DISCLAIMER: Don't own it... No money is made... Just for fun and enjoyment!

SUMMARY: Sequel to "The SecDef Cheats." Lt. Col Cassidy moves in to NCIS and this will mean for Abby in the long run. McAbby, Drama/Romance/Angst

RATING: T - Adult subject matter, rare mild language, killer smooching.

A/N: I bet you were wondering if I remembered about that kiss? ;)

REVIEWS: I am always trying to improve my writing, so all constructive criticism is welcome. I would also like to thank you in advance for any reviews you might wish to leave. They really are a great boon to a writer's ego and gives you a huge incentive to live up to your expectations.

Chapter 2

It had been more than two weeks since Special Agent Timothy McGee had lost his calm and his control and kissed Abby in the middle of the bullpen at work. More than two weeks of nervousness and walking on eggshells for the young agent. He was worried about the fact that everyone had witnessed his meltdown, and the fact that Agent Gibbs was one of those people had made it even worse. At first, Tim McGee had been worried for his life, but that soon softened into worrying that his actions may have cost him any chance at a relationship with Abby. He worried that he had ruined his friendship with the quirky forensics expert, and that was what was killing him. He could live with almost anything else, but the thought of not having even Abby's friendship pained him deeply.

When they finished processing the scene of their most recent case, Gibbs ordered him to take the evidence in to the lab, and Tim felt a panic attack coming on. Abby had not even spoken to him in almost a week, and Tim was more than a little worried about the way he would be received in the lab. But what he found as he arrived was far more surprising than he could have ever imagined in his wildest dreams. The entire lab was dark, and the only lights he could find were the ones from the lighted keyboard and the power lights from the various pieces of equipment across the lab. It gave the whole thing a very ominous quality. Tim poked his head through the door and tried to gaze around the room to see if he could spot Abby. Before continuing any further, Tim scratched his head with his confusion and then absently looked down at his watch. When he realized what time it was, he thought to himself, Well, no wonder! It's only 0715, so she's probably not in yet.

He entered the room shaking his head at his nervousness. Without a second thought he flipped on the lights as he walked through the room. The next thing that happened had him ready to crawl right out of his skin. Tim turned the corner into Abby's office and was shocked beyond intelligible speech by the sight of Abby curled up in the corner on the floor. "Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Tim had dropped the box he was carrying and was clutching at his chest with his fright.

Without even acknowledging his outburst or shock Abby only held tight to her stuffed hippo and said in the tiniest voice he could ever remember hearing, "Hi, Tim."

The quality of her voice had actually scared him more than finding her there in the corner, and he bent down to offer her his hand. When she timidly took it, but remained huddled in the corner, he was forced to ask, "Abby, is everything okay?"

Her face suddenly took on the aspects of a terribly frightened child, and Tim's heart nearly broke as he watched her lower lip begin to tremble as she opened her mouth to speak, "Not really." Tim crouched down to get closer to her, and in a flash she had reached up and wrapped him into a tight embrace, having knocked him onto his backside in the process. Much to his credit, he simply held on to her and stroked her back. He was completely freaked out at seeing her that upset, but he knew she did not need to know that and so he held onto her and waited. "Tim, I'm really scared."

"What is it, Abs?"

She continued to hold onto him tightly, as though he was the only thing anchoring her to this world, but she inhaled deeply and then blew it out in a rush, still clinging to Tim as she spoke. "They're gonna fire me today." The words struck Tim like a bullet, but the sound of her voice made him want to weep. Abby believed what she was saying so strongly that Tim found his own words choked out by the massive lump building in his throat.

Finally, he found the strength to speak clearly, "That doesn't sound right, Abby… What makes you think that?"

She reached for his wrist and held it up to her face so that she could see the time on his watch and answered in the most frightened tone Tim could ever remember hearing before, "I have a personnel review in less than two hours… And those guys hate me, Tim."

When she released his hand, he brought that arm back to hold her to him once more and chuffed at the notion that they would fire Abby. "Please… Like Gibbs would ever let that happen, Abs."

She looked up into his eyes for the first time and the pain he saw there broke his heart. "Gibbs doesn't have the power anymore, Timmy… He's the one taking me to the meeting." Tim tried to hide the shock in his eyes as Abby delivered that ominous news.

