AN:First let me say thank you for your amazing reviews last chapter. They were such an encouragement to me; perhaps more so than any group of reviews I have ever received. So thank you for that. Second, I forsee a few more chapters to go. Third, and most important...enjoy.
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Gibbs right eye was already starting to swell and he knew he'd have a lot of explaining to do when he arrived back at the hospital. Only he wasn't worried all that much about the nurses as he was Abby. He arrived to find her stirring a bit and tried to be as quiet as possible. He wasn't very successful.
"Gibbs?" She was still a bit groggy as she sat herself up. "You okay?"
"Fine Abs," he whispered towards her. "Go back to sleep."
She shook her head. "Something's hinky…I can feel it."
"Just the cafeteria food you had for dinner…now go to sleep."
Part of her wanted to lie back down; the other part knew better. She got up slowly and stretched out before rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. The mark on Gibbs eye suddenly becoming clear. "Oh my gosh, what happened?"
"Abs…" But before he could even start explaining she had ran back towards the futon and lifted up her pillow. She retrieved her stapler and arrived back in front of Gibbs. "Just tell me who did it Gibbs…I'll get 'em."
He was too tired to smile. "Easy Abs…it's nothing. Now put the stapler away and go back to sleep."
"No way…"
Gibbs tried to send her the Fatherly glare but couldn't. "Well, I'm going to bed." He tried to move aside the covers with his good arm and watched Abby stop the process.
"Gibbs…come on, you leave without telling me…to go who knows where…then come back with a black eye, which I might add does nothing for your features…not to mention the fact that…"
He put up a hand to quiet her. "Abby, I'm not in the mood."
"Then your best bet is to just tell me what happened." Her voice was getting softer and she had placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Please? I'm worried."
He leaned against the bed and looked up at her. "I went to see McGee. We had words."
She squeezed the stapler. "McGee? He hit you? Oh, he is so dead." She turned for the door and forced Gibbs to reach for her arm with more force then he ever had before.
He was able to pull her back towards him before stumbling towards her. He regained his balance and found himself inches from her face; his good hand now on the stapler. "I provoked him…I deserved it."
"Deserved it? No way…you took a bullet trying to save him. You risked your life for him. You…"
"Tortured him." He finished for her before taking the stapler out of her hand and setting it down.
"Tortured him?" She shot him a confused look. "I don't understand…"
Gibbs rubbed at his eyes. "Have you talked to him in the last week?"
She shrugged. "I've been meaning to…just got busy."
"Doing what?"
She pointed at him. "Looking after you…I mean somebody has to."
He shook his head. "I can take care of myself."
The tone in his voice made Abby cringe inside. She quickly reached for the stapler and stormed back towards her futon to grab her things. She swung her bag over her left shoulder and had a pillow under each arm. Gibbs didn't have the energy to stop her but knew what he had said to set her off.
"Abs, I didn't mean…"
She interrupted him. "Yes you did. And if you don't want me here, you can just say it Gibbs. I can take it. I'm a big girl…"
He placed himself between her and the door. "I don't want you here Abs…"
She felt a sob rising up inside her before trying to step around him; only to find his hand reaching for her face. It was then he qualified his response. "I need you here…"
She just about dropped everything as she started to quietly cry. "I just…I don't understand…what happened to us?"
Gibbs knew she was referring to the team and if he had two good arms; he would've wrapped her into a reassuring hug. "I happened Abs…I did this."
"Why do you keep saying that? What did you do wrong?"
He led her to a chair and sat down beside her. "McGee…he never talked to you when Tony disappeared?"
"He was over at my place like every night after it happened. Why?"
It took Gibbs a minute to realize how McGee would've kept something like this from her. "He didn't say much did he?"
She shook her head. "Not really…we mostly cried. Well, I mostly cried while he held me. Why?"
"You should ask him." Gibbs response was more of a request than an answer.
"But…"
"No butts Abby...he needs you a hell of a lot more than I do."
She was a bit hesitant. "But I don't want to leave you…what if…"
"What if what?"
"What if something bad happens while I'm gone?"
He took the stapler from her hand. "I'll keep this right next to me. I promise."
After icing his hand; McGee took to staring at the blank sheet of paper in his typewriter for the next hour. He was determined to forget the exchange with Gibbs but he couldn't. He was second guessing and justifying everything he said and did over and over in his mind. Until another knock came at the door. He approached his door and unconsciously rubbed at his bruised knuckles as he unlocked it.
