A/N: I know- this chapter sucks. It's slow and it drags and- although I had to put it in- it's basically pointless. And i'm sorry you guys had to wait so long for it. I'll type up 10 tonight and post it probably tomorrow or sometime soon. 10's not too bad- I don't think. Thanks for sticking with me and my fic(s) for so long!

Gibbs and Abby- who had never gotten around to returning Gibbs' jacket- walked into the autopsy lab wearing identically diabolical grins. Gibbs had his arm draped loosely over her shoulder, and Ducky thought that perhaps Gibbs' infamous gut had been wrong for the first time ever. Maybe Abby hadn't been raped…? Ah well, whatever had happened at the ice cream parlour had to have been a good thing- of Ducky was certain. This was the most cheerful he had seen her all day, and it amused him to no end that the one to improve her mood ended up being the one who usually put people in an even worse mood.

"What have you got for us Duck?" asked Gibbs as Abby gently shook his arm off of her shoulder.

"Ah yes… Jethro, Abby," he greeted them both with a smile. Ducky tried to keep the amusement out of his voice. "How was the- ah- ice cream?" He found himself wondering if they had even gone for ice cream… After all, you never knew with the two of them- they were the most spontaneous couple ever.

"It was fine Ducky…" replied Gibbs with a hint of warning in his voice. Abby hadn't even had the chance to open her mouth.

"Well, I believe I was asking Abby, but good. Now, as for the results of the testing." Ducky turned to Abby. "You're sure that it's okay with you if Gibbs stays?" She nodded. "Very well, would you like to see the pictures?"

Abby pulled a face. "If it's all the same to you Ducky, I'd prefer it if you'd just alert Gibbs that I am okay and the extent of the damage is some minor bruising so that I can go back to my lab and do my job. No offence, but all I really want is for my life to get back to normal… Or, well, as normal as life ever gets for me."

"Well Abby, I- uh- I can't exactly do that…" he told her hesitantly.

"Of course you can Ducky, you can do anything!" Abby looked at him expectantly.

"Well, thank you for the vote of confidence Abby, but you know very well that I can't do anything. And one of the things that I cannot do is tell Gibbs that the only thing wrong with you is some bruising, because it simply isn't true." Ducky hated telling her that she was wrong; Abby prided herself in almost always having the right answer- whether it was good or bad. He knew how furious at herself she could get when someone proved that she was, in fact, wrong. "You have a couple of broken ribs my dear; you need to go home and get some rest." Ducky gave her a sympathetic look.

Abby snorted. "Okay, very funny- the joke's over now guys… Let me go back to work." She looked at Ducky and noticed that there was no way he was joking with her. "Oh, come on- broken ribs Ducky? I think you should check that again. There is no way that I broke anything! I mean, yeah, I guess that my chest hurts, but it's nowhere the pain that you would expect from broken ribs."

During their entire conversation, Gibbs had stayed silently in the background. If anyone had a chance at handling Abby when she was like this, it was Ducky. And Ducky had warned Gibbs that this might happen.

"Yes my dear, but how much strain have you been putting on them? Luckily, they're really not too bad. As long as you don't apply any unnecessary pressure to them and you keep them taped up, you'll be back to your normal tree-climbing self in three to four weeks. Jethro, you know the drill- turn around please."

"Oh Ducky, Gibbs is fine! I trust him just as much as I trust you…" Abby rolled her eyes as she peeled her shirt off.

"As you wish… In which case Jethro, you can get me my medical tape and help me to tape her up."

"You've got it Ducky… Anything for Abbs." He turned and went to find Ducky's medical tape. He was trying his best to keep Abby in good spirits…

Abby watched him rummaging through a drawer and gave his back a sceptical look. "Anything?" She wasn't quite sure that she believed him. After all, she was no fool. She knew that, for Gibbs, work came first and everything else came second. Then again, when she thought about it, that actually wasn't too different from herself, really.

"Yes, Abby, anything. If you tell me to jump, I'm only going to have three questions for you. How high; where to; and where from?"

"Uh-huh," she muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Okay you two, that's quite enough. Abby, could you lift up both of your arms please?"

Ducky was probably the only person Gibbs would actually allow to tell him to get back on task. Well, except maybe for Abby. Of course, she was also the only one who could distract him for long enough to get off task in the first place.

Abby lifted her arms hesitantly. Ducky and Gibbs wasted no time in wrapping her torso in Ducky's tape. Gibbs had been in Abby's position numerous times before; it was uncomfortable, to say the least. Especially once you started to get pins and needles in your arms. But Abby was a much better patient than Gibbs could ever hope to be. She never once complained and always adjusted perfectly to Ducky's suggestions. The entire process took them less than twenty minutes.

"I feel like a mummy," she muttered as Gibbs slid her shirt back over her head.

"Well, if that's you're only complaint then I'd say Ducky's done his best job yet," smirked Gibbs. "Now, let's get you home, okay?"

"Gibbs, I want to stay here!" she argued, feeling like a two year old. Strangely enough, she really didn't care.

"Abigail my dear, I must insist that you go home. Jethro, you are to stay with her, at least until the morning when she can come back anyways. There are no acceptable excuses for either of you, understand?"

The both nodded.

"Good." Ducky tossed Gibbs the roll of surgical tape. "Jethro, would you redo these in the morning please?"

Abby knew that Gibbs was bound to have sided with Ducky on all of these, so she knew better than to complain as he drove her home.