FYI, just because Abby is seeing Kate in her dreams, she is not crazy. Just want to say that. Abby did ask Kate to help her and Kate being the dutiful friend, is doing just that. This chapter also shows another side of Abby we don't get to see in the show so much. She is usually so tough and strong, so I felt it was time to show her not so strong.

A/N: I want to thank everyone for the reviews on the last 2 chapters! Especially reading the chapter I posted on Thanksgiving. I know people are away and celebrating the holiday with family and friends, so I appreciate those that took the time to read the chapter and review it. Also, don't hate me for what happens in this chapter lol.

VillageVoice

"Why isn't she back yet Kate?"

Kate walked over and sat down on the swing next to Abby. "Give it time Abs."

"I've given it time. I've given it lots of time. I've given it almost two years of time." She hugged her little Goth lab bear close to her chest. "I moved. And now I know what you meant about making sure Tony knows the difference between right and left. I caught him with one of Ziva's bras, and not one of her everyday ones."

"I tried to warn you." Kate shrugged. "You won't be happy there Abby. Not anywhere near as happy as you were at NCIS, even with the 24 hour work days and lack of sleep."

Abby chuckled. "I tried to do what you told me to, to 'snap out of it' and be there for the team, to keep them together, but I can't do it anymore."

"You can't take this job either. It's not the answer Abby. "

Abby sighed and got off the swing, walking in circles around the tree. "I know it's selling out-" Kate scoffed. "I know, I know. It's just too hard going there every day and seeing Ziva's desk empty and no one trying to get her back."

"They are doing all that they can Abs."

"I know. But I just . . ."

Kate reached out and grabbed Abby by the wrist to stop her path around the tree. Abby slowly turned to face her friend. "You just what?"

Abby sat back down on her swing next to Kate. "I just need to be somewhere where I'm not reminded everyday that she's not here. I need a new place that doesn't hold any lingering smells, or that at least that doesn't trick my mind into thinking I can still smell the scent of her shampoo or her perfume if I close my eyes tight enough and hope deep enough. A clean start with no memories of Ziva walking down the hall or making breakfast in the kitchen. I can be closer to my brother and my niece and nephews. Have you seen them? They are so cute Kate. I took them to the park with Brian the other day to give Becca a chance to have some alone time with my sister-in-law. I really wish I could have kids."

"That's a cop-out Abby and you know it."

"What am I supposed to do Kate? I am doing everything I can not to break down every minute of every day and I make one little move and-"

"This was not one little move. You up and moved your entire life, leaving your friends and a job that you love."

"I need a break!" She yelled, standing up and pacing around in front of the swings.

"Then take one!" Kate yelled back, leaving the swing and the tree and stopping in front of Abby. "Take a few weeks, a few months, but don't leave NCIS. Don't leave Gibbs and Tony and McGee and Ducky because you can't take it anymore. They're your family! I died and left them to you . . . and you let me down."

Abby locked her eyes on Kate's. Kate was mad. She had never really seen Kate mad like this. Maybe being dead made her even madder than she got when she was alive. She looked away guiltily. The one thing Abby Sciuto could not stand was disappointing people. Especially people close enough to be considered family.

"I have done everything I can to get her back. And now when things are finally coming together you give up?"

Abby's eyes lit up. "Ziva's coming back?"

Kate's anger seem to dissipate at Abby's tone, so childlike and full of hope. She took a step back. "When the time comes, don't believe everything you hear." She took a few steps from Abby. "Trust your heart Abby." She turned and walked away, Abby unable to speak or move could do nothing but watch her go. "It's never been wrong before."

"Sciuto!" Abby cringed. How many times was she going to have to tell this guy to call her Abby? "I'd like to introduce you to your new assistant."

'Whoa.' Abby thought. She swung her chair around to face her boss and the twenty-something barely-legal twig of a woman standing next to him. "First of all, it's Abby. And second of all, I didn't ask for an assistant."

"Consider me free of charge." The girl said.

Abby resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Her first day and the new boss man was already giving her shit. "You don't understand. I can't work with anyone. Back at NCIS I had an assistant and he framed one of the agents for murder and almost got away with it, and he tried to kill me. I work alone."

"Well Kimmy here has been thoroughly screened."

"Are you kidding me?" Abby mumbled. He called her Kimmy, but refused to call her Abby? She looked over at the corner of her computer and checked the time. It was three minutes past when her shift ended. Normally she would hate leaving so early - especially on the first day of a new job, but there really was nothing left to do and this was a special circumstance. "What do you know, my shift's over." She turned to her boss. "I'll see you tomorrow Sir." She grabbed her coat and her bag and stood up. "Kimmy . . . it was nice meting you and I'm sure you're a nice person, so don't take this the wrong way, but I really hope I don't see you tomorrow."

"Sciuto!"

Abby paused at the stairs. What kind of place didn't even have an elevator? She was not used to stairs. Her platform boots weren't exactly made for them either. She plastered a smile on her face and slowly turned to face her boss. "Yes Sir?"

