He'd made his decision; after thinking hard about it all day. The ride to the supposed scene of the crime; which; turned out to be no crime at all; the ride back to the Yard; the time he spent typing his case report; finding the space through it all; in his head to work and think seperately; and every spare minute of the day. Yeah; he'd thought it through. It was the only decision he could make. He just hoped that one day he could learn to live with it; but he seriously doubted it. It was one he did not one to be making. Never in a million years did he expect to be in this position. He hated every minute of this.

Gibbs was beyond livid. Picking up his cell phone; he called his agent.

"Boss?" The strained voice betrayed the fact that this guy was not doing well; hadn't done this on the spur of the moment. But, then again; looking at him in the course of the day; as Gibbs had; he'd seen that this had been wearing his agent down; weighing on him like a ton of bricks and he was seriously tempted to write a letter of reprimand in Abby's file for this. This was damaging to the team; to the individuals on the team; and even to herself; even if she didn't see it as such.

"Get your ass back here; now!" Gibbs made no attempt to hide his fury.

"Yes, Boss." the answer was timid and quivering; loaded with the expectation of a thorough reaming out. Good; maybe he'd be able to turn this around yet.

Much faster than he'd expected; his agent reappeared in front of him. Apparently, the young man hadn't even left the Yard.

"Where were you?" Gibbs asked in pure curiosity.

"The gym."

"You got something you need to tell me?" Gibbs demanded.

"No, Boss. I wish I could; but I can't. You'll just have to trust me on this. I can't explain it. I just need this to go this way."

"So, you're willing to just resign?"

"Boss, please; don't push this. I know that's a lot to ask; for you to accept this without an explanation; but I can't explain it. I NEED to resign."

Gibbs got it. His agent didn't want this. He felt forced into it. Looking at the Letter of resignation again; he saw that it was dated effective the following Monday morning. This is not going down like this; not on my watch; Gibbs silently fumed. That conversation between these two should not have brought him to this point! What the hell is going on here? It's not like him not to talk to me. Whatever it is must be really serious if he can't talk to me about it. He needs time to think about this.

"You take the weekend to think this through. First thing Monday morning; you get your ass in here; and we'll talk about this. No decision will be made until then; you got me?" Gibbs demanded.

"Yes, Sir." came the reluctant answer.

Monday morning dawned bright and cheery. It was too cheery for him. Knowing this would be the last day of a job he thoroughly enjoyed doing. Damn her for making this difficult! What right did she have tol back him into the corner like this? But, what the hell could he do about it.? Because he refused to let someone else make the sacrifice; knowing the team wouldn't want that person gone; hurt real bad. It hurt so bad; he only found the strength to go into work; because Gibbs called him bright and early.

"Don't even think of not coming in here! Time's a wastin; get your ass in here!"; Bossman was angry already and it wasn't even 0700 yet!

When he arrived at his desk; on time; he was surprised to find the squad room empty and a note on his desk.

*******************
Meeting

Conference Room A. NOW!

G.
********************

Damn; he was sure in a lot of trouble over this. He could feel his anger at Abby rising up again and beginning to churn. His last days here; with people he loved like family; and he was gonna be the bad guy; one they wouldn't even say goodbye to or miss because of this!

Upon arrival in the Conference Room; He was shocked to find the whole team here; minus Palmer; who; apparently, had a seminar class this morning. Everyone smiled at him; almost like there was nothing wrong; except Abby; who glared at him from across the room; and Gibbs who looked pissed at everyone.

As he cleared the door; and took a seat; next to the head of the table; Gibbs closed the door; with a slam. Now that he had everyone's attention; bossman wasted no time as he immediately looked at him and asked him:

"You change your mind?" his eyes daring the young man to act like he didn't understand exactly what Gibbs was talking about.

"No, Boss; I haven't."

"Are you gonna tell them or are you gonna make me do it?"

"No, I'll do it." the young man said quietly; as he sat up straighter and looked at each of his team members in turn ; except Abby; his family; "I'm resigning from NCIS; effective today."

You could have heard a pin drop; for all of thirty seconds. Then the room exploded in noisy objections; outrage; indraawn breath and rising fury. All except the silence from across the room. In the midst of the sudden chaos; that silence was deafening.

Gibbs gave them all of a minute to get it all out before he called them all to order with his whistle. Turning to Abby he said:

"Now, are you gonna tell them why; or are you gonna make me do it?"