A/N: Thank you for your patience.
Any OOC is strictly accidental.
Abby and Ziva walked back into NCIS, each lost in thought as they went their separate ways. Ziva returned to the now quiet squad room, looking at her teammates in silent serious contemplation; both of them remained so engrossed in their work, they failed to so much as twitch at her arrival. At the same time, Abby headed downstairs. Surprisingly enough, both Abby and Ziva's heads were full of the conversation they'd had with each other over lunch.
**Flashback**
"Thanks so much for agreeing to have lunch with me at the last minute, Ziva." Abby offered as the two of them sat down in the small diner.
"I am happy to be able to join you, Abby. Is there something wrong?" Ziva asked with concern.
"Yes and no." Abby answered confusingly.
"Abby, please, make sense." Ziva pleaded.
"Remember when we talked about what 'Amanda' did to Timmy?" Abby began.
"Yes. You asked me to tell you how he handled it and I told you." Ziva supplied.
"Right." The lab rat agreed. "Well, after remembering what you told me and then seeing how he's been since then…" Abby stopped as she tried to put her words together the best way possible.
"What do you mean by 'how he has been since then?" Ziva inquired. "You have not been around him very often in the last few months, Abby. Where are you getting your information from?"
"Tony told me. I ask him every couple of days how McGee's doing." Abby admitted. "Besides, the fact that Timmy seems to have been avoiding me since that day says there's something really wrong, too."
"Abby, the first time McGee tried to ask us to check on you because you were not acting yourself; you got very angry and called it gossip. As I recall, you blew up at Tony and got angry with McGee for it. How is what you have done any different?" Ziva asked, clearly confused.
"I know, Ziva, and I was way off base when I did that. I know they were only trying to help and I shouldn't have reacted the way I did." Abby admitted.
"Have you ever told them that?" Ziva wondered. "Did you ever off either of them an apology?"
"No, but I know both of them and I know they've forgiven me for it long ago." The Goth assured her friend.
"Okay. So, what did Tony tell you about McGee that brings us here?" Ziva asked.
"Ziva! I love having lunch with you! But, to answer your question, McGee's been withdrawn, quieter than usual, not happy. And according to Tony, it seems to be getting worse every day." Abby said with concern.
"Abby, I am sure that McGee is doing the best that he can. He is, after all, suffering from a broken heart, yes?" the Israeli woman asked.
"I know, Ziva! That's my point. I think it's time I rescued him from it." Abby explained.
"Are you serious? Abby, I do not think McGee is interested in trying to break one of Gibbs' rules." Ziva reminded her.
"Ziva, I know we can talk to Gibbs if it comes down to that, but we could keep it private and not let it affect our jobs. He wouldn't even know!"
"You do not seriously believe that McGee would agree to this?" Ziva was shocked at Abby's idea.
"He said he would think about it." Came the shocking answer.
"You talked to him about it? About breaking Rule #12? And McGee agreed?" Ziva asked in complete disbelief.
"No exactly. I asked him to consider dating me again." Abby admitted.
"Out of the blue? You just asked him straight out if he wanted to be 'rescued' by you?" Ziva asked as her curiosity got the better of her.
"No, I led up to it by reminding him that I knew he was unhappy and that I wanted him to remember his own good qualities. I told him he deserved someone who appreciates him for who he is. And I do .I didn't mention the word 'rescue'.""
"Abby. Did you not tell me that you broke off your relationship with McGee because you were not prepared to get serious and he was?" came the expected question.
"Well, yeah. But that was years ago, Ziva." Abby defended herself.
"What did McGee say in response to your request?" Ziva changed the subject a little. It was obvious Abby hadn't put a lot of thought into the background she was asking McGee to bounce back from.
"He said he'd think about and get back to me, but he wouldn't discuss it with me at work. So, will you help me?" Abby answered with a question of her own.
"What is it you want me to do?" Ziva wanted to know.
"Figure out why he hasn't answered me yet. Tell me what else I should say to him to get him to go for it. What could possibly be keeping him from answering me already? Do you think I'm expecting too much?" Abby's questions flew fast and furious through the air.
"Abby. Do you want me to be completely honest with you?" Ziva needed to know.
"Of course!" Abby declared.
