Once again, many, many thanks for your reviews, everyone.

Don't get too excited about the title.

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Chapter 15: Reunion

The past two weeks had been unbearably long for Kate. Abby was always on the verge of tears; her lab had become a melancholy world of jazz and dirges, with pictures of Gibbs and Tony on every screen. Ducky was running himself ragged trying to help everyone; he looked old, suddenly, while he continually brought Caff Pow for Abby and coffee and take out (but never pizza) for McGee and herself. Tim had been nearly silent, trying very hard not to upset anyone; although he seemed less skittish than he had been with Gibbs and Tony breathing down his neck.

As for Kate herself… She'd done her best to hold the others together; but the team was falling apart around her with the loss of its two strongest personalities. She'd pushed down her own emotions as far as possible while she was at work; although Abby bursting into tears several times a day made it tough. All she wanted was for Gibbs to come back and lift the responsibility of leadership from her shoulders; Kate didn't want to be senior, she wanted to be part of a team again. And she could never have believed how much she missed Tony. She still caught herself staring at his desk; or waiting for the silence to be broken by one of his inane comments. She hated hearing nothing but typing and the occasional rustle of paper.

In her darkest moments, alone in her apartment with a glass of wine, she wondered what their reaction would have been if it had been her funeral they were attending. Would Gibbs have taken off like this for her? She doubted it. Abby would have been equally upset, but with Gibbs around to comfort her she was sure the Goth girl would have coped better. McGee would have been just as silent; perhaps only Ducky, with his innate sense of chivalry, would have grieved more for her than Tony.

As for DiNozzo… She'd never seen him truly upset. Well, except for the White case; but Gibbs had kept her well away from her partner then. He'd driven Tony to the ER himself and she knew for a fact he'd stayed over at Gibbs' house that night. She herself had never even been there.

The only death she'd seen Tony deal with was Chris Pacci's and he'd hardly seemed any different from normal, at least once the shock had worn off. Still, she couldn't help but think he'dve done a better job at keeping the team together than she had; Tony could be sensitive when he wanted to be.

She rounded the partition and dropped her bag on her desk with a sigh. And did a double take.

Gibbs was sitting at his desk, glasses perched on his nose, reading over a stack of paperwork.

"Gibbs! You're back!" She said, in shock and relief.

"And you are late, Agent Todd," he said flatly, without looking up. She checked her watch; it was 0705.

"It won't happen again, Gibbs," she said, rolling her eyes. Typical Gibbs.

"It better not. I'm going to see the Director. Tell McGee he's in deep trouble; when he gets here." He rose to head upstairs.

"Uh, Gibbs? Are you… doing OK?" She asked, tentatively.

For the first time, the older agent met her eyes. "I look sick to you?"

Kate was shocked at what she saw.

Gibbs seemed to have aged ten years since Tony's death. The lines on his face were deeper, his eyes deeply shadowed and bloodshot. There was an infinitesimal slump in his usual perfect posture and his clothes hung a little loose, as if he hadn't been eating lately. His normal blank expression was tainted with weariness and deep sorrow; even Gibbs couldn't completely control his grief.

"You look… like you need coffee," she said carefully. "I can run down to your caffeine dealer while you're with the director; if you want, I mean?"

Gibbs' glacial features softened slightly. "Make it a double, Kate," he said as he strode away.

"Well, it's an improvement on Agent Todd," she thought, as she picked her bag up again and went back to the elevator.

/\/\/\

Mercifully, Gibbs' meeting with the director was brief; so his coffees were still hot when he got back to his desk. There was a jumbo Caff Pow sitting beside them and McGee and Kate were waiting anxiously for him at their desks. He had no doubt the whole building knew of his return by now.

"What time did you get here, McGee?" He barked.

"0700, boss." Neither could miss his unmistakable flinch at the honorific. "I was, uh, in the lab with Abby."

"You do not get paid to visit with Abby, McGee. I expect you at your desk on time in future."

"Yes, bo... uh, Gibbs."

"Good." Gibbs poured the first coffee down his throat in a single impossibly long gulp and then picked up the second and Abby's soda. "We're off the rotation for now," he said gruffly. "Carry on with those cold cases you were working on."

As soon as he was out of sight, Kate and McGee exchanged worried looks.

"I'm calling Ducky," said Kate decisively, reaching for her desk phone.

/\/\/\

Abby sat slumped at her desk, her black hair loose around her shoulders, chin resting on her hands as saxophone music swelled around her. She was staring at an image of Gibbs and Tony on her screen; obviously taken at a crime scene. Tony was wearing his 'innocent' expression and Gibbs was standing behind him, a rare fond smile pulling at his lips as he reached out to smack him. She didn't even look up at the rattle of ice.

"McGee's already been by, Ducky," she said, gloomily. "Just stick it in the refrigerator for me?"

"Thought you liked my presents best, Abbs?" Said Gibbs.

Suddenly he had an armful of frantic Goth, who seemed determined to hug him to death. He almost spilled his coffee.

"Gibbs! You're home! Oh, I missed you so much! How could you leave at a time like this? I've been worried sick! Where did you go? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Can't breathe, Abby," he managed.

She let go and stood before him, hands on hips and green eyes flashing. "I want answers, Mister," she said threateningly.

"Family hunting cabin, up in the mountains. 'S mine now; I don't think anyone else knows it's there."

"Ok, that's the where," she replied. "Now for the why."

"I needed some time to think."

"And you couldn't think in your own house? You had to run off in the middle of the night, not tell us where you were and leave us all to worry?"

"Too many memories in my house, Abby. I wanted to be somewhere Tony wasn't."

"What did you do?"

"Fished. Mended the roof. Evicted some of the local wildlife. I haven't been up there in years. And I thought about things."

"Like the fact you'd abandoned us when we needed you most?"

"Like whether I wanted to come back at all." No need to tell her how permanently he'd considered leaving them.

Her mouth dropped open and the fiery eyes were doused by tears. "You thought about leaving us for good?"

"Thought, yes. But I'm here to stay, Abbs."

"D'you promise? On your word as a Marine?"

He met her eyes with his own icy blue ones; and Abby could see a flicker of the fire that had once filled them. "I promise on my word to you," he said decisively.

"Good. Because I need you here." She stepped back into his arms, suddenly feeling like maybe, one day, everything might be OK again.

"I know," he told her softly, holding tight to the one person he had left to anchor him to the world.

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Did you like Kate's thoughts on her own funeral or was it too contrived? And Abby's ranting at Gibbs?