Could they really be thinking of firing Abby? He quickly shoved aside that idea, knowing in his heart that Gibbs would never betray Abby like that, and in turn it got him thinking about who had really called for the review. "Abby, where is this meeting?"

She sniffed a little and then buried her head back into Tim's chest before giving him a muffled answer, "The Colonel's office." Tim stopped worrying the moment Abby mentioned the Colonel. He knew in his heart that Gibbs and the Colonel would not be working to get Abby fired. He also knew that it meant Abby was probably in some kind of trouble, so he held her just a little tighter and rocked her on the floor of her office. If there was one thing that Tim McGee wanted, it was to never see Abby in pain. She had seen far too much of that over the last two years and Tim knew that he was responsible for at least some of that anguish. If Abby needed him to hold her and comfort her until her meeting, then he would sacrifice whatever was necessary to provide her with that comfort.

They sat like that on the floor for quite a while, but finally Abby spoke again, "Tim?"

"Yeah, Abs."

"Why did you come down here?" She shifted slightly in his embrace.

"Oh… Just evidence on a new case."

Abby pulled back and looked at Tim with a little more surprise than her had expected, "Tim! Gibbs is gonna have your hide."

For the first time in three years Tim McGee could not think of a reason why that should bother him and he shrugged, "So… This is more important, Abby."

Abby was completely shocked by his answer and her face showed that, as her mouth hung gaping open from the impact of his statement. As she tried to recover from those words, she shook her head and then scrambled to her feet. Once she had her balance, Abby reached down to signal to Tim that it was time to get off the floor. "C'mon, Tim."

He made a face that looked like someone had just kicked him and then said, "Well, I would, but I think my entire left leg, all the way up to my butt cheek, has fallen asleep." She smiled and attempted to stifle a giggle when she gave him both of her hands to assist in his ascent to his feet once more. With a great effort, they were finally able to bring McGee back to a standing position, but he kept moving his left leg in strange ways as he worked to get the circulation restored.

Abby's face turned into that of a delighted imp when she suddenly struck upon an idea to help him restore the circulation. She took a step forward, so that they were nose to nose and then she reached her hand around behind him, planted it firmly on his left buttock and squeezed. And just as he was about to shriek in surprise, Abby took the initiative and gave him one of her own time stopping kisses. When they finally parted, Tim stood shock still and Abby smiled with her eyes closed a moment. The only words spoken came from Abby, and she simply said, "I got tired of waiting for another one."

It took him a few moments to find his foothold on earth again, but when he opened his mouth to speak, her eyes fluttered open and he could see right into her heart. He lost the ability for speech once more and after he drew in a desperate breath to clear his mind he was finally ready to talk again. "I uh, well, ah, I wasn't sure you, ah, you know, were um, well, ah, like, maybe you didn't, you know, that um, I wasn't sure you were… Interested?" McGee could feel the heat in his cheeks, his heart was pounding in his chest and his ears were practically roaring in his head at that moment, and not all of it had to do with his declaration. That kiss had pretty much wiped out all functions of intelligent speech and thought. The only thing he was absolutely sure of in that instant was that he wanted more of it.

Abby smiled for the first time that day. Seeing Tim get flustered always had a way of brightening her day, and this was no exception to that rule. She also realized that in all her wild ramblings, she had never once said anything to him about the kiss they had shared in the bullpen just before the big announcement at NCIS. That thought made her laugh as she fell into his arms once more, "Tim, as much as we both talk, and yet we still manage not to communicate always seems to amaze me."

Tim looked around the room and then he dropped his gaze to the woman nuzzling his chest, "So, does all this mean, what I ah, you know, think it means?"

Abby brought her face up to rest against Tim's neck and whispered into his ear, "Only if you don't mind letting me hang out with you while I'm unemployed."

Tim pulled her back so that he could look her in the eye, and gave her one of those disapproving looks where his mouth was all screwed up into oddly boyish scowl. "Never gonna happen." She smiled at him and when he smiled back, she finally felt like things might not have been as bad as she had originally made them out to be. McGee's optimistic outlook and idealism had finally proven to be useful, and that was something Abby could easily get used to.