There was a photo on Abby's desk of her and a man. It sat above Bert, in pride of place. You couldn't see his face, though you could see the right side of Abby's. It was taken from behind them, but Abby was staring up at him with a bright smile. His arm was wrapped protectively around her shoulders. The team got the feeling he was watching something they couldn't see in the photo. That he was protecting her from whatever it was.
They had asked Abby about it many times, but she had never given them a straight answer. Always something evasive. "Oh, that's my saviour." Or "My gorgeous, nameless, faceless friend." Never a name, never a description, never even a nickname. But they could see how happy just thinking of him made her. They wondered why they had never met him, and why he wasn't still around. Abby was obviously very fond of him, despite the fact that he was gone, so whatever it was hadn't ended badly.
Then one day he showed up. In their bullpen assessing the Most Wanted posters. Tony recognised him immediately, and realised a moment later how strange it was that he could recognise a stranger by the back of his head and his leather jacket. "I'll be damned, Cas really pulled it off." The stranger murmured to himself before turning to face Tony. He held out his hand. "DiNozzo, nice to meet you. My name is Dean."
Tony stared for a few seconds before shaking the offered hand. He let go of Dean's hand and nodded. "The nameless, faceless friend of Abby." He grinned.
Dean grimaced. "She still has that photo huh? I tried to get her to take a different one, but she seems stuck on that one." He shrugged his shoulder. "Not much anyone can do when Abby sets her mind…" he paused a moment, frowning in consideration. "Is she here?"
Tony shook his head. "She's out at lunch with some friends, but she's due back any minute. You're welcome to wait here if you like…" Tony pointed at McGee's desk. "McGeek is away sick today so you won't get in his way." Dean nodded and made his way over to the spare desk. Tony watched in shock as the young man sat down slowly, as if he was injured. "Dean?" green eyes glanced warily up at the agent. "You okay man? You look kind of sore…"
Dean chuckled awkwardly. "Probably because I am, but I'm alright. I got patched up before I hit the road to see Abby." He smiled fondly when he spoke of Abby, and Tony began to realise that although there had been almost no contact between the two, there was something serious between them. The way Abby spoke of Dean, and the way he was smiling now – there was something special there that distance could not break.
Tony nodded in acceptance. He hated it when people tried to make him get seen to when he thought he was alright, no way was he going to do the same thing to this young man. "Alright then, let me know if you change your mind and I'll get Ducky to come upstairs for you."
Amusement danced in green eyes. "The mortician, I think not. I'm hoping on getting a few more years in before I need to be lying in an autopsy room."
Tony laughed and went back to the reports he had to write up. It took him several minutes to realise what Dean had said. A man younger than thirty only hoping for a few more years? What sort of life did Dean have that he would only be asking for another few years? Tony just hoped that Abby knew what she had gotten herself into. Before he could ask Dean about the comment, Abby came running into the bullpen, glancing around.
When her eyes landed on Dean she relaxed immediately and ran at him, launching herself when she was several feet away. Tony was wincing, knowing that Dean was hurting and Abby was going to get dropped. This was going to be painful all around. But Dean was standing and ready to catch her by the time she got to him. He caught her in his arms and let them spin to take some of the force out of it, Abby wrapped her legs around his hips.
"Oh, you're okay. I saw the Impala and I thought…well, I thought a lot of things. But I was hoping and praying and here you are!" she was placing kisses up and down Dean's jaw, her arms tight around his neck. Tony couldn't believe it when Dean didn't try to put her down – it had to be hurting. He just held her, stroking her hair and kissing her forehead.
"I'm okay Abbs. I've got news though…" he grimaced and Abby held him tighter. She knew it would be bad news, the way he was pulling that face. "Do you want the good or the bad first?"
She blinked up at him, not sure she had heard him correctly. He never had good news; Dean's life just didn't work like that. Things always went from crappy to shit to downright hell. "Umm…the bad. Then the good can cheer me back up again…"
He nodded slowly, swallowing a couple of times. "Sammy and Bobby are…they're dead." He took a deep breath, grimacing when he saw the sadness in her eyes, knowing he had to give her more. "So is Cas and Benny." Tears started to slip down her cheeks and he brushed them away with his thumb, supporting her with one arm. "I'm sorry, baby, I didn't want to give you such bad news…"
When her tears finally slowed she blinked up at him. "You said there was good news too…" she asked softly, not wanting to dwell on what he had just told her. It hurt too much, to imagine Dean in his world without what was left of his family and few friends.
