
"Gibbs, do you not even turn on the light anymore? You know that too much time looking at those computer screens of yours will damage your-"
Gibbs raised his hand, effectively silencing the doctor. "I know Ducky." Was all he said.
The duo sat in silence for a few moments, it wasn't an uncomfortable silence, being that it was one of those mornings where Ducky knew that even if he tried to talk, his longtime friend was far away from where he seemed to be, he was not sitting at his desk but back in that alley, reliving it most likely considering his index finger and thumb were subconsciously circling the newest scar he had acquired on that day.
It wasn't much longer till the elevator dinged and Abby appeared, dragging Jimmy along behind her. "Gibbs!" She said with a grin, her pigtails bouncing as she bounded up to him, stopping just short of the front of his desk. Her smile faltered and she turned to Ducky. "Another one of those mornings?" She asked, tilting her head to the side, a few tears appearing in her eyes.
"Don't worry Abigail, he'll come out of it soon enough. He knows he has a job to do." Ducky attempted to cheer the girl back up again, but if he couldn't really bring himself to feel happy what could he do to help her?
"I don't understand it Ducky. Why is he like this? It's not his fault that-"
"Best not bring it up again Abby, we don't want him to go even deeper." Ducky said calmly, rising from where he was to place a consoling hand on her shoulder. "He will get better. We will all get better."
"But will we? After all this will we ever get back to the way we were?"
"No, we won't ever be the way we were before this all happened my dear and I have told you as such before, I only believe that we will get better. We all have lives to live."
"But how can we live old lives when we are new people?" Ziva asked from where she was dropping her bag on her desk, before she came over to stand with the others, standing shoulder to shoulder with Abby.
"Ah, Ziva I didn't even hear you arrive." Ducky chuckled.
"Another one of those days today?" She asked, after a brief chuckle at Ducky.
"I'm afraid so, my dear." He nodded in affirmative.
"We're still going to go to see him, aren't we?" She asked.
"We can't very well not go, can we?" Ducky smiled and nodded slightly. "But I do believe we should wait until everybody is here."
As one, Abby, Jimmy, Ducky and Ziva all turned to face the two empty desks.
It wasn't long until the final agent arrived. He smiled and dropped his things on his desk, before, together they all left the building to go visit their absent friend. The missing member of their family.
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