Kate could feel herself shaking from anger and hurt. It had been about six years since a man had layed a hand on her, not counting the episodes she had at work... like the time she was kidnapped by Ari. She'd almost forgotten how much it hurt to be slapped across the face by the man you loved, or at least trusted.

Stepping into her room, Kate let her towel drop to the floor. She grabbed her oversized football jersey out of her top dresser drawer and slid it on over her head. The jersey had belonged to her brother, Trent, who had played football in college. Sure, it was a little bit worn, but she loved it... she loved Trent too. Out of her three "psychotic" brothers, Trent was probably her favorite and she was closest to him. She believed that part of the reason was due to the fact that they were only a year apart, her bringing up the latter. He had always been very protective of her and Kate wondered what he would do if he found out the Andy had hit her.

"What if Gibbs and Tony notice?" Kate asked herself. As she picked up her brush off of her dresser, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror hanging on the wall. Her cheek, that had started out red had now become a little purple. "Guess he hit you harder than you thought Caitlin." She shook her head as she realized that she was talking to herself again.

Now, instead of talking, she just wondered. How could I not have noticed that he hit me that hard? Hard enough to leave a bruise? It took her a second, but she came to the conclusion that she was used to it. Physical, emotional... she was used to the pain.

This whole thing was so screwed up, Tony decided that next morning while sitting at his desk playing pinball. Nick dying had caused everyone to go haywire. Not only had Abby been affected, but Gibbs... and now Kate too. Somehow this case had wrapped itself farther into all their lives than it really needed too, way farther.

Kate had fallen for a guy that Tony didn't trust, Andy. He couldn't stand him! How did Andy end up with Kate and not... me? I should've taken the chance and went after her, told her how... "Ugh! I can't stand him," Tony said, slamming his fist down on his keyboard, causing his pinball game to instantly shut off. "Damn it."

"You feelin' alright Tony?" Kate asked as she walked into the bullpen.

Tony answered her without even glancing up. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just lost at pinball." He clicked a few keys on his computer and the game booted up again.

Kate had a good comeback for Tony, 'It takes a real pinhead to lose at pinball', but she kept it to herself. She just sat down at her desk, happy that Tony hadn't really noticed her. Although she had covered up the bruise on her cheek as much as she could with makeup, a purple haze was still visable beneath the tan powder spread over her skin.

As she went through some files on her computer, Kate heard the elevator open. Once she looked up, she immediately saw Gibbs followed by none other than... Abby.

"Kate!" Abby squealed as she ran over to give her best friend a hug. "Oh my gosh. It is so good to see you!"

Kate stood up from her chair and wrapped her arms around Abby. As they let go of each other and Abby stepped back, she noticed the purple tint of Kate's cheek.

"We need to talk," Kate said impassively before Abby had the chance to get a word in.

"Obviously," Abby replied as she grabbed Kate's hand and drug her towards the elevator.

"Glad to have you back Abbs," Kate said as they walked through the doors of Abby's lab.

"And you have no idea how great it is to be back. Fornell was really starting to get underneath my skin," Abby laughed.

"Why didn't you ask for an attorney?" Kate inquired, suddenly turning serious.

"I didn't need one and I still don't."

"That's where you're wrong Abbs. You need someone to defend you and prove your innocence. Plus, whatever you told Fornell..."

"He can't use," Abby interrupted. "Although the whole situation with lawyers and attorneys isn't my strong point, I do know enough to know that anything I said to Fornell is useless."

"Oh really?" Kate couldn't help but to giggle at the face Abby was making.

Abby laughed right back. "Yeah really. Gibbs told me." A big smile spread across her face, but disappeared as her attention turned to the bruise on Kate's cheek. "So what is this?" she asked pointing.

"Well... it's just... nothing," Kate stammered.

"You know I can tell when you are lying," Abby deadpanned, shaking her head up and down to emphasize the truth.

"He did it... didn't he Kate?" Tony had walked into Abby's lab looking infuriated. "Andy did it."