"Abby?"
She put up her hands. "I come in peace."
If he wasn't so emotionally drained he might've smiled. "Yeah, so did Gibbs and I'm sure you heard how that went."
She gave him a once over before responding. "You look tired. Haven't been sleeping much huh?" She watched as he simply shook his head. "Talking about it could help?"
He still hadn't let her in and he wasn't sure if he was going to. "What makes you think I want to talk? Was it all the messages I left on your voicemail? Or the texts I sent?"
"I'm sorry McGee…I was mad."
"Join the club." He shifted his weight a bit; still rubbing a hand over his knuckles. "What made you change your mind?"
"Gibbs."
"Big surprise." He tried to be moderately sarcastic and watched her expression change.
"Okay, you're right…he may have suggested that I come here. But no one makes Abby Scuito do anything. You know that."
Tim always loved when she got defensive and this time was no different. "Then why are you here?"
She looked into the apartment and sent him a questioning look. "Are you gonna make me stand out here forever?"
McGee slowly opened the door and stepped aside. She took a few steps towards the middle of the apartment before he closed the door. "Feel better now?"
"Much."
"Good. Now, why are you here? And don't tell me it's to get me to come back. Because my mind's made up."
She shook her head. "I figured that. I mean who the heck quits right after the guy who tried to save his life just woke up from major surgery..unless they mean business right?"
"Point taken." McGee replied quickly. "I guess it wasn't the best time."
She tried to smile at him. "And I guess I shouldn't have slapped you…I felt really really bad if that makes you feel any better?"
He nodded. "It's alright…it didn't hurt that bad. Gibbs has head slapped me a lot harder."
She noticed his lack of emotion and took a step towards him. "Don't pull a Tony on me Tim, you can't hide behind wise cracks and get away with it. I know you…better than Gibbs or Tony. And I'm more sorry that I didn't see what was going on with you after we lost Tony…I guess I was just so wrapped up in my own grief that I…" She stopped and threw her arms around him. "I just wish this whole thing never happened…I wish we were all together again…catching bad guys and making fun of each other all day long…"
He almost smiled at her rant and squeezed her tight. "Like happily ever after right?"
She eased away from the embrace and nodded. "Something like that."
He shook his head. "Happily ever afters only happen in stories Abby…" He gestured towards his typewriter. "And my life isn't a fictional novel, its real life and real life doesn't just move on because a new chapter begins."
"I know."
"Look, I'm glad you came over. I know it was hard for you to leave Gibbs. And I know it was hard for you not to want to kill me for hitting him."
She agreed. "He confiscated my stapler…" She watched him almost smile. "Hey, I came to say I was sorry, but I also came to listen…I owe you a months worth of listening to me…"
He shrugged. "No charge."
She contemplated ending it there, but couldn't. "Gibbs…he hurt you bad didn't he?"
Tim had hoped she wouldn't prod but knew better. "He did."
Abby searched her brain and recounted a conversation they had years before. "In the world according to Gibbs; you share the blame if anything goes hinky…"
He nodded as he remembered the first time she'd said that to him. "Only I didn't share the blame; he made me own it all."
"Do you hate him?"
It was a simple question and one that deserved a simple answer. "I don't know."
She was semi satisfied with the answer and asked a second question. "Do you still love him?"
He took to staring at the floor for a few seconds before looking up. "I don't know."
"Do you love me?"
He nodded. "You know I do Abby…what are you…"
She interrupted him. "Do you love us? The team?"
"You know I do."
She picked up her bag and threw her arms around him a second time. "That's all I needed to know." And as she reached for the door knob she turned back. "And that's all you need to know too McGee."
He watched her leave and contemplated chasing after her to figure out exactly what she'd meant. Of course he loved them but love can't just wash away everything that's happened. And as he pondered her questions he took a seat back in front of his typewriter. There was a brown box sitting beside him; full of things he'd taken from his desk at NCIS and something told him to sift through it. He didn't have to dig down far before the calendar Gibbs had given him as a gift screamed at him. He flipped to today's date and hoped for some message of wisdom and he almost shed a tear as he read it…
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs…"
He stopped reading knowing right then what Abby had been trying to say. And it wasn't long before he found his keys and raced out the door.
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AN: The well known passage can be found in the Bible, 1 Cor 13.
More to come soon. Thanks for reading!