"Tony, open up!" Brushing sleep from his eyes, Tony rolled over, blinking at the time. It was 5:45 in the morning and someone was at the door. "This better be important." he thought, pulling on grey sweatpants on his way out of the bedroom.
"I'm coming..." When he opened the door, McGee was standing there with Ziva, waiting for him.
"Well, hello there." Ziva said with a smirk.
Tony ignored Ziva's comment, directing his attention to McGee. "What are you dong here, McGeek?" McGee shrugged, and Ziva interjected. "Gibbs wants us at NCIS, as he put it, yesterday."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Did he say why?"
"No he didn't, Tony." Ziva shook her head, slightly irritated. "He's Gibbs. He doesn't explain himself."
"All right...give me a few minutes." With that, Tony headed back into the apartment as the others followed him in.
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The ride to NCIS had been made mostly in silence. Nobody knew why Gibbs wanted them there so early, but it would have to be something really important. When Tony, McGee, and Ziva headed into the bullpen, Gibbs and Ducky were already waiting. The three agents looked at each other with confusion before Gibbs spoke.
"I called you in because I have bad news, and I wanted you to hear it from me rather than the news or anywhere else."
"What is it, Boss?" Tony asked as McGee and Ziva just waited.
"It's Abby. S-She's dead." There was no mistaking the emotion in Gibbs' voice or the sadness in his eyes. Tony could only stare at Gibbs as Ziva bowed her head, muttering something under her breath.
"Ho-How did she-?" McGee asked, unable to even finish the sentence, to imagine life without Abby.
"She was driving into work when her car was hit head-on. She died instantly." Ducky interjected. "The man who hit Abigail's car had a heart attack and lost control of his SUV. He was killed as well.
Gibbs looked at each of them in turn, and saw a reflection of his own face. Abby's death was the worst type, a senseless one. When Kate had died, there had been a target, a sharp eye behind the bullet that took her life. They had done some of their best work tracking down Ari and his own blood had ended his miserable life. Ari's death couldn't bring Kate back, but it made it hurt a little less. With Abby's death, the anger, sadness, and frustration were all there, but there was nothing to direct it against, and he was afraid it would tear the team apart.
Abby had been the glue holding them all together. Who else could talk geek with McGee, listen to all of Ducky's stories without getting tired, and help keep Tony in line? Letting Ziva help with the bomb reconstruction was one of her first steps toward becoming a full member of the team. You just couldn't do that if Abby didn't accept you. Now Abby was gone..forever.