Chapter 16

Gibbs walked into the waiting room, his face haggard, his clothes hanging off him as if he had lost weight; all eyes turned to him as he entered and he shook his head slightly. He nodded to Abby's parents as they crossed the room and went into their daughter. Kate stood and handed him a cup of coffee, he had noticed the thermos by her bag earlier and was grateful he didn't have to drink the stuff the hospital cafeteria called coffee.

"So what you got?" he said to Kate and Tony who although sitting next to each other on the worn sofa, seemed miles apart, he watched them carefully as they exchanged a glance, Kate's angry, Tony's slightly smug, Tony responded first

"We found her diary boss" he said standing but not continuing

"And?" Gibbs prompted, not feeling up to this, but needing to know

Kate stood next to Tony, her eyes shouting Tony a glance, which Gibbs interpreted as a signal for him to shut up, he nearly smiled as Tony slunked off to the thermos and poured himself a coffee

"It seems that she had been planning this for a very long time Gibbs" Kate started, before pausing, as if trying to find the right words, at Gibbs's look she hurriedly continued

"Apparently she applied for the job Abby's has, but when Abby got it, she blamed her for it and started to plot a way to get rid of her. She found Flynn, married and groomed him into the man we have today, she manoeuvred herself into a temp's position with NCIS, filling in for holidays and such, knowing it would give her an edge when Abby was out of the way. She then left Flynn knowing it would tip him over the edge. When she knew he had murdered and raped the first woman, that's when she sent him the email and set the events in motion. When she got the temp job inAbby's lab, she thought Abby was dead but when she found out she wasn't she still thought she would be safe" Kate paused and looked over at Tony for a moment, wishing he would cut in and continue as he usually did, but he remained silent and so she continued

"When she heard the office scuttlebutt that you and Abby were urm" Kate paused, blushing slightly "Well her plans changed and she decided to kill you both, she already had a flight booked for Central America" Kate stopped, and took a deep breath "She had been planning it all for years Gibbs, and she had never even met Abby" she said sadly, her throat tightening. Gibbs watched her silently assimilating what she had said, his mind tired.

"How did she marry Flynn without it being in her record?" Gibbs asked quietly

"Stolen Id and a Vegas wedding" Tony answered, "No one at NCIS had any reason to check her out after the initial checks when she first applied for the job Abby has now" He looked at Kate "and no one in her life with Flynn knew that she was a qualified forensic analyst" he finished "she worked really hard at covering her tracks boss, she really was nuts, but in a genius kind of way" he murmured almost to himself.

Gibbs just nodded and turned to leave the room

"Glad she's dead" he said as he walked down the corridor, needing to feel the rain on his face.

……………………………………………………

Abby awoke in her coffin again, but this time it wasn't so warm and cosy, she felt very lonely and cold and her head hurt. She wondered for a moment if she had a hangover, but the pain in her head felt wrong, she flexed her fingers trying to find the hand that had been stroking hers awhile ago, but she felt nothing and so she drifted back to the warmth and comfort of sleep again.

…………………………………….

Gibbs returned some time later and relieved Abby's parents at her bedside, whilst they went and got some food, he had walked aimlessly in the rain for ages, his mind whirling at the thought that Abby was lying in a coma because a woman who had never even met her hated her enough to try and kill her. It made no sense, but Gibbs had learnt along time ago that very little in this life did. He knew he would always carry the blame within himself for what had happened to Abby but he also realised that the thought of living without Abby was unbearable, and so he had turned around and made his way back to the hospital. It was time for Abby to wake up.

He sat at the bed and watched her, wondering if what they said about hearing was true, he hoped so and he hoped he was doing the right thing, his gut said he was but this was far more important than a gut feeling on a case, he sighed and took her hand.

"Abby wake up" he demanded in his best I'm the boss get to it voice "Abs, wake the hell up and tell me what the hell you were playing at with Simpson" he demanded, not all of the anger faked. His eyes watched her intently, knowing that Abby loved a good fight and would not tolerate being yelled at. But nothing happened, not a flicker, Gibbs tried again

"You own me a new jacket" he told her, "and time working on the boat, I haven't worked on it since you were stupid enough to get shot" he told her wishing that she would wake up and give him hell for it, but again there was nothing, he felt his resolve weaken, and he gently stroked her hand again

"Please Abby" he whispered against her fingers as he bought her hand to his lips. "Don't leave me" he said softly more to himself than to her

…………………………………

Abby became aware of a voice in her coffin, one that seemed to be shouting at her, she tried to tell it to shut up and let her sleep but nothing came out of her mouth, she fought to draw the darkness and warmth of sleep around her again but it wouldn't take her this time, and her head still hurt. She lay silently trying to work out what the voice was saying

"Hell playing…jacket…boat…stupid" her head started to really pound with the effort of working out the words, and she wanted to stop and sleep again but it seemed important to listen, to tell the person something. She drifted away for a moment and then she felt the gentle stroking on her hand again, she lay enjoying the feeling, watching the darkness fade slightly, then the voice became clearer

"…Abby…don't leave me" she heard, and suddenly the pain in her head was unbearable and the light started to flood into her coffin.

"Gibbs…?" Abby croaked