"I believe that you have missed something very important about McGee. You have failed to realize that he has changed. He is different from the McGee of several years ago. In fact, he is quite different now than he was even a few months ago. His heart has been broken several times. One does not always recover quickly from something like that." Ziva reminded the young woman. "As you have already pointed out, it is quite obvious he is definitely not bouncing back this time."
"I know, Ziva. But, I also know he has always loved me. I love him. He's McGee." Abby summed up her belief. "I have to help him."
"Are you certain he wants your help? And you are sure that that the love he has carried for you is enough? I am not so sure." Ziva cautioned. "If it were, Abby, would he not have come to you for this help already?"
"He needs my help whether he knows it or not. Besides, the fact that he still loves me has to mean something!" Abby declared as they headed back to work.
"Abby, I will be here for you and listen when you need to talk. But, I will not get involved with this. I respect McGee too much to interfere in his personal life." Ziva said.
"Okay, Ziva. I understand. It'll be great having you to talk to about it!" Abby responded with a smile and a hug for the other woman.
**End Flashback**
Not willing or ready to focus on her own work, Abby instead, could only think about finding a voice of reason that was bound to be a different angle on things than what Ziva's had been. While there was nothing wrong with Ziva's take on the situation, Abby felt the need for more input, more specifically, a more positive opinion than Ziva had. Unable to think about work just yet, Abby concentrated on figuring out whom that voice of reason needed to come from and how to go about getting what she needed. Suddenly, the light came on in her head and she quickly set out to do what needed to be done to find that voice of reason,
******************
"Jethro, surely you are not here looking for answers for a case; which means you are here for answers about Timothy. Tell me, what is it that seems to be of concern?" Ducky asked when Gibbs walked through the door.
Seeing the stack of files and paperwork on Ducky's desk, Gibbs had to wonder if he'd come at a bad time. But, his need for answers outweighed the willingness to come back when Ducky wasn't busy.
"Duck!" Gibbs almost growled in frustration. He hated it when Ducky was deliberately difficult with him. Sitting down in the chair beside the M.E.'s desk, Gibbs blew out a sigh of frustration
"Jethro, I do not know what it is you wish for me to say! Surely, you have a reason for such obvious concern; perhaps if you share that reason with me, I could be of assistance to you." Ducky persisted as he turned his own chair to face the younger man.
"Something bothering McGee that you need to share with me, Ducky?" Gibbs asked a little more calmly.
"As a matter of fact, there is, Jethro." Ducky admitted.
"Duck, he tell you about our conversation last night? About Abby asking him to date her again?" Gibbs went straight to the point.
"Yes, Timothy did reveal that to me. I must say, Jethro I am quite surprised that you gave those two permission to break your precious Rule #12." Ducky admitted equally calmly.
"He's been through hell, Duck. If this is what he really wants, I can't sanction standing in his way. I know I can trust him to not let it interfere with his job." Gibbs quietly explained somehow managed to remain calmly sitting still. "They've always had a special relationship. I just thought it would be nice for him if they could actually build on it. Damn sight safer than what he's been through."
"You seem sure of that. So then, what seems to be the trouble?" Ducky asked again.
"Duck, last night he smiled for the first time in months. I thought he was gonna be able to take this and finally come back from all the crap he's been thrown. But, to look at him now, it's almost as if he's more bothered by the help I tried to give him than before he and I talked. Hell, he looked happier before Abby even talked to him; and he damn sure wasn't happy then!" Gibbs admitted.
"Rest assured he is more troubled by Abby's suggestion than he is by your talk with him. But, you are absolutely right, he is troubled just the same."
"Why? What's going on with him, Duck?" Gibbs asked with even more concern than before.
"Jethro, I would have hoped by now that you realize that your favoritism of Abby has adversely affected the team, most especially Timothy on more than one occasion. Timothy feels he cannot date Abigail because she is your favorite. He has experienced your wrath on her behalf before, and is quite unwilling to put himself through that again." Ducky explained in brutal honesty. "Surely, you can understand that."
Gibbs stared at the M.E. in shock. What was Ducky talking about? As far as he remembered, Gibbs had always tried to be fair.
"Jethro, must I remind of you of the times that to this day, still twist like a painful knife in that young man's heart? You do forget how much he strives to be everything you expect of him and more. When he fails, especially because of someone else, it is very difficult for him to deal with." Ducky supplied.
"Duck, he's been here for more than 4 years. I'm afraid you're gonna have to refresh my memory a little, be a little more specific." Gibbs admitted.
