Abby realized she needed someone in her corner and someone to talk to. Gibbs had always been there for her before; Boss/father/protector. Very rarely had he ever been this angry with her and she didn't like it. Hell, even the Duckmister was pissed at her! The entire situation had snowballed out of control and Gibbs was her only chance of fixing this; heck; maybe even making it better that she could deal with on her own.

When Gibbs came back in to the squad room; she was ready to talk. "Gibbs, what I have to tell you; you're not gonna like; but, I know I need your help to fix things. Will you listen to everything I have to tell you; as a friend; not my boss; please?"

Gibbs had calmed down enough to feel nervous at where Abby seemed to be leading this conversation; the root cause of all this craziness was sounding ominous and Gibbs didn't like it. But, Abby was one of his surrogate daughters and it was obvious that she needed to talk and after all; he did need to hear the cause of everything; so it worked out.

"Yesh, Abby. I can do that." Gibbs told her.
"Promise?"
"Yes, Abby, I promise.
"Pinky swear, promise?"
"ABBY!"
"Gibbs; I'm serious here!
"Ok. Abby, I give you my word, I will listen as your friend and not your boss." Gibbs vowed.
"Thank you."

Abby began to explain things to Gibbs and while the story kept coming; so did the growing disbelief and shock from Gibbs' brain waves. Somehow, her words and his shock met in the middle; and Abby was able to get everything off her chest; and miracle of all miracles; Gibbs' brain actually heard it all amidst the other stuff; her words had evoked.

With compassion in his eyes and in his heart; he stood up; gently pulled her to her feet and wrapped her in a hug as he told her; "You should have come to me before you said a word to Tim."

"I know, Gibbs; I'm so sorry! What am I gonna do?" Abby exclaimed.

"We'll figure something out, Abby. Calm down. "

Tony and Tim walked back to the office with their hands full of coffee for everyone. Tony's mind was on a roll; needing more answers.

"Okay, so it wasn't your idea to reconnect with Abby; but, you did it. And you've built on it from the ground up; honestly. so what would make her do something like this.?"

"I don't know, Tony. I don't have a clue." Tim said. in exasperation

"Wait; you two haven't done anything...?"

"Tony; the only thing we've done; is go out for dinner or hang out at her place or mine occassionally. We don't even go to bars; because I still don't drink. Hell, there was one night bought 2 months ago that proved I should never drink.

Flashback

Abby: Come on, Tim; loosen up a little; a little wine won't hurt you.
Tim: Abby, you asked me to hang out with you tonight. We're here; my place with dinner and a movie was the deal. Wine was not included in the deal."
Abby; Come on; I know you've got a lot on your mind and you're upset with the crap from the case; just drink some and let it unwind you; okay?
Tim: Yeah; okay. maybe you're right."
Abby: Good. I'll even give you a back massage; help you work out the knots from all that stress you guys have been under."
Tim: That would be really nice, Abbs; thank you."
Abby: Why won't you talk to me about what's eatin you about this case?"
Tim: It's too hard to get through the day; if I bring it home with me. Let's not talk about it; okay?"
Abby: No, I think you need to talk to someone and I wanna help; so talk to me."

End flashback

Tim remembered telling her about the children involved in the case and the terrible things they had gone through and witness and how it made him literally almost sick to his stomach. He remembered the more he'd opened up to Abby that night; the more lost in the emotions of the case he'd gotten; but he'd at least managed to finally begin to relax and not be haunted by the faces of the children. Abby and he had cuddled into each other that night; he remembered that. She'd leaned into him to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek and he'd grabbed hold of her hug and hadn't let go. He'd been lost in the need for an anchor that night; and had grabbed onto the only one he'd had in a while. The last thing he remembered was them cuddling on his couch; as his wine drunk brain finally allowed his exhaustion to take over.

"I remember waking up exactly as I had fallen asleep; Tony. Same spot; same everything. I'd slept so hard; I hadn't even moved an inch. When I managed to get my eyes opened; Abby was gone. She'd left me a note.

Tim:
Hope you feel better this morning. I'm glad you let me in to what's been bothering you.
Please don't bottle things up anymore.
See you at work.
Abbs

I remember being thankful she'd been there that night. I hadn't leaned on her like that in a while. Yeah, we talk; but not anything like we used to; I don't tell her everything, like I used to do." Tim admitted to a very quiet Tony.

"It's understandable, Probie." Tony let out; the cogs of his brain running at full speed; trying to put the pieces together.

As they guys returned to the squad room; still missing its key people; Tim kept his promise to his boss to go check in with Ducky when he got back. Entering Autopsy with Tony on his heels' wanting to stay in the loop; on every aspect of this; they found Ducky and Ziva engrossed in a challenging game of chess; cups of tea on the table waiting to be enjoyed.

"Ducky, I promised Gibbs I'd come see you; so I'm here." Tim volunteered.

Ducky blinked; his attention now broken from the game. As Ziva respectfully, also turned away from the game; willing to wait until the M.E. could return to it as well; both now focused their attention to the two young men in front of them.

"Timothy! How are you, young man?" Ducky exclaimed with enthusiasm enough for all of them.

"Ducky, I'm fine. Really. You can go ahead and check me over if you want." Tim offered; knowing the M.E. would not be happy until he had done just that."

Surprisingly enough, Ducky declined; explaining that if Timothy felt fine; then he was in no need of extra precautionary measures.

"Thanks, Ducky. I'm gonna get back to work now. I'm sure there's something up there I can find to do." Tim stated; needing to escape the suddenly seemingly suffocating air around him.

As they let him make his escape; Ducky, Ziva and Tony watched with concern on their faces. Tony was fairly sure he'd figured out what was going on; and if he was right; it just set his blood boiling. But, if he wasn't 100% right; he could only be concerned and sympathetic. Somehow, he needed to get to the truth.

Abby and Gibbs made their way to Autopsy; quietly; each lost in their own thoughts. As they entered Ducky's domain and saw Tony and Ziva there; but no Tim; Gibbs became concerned; while Abby felt relieved. Gibbs sought answers while Abby sought a hug from Ducky; and a private word with him.

"Ducky, I need to talk to you, please." Abby pleaded.

"Certainly, my dear; let's step into my office." the M.E. had not missed the mood change in Jethro. The Senior Agent was no longer boiling angry or even seething with it; he was now concerned; to say the least.

"Where's McGee?" Gibbs asked the room's occupants in general; while his eyes were locked on those of his Senior Field Agent's.

"Wanted some space, Boss. Said he was going back to his desk to find some work to do." Tony answered; not backing down from the stare Gibbs was giving him. "You just missed him, actually."

Gibbs nodded; looked around at their concerned faces and told them. "All right; back to work. Let's go."

As they trouped back up to the squad room; none of them spoke of the morning's events; it was abundantly clear it wasn't open for discussion. When they returned to their desks; to find Tim already working; a cold case laid open on his desk; his eyes steadily going from case file to computer screen; Gibbs could only grin. Yeah, this kid wasn't goin anywhere. His grin quickly faded; when he reminded himself of the battle ahead.

Once Tim McGee heard the details that had laid the foundation for Abby's seemingly bizarre behavior; there was no telling how the young man would react. But one thing was for certain. Abby's revelation that Tim couldn't bring himself to confide in Gibbs when it came to the cases that involved children; had opened Gibbs eyes. Tim was still putting others well being well-ahead of his own; and in this case; he'd be feeling and dealing with the consequences; albeit not all of them his own doing; for a very long time to come.