Chapter 4

AN: There is no way I can reply to you all. I am posting on 2 different archives. And, the story is getting lots of attention, which is awesome, thank you. But, that also means, as I said, I cannot reply to you all. I just want you to know how very appreciative I am of your comments/reviews, alerts/kudos. I am so glad you all are enjoying the ride. JL

"No, it's not true!" Abby said, backing away from Ducky and Jimmy. She looked to her office. If she could get in there, she could close the door and…."

Ducky followed her gaze and quickly blocked her path.

"Tony wouldn't leave! He wouldn't break up the family. He wouldn't! He wouldn't do that!" Abby insisted.

Abby refused to believe what she was being told. But, she knew something was up when Ducky and Jimmy showed up in her lab at 9 a.m. Ducky was usually not in until noon.

"And, Gibbs…Gibbs would never do what…. Tony's wrong. He's wrong about Gibbs. My Gibbs would never…. And Tim and Ziva…. He's just wrong. Everybody was not against him. He just…." Abby continued to say.

Ducky shook his head. "Abigail. Listen to me. Anthony has…this has been going on for a while. It did not just start last week. This has been going on since Director Shepard…."

"Since Tony lied about being on a secret mission." Abby retorted.

Palmer spoke up. "Since Tony was lied to and mislead about the director's original reason for the mission."

"According to Tony."

"According to Director Vance, who then told Jethro. Well, Jethro put it together." Ducky stated.

Abby shook her head. "But, why…."

"Gibbs blames Tony for Shepard's death." Palmer answered. He knew the question. "Tony and I talked about a lot of things."

"Gibbs loves Tony. He would never." Abby said.

"Ziva became Gibbs' adopted daughter, Abigail." Ducky replied. "Jethro did not lose a son, My Dear. He lost a daughter."

She continued to deny what she was being told. "Tony was wrong. He left the family. He lied about Ziva and Tim, too. They didn't treat him like that. They couldn't have."

Ducky sighed. "We were in the field with them, Abigail. We saw it with our own two eyes."

Abby stood for a moment, as the reality of the situation hit her. "Tony's gone. He's really gone."

TBC

END NOTES: I realize that this is a short chapter. But, I didn't feel I needed as much to get the point across to Abby.

I think the next part will be about Gibbs.