"Very well, Jethro. When Michael Mawher was determined to get his hands on Abby, yes, that is a prime example. I'm sure you remember what happened." Ducky answered.
"Yeah, Duck. McGee fell down on the job and Abby was in real trouble while he was out in the car looking for a stupid toothbrush!" Gibbs bit out with a slice of remembered anger.
"Jethro, did you stop to ask Abigail why she ignored Timothy's instruction not to open the door for anyone? Abigail needled him terribly about not having her own toothbrush until he did what she wanted and went to get hers where she left it in the car. And yet you blamed him alone."
"He still left her alone, Ducky." Gibbs reminded him.
"Jethro, it was because Abigail, in all of her experience as your favorite, is quite unused to being denied what she wants from those on whom she can pull rank, so to speak, in the form of threatening to come to you with anything that displeases her about them, mainly Timothy and Anthony."
"Ducky..." Gibbs attempted to respond, but Ducky was on a tangent.
"As I just explained to you, she badgered him terribly with her demand for her own toothbrush. And, I might add, with implicit instructions not to open the door. Jethro, you tell her all the time that she is one of the smartest people you know. Yet, that night she made a very unwise decision; several, as a matter of fact. Yet, you steadfastly only hold Timothy responsible for what transpired that evening. That is the very reason Timothy feels the way he does." Ducky declared with feeling.
Gibbs looked at him in shocked silence for a long minute as the anger rose up in him and he let it out in the form of a question. "Are you saying he told you he doesn't want to date her? Why would he lie to me about it?"
"He did not intentionally lie to you, Jethro. There is a part of him that does wish to build that kind of relationship with Abigail. That is the part of him that found relief and happiness in your willingness to let him break your rule. But more of his brain is reminding him of all the painful experiences he's been through because of her actions or words through the years. He attempted to explain this to you in the course of your conversation, but when you interrupted him to encourage him to go home and think things through; he no longer had the opening available to discuss it with you." Ducky finished explaining.
"Duck, they dated before he officially joined the team. He's always looked for her, treated her like he still loves her. What the hell could be the problem?" Gibbs was confused. "What painful experiences?"
"Outside of the one I've already reminded you about, I do believe the most painful for him is the cruel and cold manner in which Abigail treated Timothy when Jethro attacked him." Ducky answered. "Followed closely by her allowing to lose your trust and faith in him over that dreadful Mawher situation."
"You lost me, Duck. What about when Jethro attacked him?" Gibbs demanded.
"Do you not know what took place between them during the course of that case, Jethro?" the M.E. inquired.
"No, Ducky, I don't. I was kinda busy solving the case and you know they don't tell me everything!"
"No, I should say not, most especially when part of that everything involves treating each other so with such cruelty. I was shocked myself when I heard about the terrible cd Anthony planted on poor Timothy just hours after he was attacked. Now, after talking with Timothy, I find out that Abigail turned on him when he drove the dog back here that day. Apparently, she called him "bad McGee' and took his expensive jacket to wrap the dog in, deliberately ruining it before she was done.
"You're serious." Gibbs said incredulously.
"That's not all, Jethro; the hateful way in which she treated him for the entire length of that case was compounded by Abigail bullying Timothy into taking the dog in when she could not. She did not take no for an answer."
"She usually doesn't." Gibbs admitted quietly.
"Yes, well, this is just a small sample of what Timothy has no wish to experience again. Jethro, the young man has tried and failed at dating too many times to even want to consider getting his heart broken again." Ducky explained.
"I hear ya, Duck. Anything else?" Gibbs asked.
"Jethro, I feel the need to advise you to re-evaluate the trust you do or do not have in young Timothy. I do believe a conversation between the two of you on the subject is long overdue." the older man stated.
"Ducky, I'm not in the habit of talking to these guys about it. You know that." Gibbs reminded him.
"I suggest you make this the exception, Jethro. And while you're at it, perhaps you should rethink the way in which you allow Abigail to show such disregard for her coworkers." Ducky advised with his normal brutal honesty.
"Yeah, Ducky, I do believe you're right. Thanks." Gibbs said as he patted the M.E. on the shoulder and walked out of Autopsy.
As Ducky expelled a sigh of relief mixed with frustration, a flash of light from his desk caught his eye. Before he could pinpoint it, it was gone. With a deep sense of unease, he could only pray that it hadn't been what he suspected it to be.