"Miss Sciuto, we need to talk." She raised her eyebrows expectantly and let him talk. "First of all Kimmy will be your assistant. There is a lot of work and there is no way you can do it all yourself."

"Oh please. I had twenty times this workload at NCIS and did it all myself without any sleep for days at a time."

"Non-negotiable. And also, your wardrobe-"

"Non-negotiable."

"Miss Sciuto you will not show up in this again, are we clear? It is unprofessional and . . ."

Abby tuned him out as something caught her eye. "I'm sorry." She interrupted. "Could you excuse me for a minute?" She walked down the hall and turned the corner. "I should have guessed." She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Kate chuckled and sat down on the swing hanging from the tree that magically appeared along with the rest of the park. "I told you this place wasn't right for you when you were first considering this job Abby."

Abby admitted defeat and planted herself on the ground under the tree. "Is he really going to insist on calling me 'Miss Sciuto'?"

Kate nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"And my clothes?"

"Oh yeah, they're gone. I see Career Barbie making a comeback. You'd be better off writing a book."

"NO!" Abby shot-up in bed, drenched in sweat. She looked around and was instantly confused. It was going to take a while to get used to the new surroundings. She took a few deep breaths and looked over to the beautiful being lying next to her and gave her a nice belly rub. "What are we going to do Harley?" She sighed. "I can't take this job."

"And what exactly is the reason for this Miss Sciuto?"

Abby cringed. This guy in real life was no better than the guy in her dream. "I need to take some time for myself. I've been working ever since I can remember and I'm finally at a place where I can afford to go on a…" She searched for the right word. When she found it she smiled. "A sabbatical."

"Sabbatical?" Abby nodded. The graying man leaned back in his chair and smiled. "Well, we've been after you for years now. I suppose a few more months won't hurt."

"Thank-you. I appreciate it . . . Sir."

"What are your plans?"

"I don't know. I've always wanted to travel, maybe . . ." An idea suddenly popped into her head. "Maybe write a book."

"That would be a great book. You do amazing work."

Abby beamed. It was nice to have your work validated. She learned early on in her NCIS career that the only validation she was ever going to get was a caf-pow and the occasional kiss on the cheek. She helped them with kick-ass, iron-clad evidence and yet nothing was ever mentioned of her in the news or the papers. To be fair though NCIS wasn't usually mentioned either. It was usually the FBI, the CIA, or . . . the 'federal authorities.' "Thank-you Sir."

"Take as long as you need, as long as you start as soon as you're ready."

Abby looked out the window. About that…

"Ah B-Boss?" McGee tentatively rose from his desk and pulled a video news feed up on the plasma. "You want to see this."

Gibbs stopped mid-step on his way up to MTAC and turned back around. McGee valued his life more than to call him back down for something that wasn't important. "What is it McGee?"

McGee remained silent as he allowed Gibbs to see what had happened for himself. He stealthily pulled out his cell phone and sent Tony a quick text to get back to the squadroom a.s.a.p. When he looked up Gibbs was gone and there was a picture of 'Mossad Officer Ziva Aniah David' with the date she was born and yesterday's date. The date of her death.

Tony flew into the bullpen and silently slipped up behind McGee fully intent on pulling some sort of prank, but his arms fell when he saw the screen. He sighed. "Not again."

Gibbs barged into the Director's office and threw the door open so hard the doorknob made a hole in the wall. "I told you to bring her back! I told you to get her back here and now she's dead." He slammed his hands down on Vance's desk and looked him straight in the eyes. "That's on you."

Tony and McGee were both sitting silently at their desks when Gibbs came down the stairs. The whole floor was silent, no doubt having heard Gibbs's 'conversation' with Director Vance. "She was going to Lebanon on assignment." Tony said barely above a whisper. The only other sounds in the office being people typing on their computers and telephone rings going unanswered. "She was on a private plane, but the group she was following found the name she was traveling under and bombed the plane. Her body was so burned the only thing left were a couple of teeth they used to match to her dental records." Tony paused a moment. "It's not even a two and a half hour flight."

Gibbs offered no indication that he had heard anything Tony said, but the senior field agent knew his boss had heard every word. McGee looked up after a few more minutes of complete silence and cleared his throat. "Who ah . . . who's going to tell Abby?"

Tony slumped down further down in his chair and Gibbs – Gibbs tried his hardest not to look at the empty desk in front of him, but his eyes seemed to have a mind of their own. That desk was cursed. First Kate, now Ziva. If it was up to him, that desk would be incinerated at the first opportunity.

"Agent Gibbs!" Vance's voice boomed down the catwalk and covered every corner of the entire floor. "My office. Now!"

Gibbs pried his eyes away from the desk and looked around at his team. What was left of his team. "I will."

"Gibbs!" Abby flung open the door and jumped into Gibbs's arms. It has only been about a day and a half since she had been living in her new home and had last seen Gibbs and the rest of Team Gibbs minus one, but she missed them already. She squeezed her silver-haired fox as tightly as she could. She just wasn't . . . whole without them. There was something missing. "I missed you."

Gibbs gently pried Abby's arms from around his neck and led her back inside the house, taking a few seconds longer than necessary to shut the door behind himself to collect his thoughts and figure out exactly what he was going to tell the young woman before him.