He nodded, a small smile slipping across his lips. "I made a few…arrangements, and I'm out. Both sides are going to leave me and mine alone. They all swore to it. And I've got a few…insurance policies to hold them to it should they change their minds." He looked away from her deep eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "If I can find a job I can stay with you, Abbs…if you want me to." The last was barely a whisper. He didn't think he could bear it if she told him to leave. Of everything that he had endured and survived through the years, that would be the one thing to break him. The one thing he really couldn't bear.
She slapped his shoulder. "Of course I want you to stay!" she glared at him a moment. "How could you think I would want anything else? We've been apart too long Dean. You'll stay with me. What sort of job were you wanting?"
He smiled, a bit of happiness shining in his eyes now that he knew she wanted him around. "I was hoping I could get work in a mechanic shop, or maybe a panel beater…" her eyes shone with mischief and his eyebrow lifted. "Gonna share what scheme is rolling around in that pretty brain of yours baby?"
"One of the NCIS mechanics left us last week, they haven't replaced him yet… And you could do panel beating as a hobby if you still wanted to." a full smile stretched her lips and lit up her eyes.
Dean shook his head and laughed. "You talk to your Gibbs about that first. He might not want me around." He gently set her back on her feet, wincing as he did it. He caught her concerned look and shook his head. "Just a bit banged up. I'll be right in a couple of days." He took a small step back from her, noticing Gibbs over the top of her head. "I'm in wicked need of some pie, I'll be back as soon as you finish explaining this to them. Don't think they'll handle it all so well if I'm here…" He stared at Abby, waiting for her to nod her consent before he left.
Gibbs sat down behind his desk and stared at his nervous forensic scientist. "Abbs? Care to tell me who the beat up guy was who was standing so close to you?" his voice was gentle; he could tell the young man was important to her. Beyond important if her unwilling nod that let the young man leave was anything to go by.
She fell into McGee's chair and took a deep breath. "The faceless guy in the photo?" she waited until Gibbs and Ziva nodded before she continued. "That's Dean. He's had a hard life, beyond hard. His work is dangerous and most of his friends are dead, he has no family left. But the things he's been working on, they're finally finished. He can stay with me now." A happy smile lit up her face in a way Gibbs had never seen, he glanced to Tony for confirmation of his guesses.
The Senior Agent nodded. "They both seem to be pretty important to each other boss. And he said he's got insurance policies to keep the danger away from her. I don't think he would have come back if he didn't know for sure she would be safe. He also…wasn't sure if she would want him to stay. Asked her flat out if he could. Seems to respect her an awful lot boss." Tony spoke softly, hoping not to offend Abby with his summation of what he had seen.
Ziva nodded her agreement with Tony's assessment, by her quick reading Dean seemed to respect Abby beyond anything he might want for himself.
"Alright Abbs, anything else you wanted to add to all of that?" he could see the excitement bubbling up in her, he could see there was something else she needed to add.
She nodded eagerly. "He's a really good mechanic, I mean really good. And he's in need of a job and Tom left last week… They could put him on probation or anything, he won't mind. It's just…he needs a job and he's less tense when he's near me…" she waited until Gibbs nodded before continuing. "And I was thinking that after he's been here a while and you know him better…he could maybe try out to be an agent? He likes helping people and he'll get bored being a mechanic, I know he will."
Gibbs choked on his coffee, shocked. "Why with us Abbs? And what makes you think there's even a point of him trying out?"
Abby grinned, beyond ready to tell them all of the great aspects of Dean. "He's as good a fighter as Ziva, as good a shot as Tony, better at hacking than McGee and has as good a judge of character as you Gibbs. He's all of you rolled into one. And he's extremely self-sufficient."
Ziva's jaw dropped in shock and Tony stared in amazement. He had got some funny vibes from the guy, but he wouldn't have bet all of that. "Self-sufficient how, Abbs?" Gibbs asked softly.
She shrugged. "He's a good mechanic because his dad never had the cash to spare to go to a mechanic. He's been…fighting on his own since he was twelve, practically raised his younger brother Sam. He has broken ribs right now, he would have wrapped them himself whether any of his people were available or not. Same with the stitches on his right forearm, even though he's right handed. He's survived some horrible stuff, stuff we can't even imagine, but he's always there for anyone else who needs him, no matter what's going on in his head."
Gibbs nodded slowly. "Alright, if he wants to, after I know him, he can apply to join our team. Why not just the police or something though?"
Abby beamed with pride. "Because, his dad was a marine before…everything else. And because he's more equipped for Special Forces but won't touch that because it will take him away from me."