Disclaimer: See chapter 1

Abby sighed as she flopped onto her bed after a long Friday at NCIS. After Ducky left her, Gibbs had come down for a fatherly check-up, and to deliver several spent bullets for her to ID. It was too simple...those suckers were done in thirty minutes flat.

McGee had come down to her lab in the early evening...that was an awkward moment. There was no longer any anger between them, just very palpable guilt. Like any other couple after a spat, they were civil but spoke as little as possible to each other. He asked if it was okay her Abby is he came over that night, and she agreed. McGee grabbed what it was he came down to the lab for and left. Literally two minutes after the elevator doors shut for McGee, they opened again and Tony and Kate came rushing in. Of course, as Ducky predicted, Kate threw her arms around Abby's neck and didn't let go for a good while.

Abby had gotten through the first day. Tomorrow was the beginning of the period of the utmost stress and anxiety as the results of her biopsy were to come in anytime within the next 48 hours. She looked at her clock. It was nine-thirty at night and McGee still wasn't there. She wasn't worried--the case they were working on was very tedious and difficult, so it wouldn't surprise her if Gibbs kept them at headquarters until dawn's early light.

She wished McGee was there, however. Abby really wanted to see him...to apologize for the night before. She rolled over, pulled the covers up to her chin, and she fell fast asleep.

It was almost 2:00am when McGee got to Abby's place. He took her spare key from the top of her doorway, opened her door and shut it quietly. He tiptoed toward her couch, preparing to fall on it and sleep instantly but froze when he heard a sudden groan in pain. McGee instinctively moved to draw his weapon, but cursed under his breath when he remembered that he left it in his desk. Gibbs would kill him. Instead, he grabbed a baseball bat he saw leaning against a wall. Why Abby possesed a baseball bat was beyond him, but it proved useful in this situation. Bat at the ready, McGee moved stealthily toward Abby's room. Her door was slightly ajar and soft light was streaming through. He peeked through the open space and immediately let his guard down and set the bat down on the floor.

Abby was awake, sitting up on the bed and leaning against the wall. Her knees were drawn tightly to her chest and she was visibly in pain.

"Abs?" McGee whispered, walking quickly into her room.

She looked up suddenly. "You're home late," she said, straining to hide the pain in her voice.

"Abby, what's wrong? Are you okay?" McGee asked, sitting down at the end of the bed and held onto her elbow.

"My stomach's just giving me a little trouble." Abby groaned as her side stabbed in pain again. "Oh 'little' my ass. It hurts like hell."

"I'll get you somethng to take," McGee said, moving to get up.

Stopping him, she said, "No. I took a Loritab about five minutes ago. It should kick in in a bit."

McGee climbed across the bed and sat next to her against the wall. He sat there rubbing and patting her knee soothingly as she continued to wince in pain for several minutes. She laid her head on his shoulder for comfort, and McGee would tuck away stray locks of hair as he whispered reassurance that she would be okay. Slowly, but surely, he pain ebbed away and her breathing normalized.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah," she whispered. "That Loritab's some damn good stuff."

They sat there silently for several minutes, Abby's head still resting on McGee's shoulder, his head on hers. Her thoughts drifted back and she began to relive the past 36 hours. She remembered that day in her lab when her side nearly exploded. She remembered the seemingly unbearable pain...not only from her side, but from seeing the look of sheer terror in McGee's face. She remembered the hospital room, feeling happy yet still a touch nervous, and then the gut wrenching, helpless despair when she learned her fate. The looks of sadness and depression in her friends faces...the hopeless feeling Abby had been going through...her fight with McGee. Poor McGee, he didn't deserve that. He had stayed by her side through this entire ordeal and that was how she repaid him? Everything came flooding back to her, like a constant barrage of home movies. Her eyes welled with tears as the flashbacks drew on. All of the stress from her emotional pain and repression suddenly came to a head and Abby no longer could control herself...a small sob escaped her lips.

McGee quickly snapped his head up and looked down at her. He saw the tears in her eyes and the trails on her cheeks and he too teary-eyed. "Abby..."

She snapped...the flood gates opened. Abby completely broke down into deep sobs, putting her face in her hands. McGee instantly wrapped his arms around her, pulling him into his chest. She cried and cried, releasing all the emotion she had kept back this whole time. McGee petted her hair, tears streaming down his face, and held her tighter when her sobbing intensified.

"I'm so sorry, McGee," Abby cried thickly from his shoulder. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"Shh, it's okay," he whispered. "Don't worry about it."

"I shouldn't have pushed you away. I wish I could have let myself go to you."

Pulling back slightly to look into her eyes, McGee said, "Whydidn't you come to me? Or Gibbs, Tony, or Kate?"

Abby wiped her face. "Remember how completely scared and depressed you guys were when we were in the hospital? That's when I was so upset. But when I talked to you guys yesterday when I was pretending everything was okay, you guys sounded like normal. Like you were happy. I just," Abby sniffed, "I just wanted to be optimistic. I didn't want you guys to think I was going downhill if I was acting all upset over it."

McGee sighed and cupped her face in his hands. "You shouldn't have had to face this alone."

Abby dissolved into tears once more and fell foward into McGee, clinging to him for dear life. "I'm so scared. I've never been this scared before in my life."

Petting her hair, McGee answered, "I know Abs, I know. I am too."

"Tim," Abby choked. "I'm going to die."

McGee instantly tightened his embrace. "No, Abby," he said forcefully. "You are not going to die. Just because you're stopping being optimistic doesn't mean you have go to straight to 'pessimistic' You are going to be okay.

"I can't do this without you," Abby whispered, her head resting on his tear-soaked shoulder.

"You wont have to." McGee replied. "No matter what happens, I'm going to stay with you. You will always have me here."

Abby gave a tearful, shaky sigh. McGee glanced at her clock. "C'mon Abs, it's late, let's get you into bed."

Abby did resist, she was exhausted. She leaned back, lying on the bed, and McGee laid down next to her, drawing to covers up.
Abby snuggled herself right into McGee's side and he wrapped his arms around her comfortingly.

"You go on to sleep now. I'll be right here," McGee whispered, kissing her temple. "We've got a long day tomorrow."

Abby closed her eyes, and was no longer afraid to fall asleep. Her terrified soul had been cleansed, and McGee was by her side. Nothing could hurt her while he was there...nothing.

To be continued...