"Sorry, no Caf-Pow here, but I have some coffee if you'd like some?"

Gibbs shook his head. "Not right now Abby."

"What's wrong?" Abby's elated mood immediately plummeted. Gibbs always wanted coffee, Gibbs could never get enough coffee. Gibbs without coffee was like her without Caf-Pow. The results weren't pretty. She had stocked up on Caf-Pows at NCIS before she left and was slowly weaning herself down. The day Gibbs refused an offer of coffee was the day . . . she thought for a minute. The day Gibbs didn't want coffee was the day . . . the day someone died. "Who died?"

"Let's sit."

Abby shook her head and took a step back, away from Gibbs. "Who died?"

"Abby."

"Damn it Gibbs just tell me. Who died?!"

Gibbs calmly walked over to Abby and led her to one of the chairs around the dining room table. He sat down next to her and took her hand. "There was an accident-a bombing." Gibbs corrected. It was no accident. "A plane-"

The tears starting falling with a force and Abby didn't even try to hold them back. She kept detailed tabs on her team so she knew none of them had been out of the office since she last saw them all, so that ruled any one of them being hurt out. The only other person who would warrant a trip from Gibbs was Ziva. It was all too much. Eighteen months with nothing, no contact and now this. 'Wait' She thought; that wasn't exactly true. She needed a friend to help her through this. Without a word to Gibbs she got up and disappeared down the hall into what Gibbs assumed to be her bedroom for a few seconds before re-emerging with her new stuffed bear in her arms and sat back down.

"Abs…"

Abby looked out the window and hugged the bear close. She gave better hugs than Bert. "Just tell me Gibbs."

"I'm sorry Abby . . . Ziva was on that plane."

Abby was fuming. She was hurt and felt like part of her had been ripped away, but most of all she was angry. Angry at Kate. "You said you would protect her!"

"I did Abby."

"How? Ziva is dead Kate. How is that protecting her? She is the most important thing to me in this world and you let her die."

"That's not fair."

Abby flung her arms up into the air and plopped herself down in the middle of a garden full of wilting black tulips that had, just yesterday, been full of life and color, standing tall against the breeze. Now they were dead and lifeless, being pelted by the rain that was falling down in waves. Abby tried to wipe the rain from her face and get her hair to stay out of her face, but she gave up. "Neither is the face that Ziva died and left me here alone."

Kate walked over and sat down next to Abby, the rain not touching a hair on her head. "First of all, you're not alone."

"It doesn't matter!" Abby got up and tried to put as much distance between her and Kate as she could. However, she rounded a large oak tree and there Kate was - still dry despite the torrential downpour, casually leaning against the tree. Abby sighed and slumped down on the other side of the tree. "What am I supposed to do?"

Kate walked around the tree and knelt down in front of the broken woman. "Trust me."

"I did." Abby looked deep into Kate's eyes and it dawned on her. If Kate was dead and she was seeing her... "I can't. No no no no. Kate, seeing you is one thing, but if I start seeing Ziva in these dreams I will lose it. It hurts. It hurts so much I . . . I can't breathe and if I start seeing her I'll-"

Kate reached over and drew Abby into her arms. Slowly, the rain stopped. The clouds parted revealing a bright, warn shining sun that put life back into the flowers and dried up the grass and everything until there was not a drop of water left except for the fountains. Kate pulled away and Abby was surprised that she herself was now completely dry. She ran a hand through her hair, which was down and reminded Abby of Ziva all the more. The Israeli loved it when Abby left her hair down and used to love to run her fingers through it. "Show off."

Kate smiled and nudged Abby with her shoulder. "Maybe a little."

Abby shook her head. "I know there's a reason for everything, but her death? . . I see no point in that. I just . . . it doesn't seem right."

Kate nodded. "I know."

"No, I mean it doesn't feel right – it doesn't feel real. I know this is going to sound crazy-"

"Abby, you're sitting here talking to someone who has been dead, buried and intimately involved in the decaying process for several years now."

"That's a nice visual Kate." Abby said with a chuckle.

Kate shrugged. "When you're dead it doesn't matter anymore. The point is, crazy has been passed long ago. Tell me."

"It still …" Abby sighed. "It still feels like she's alive. It-I can't explain it, but I can feel her Kate."

Kate nodded. "What did I tell you the other day?"

"To take a break." She joked.

Kate gave Abby a look. "I told you to trust your heart. What is it telling you?"

Abby sat still for a moment, listening to what her heart was telling her. She thought back to the new bear sitting beside Bert on her bed, and the note that came with it. "Paris." She said.

Kate put her arm over Abby's shoulder and pulled the Goth close. "Then go." She kissed Abby on the forehead and stood up, holding her hand out to help Abby up. "What else did I tell you?"

Abby brushed herself off and suddenly remembered. "Not to believe everything I hear." Kate smiled at her and walked away, letting go of Abby's hand only once she was too far to hold it anymore. "What does that mean?" Abby asked, but Kate was gone. "Kate! What does that mean?"