A/N: Hi guys, sorry for not updating for a while. It has come to my attention that I should have replied to your reviews personally. Being new to this I'm sorry!!

Also if anyone is interested in betaing for me please let me know. It will also involve kicking me up the backside to finish this story!!

Anyway onwards...

Gibbs had had a lazy day, well if you could call it that when your wife has given you a shopping list the length of his arm to bring back to Washington. It wasn't worth his life if he didn't bring everything back but he would do anything for a distraction. Since having a lie in and waking up at 1000 hours he had walked the length of Fifth and Sixth Avenue as well as Macy's and Bloomingdales carrying his list. The girls in the shops at been helpful, obviously used to hapless men wondering around their stores carrying shopping lists their wives had sent them out with. To be truthful that wasn't all that was on his mind. Abby continually entered his head-space and he wondered what she was doing at that moment, whether she had got home ok.

By the time his phone started to ring at 2 pm he was starting to contemplate if he reasonable could use his contacts at the Pentagon to try and find her. He couldn't get the image of her broken face out of his mind, or the way she had felt so soft under his touch which he assured himself were typical platonic things to feel about an escort girl who he had patched up the night before. Whatever!

The number was a 917 number, a cell number for the New York area. He literally stood in the middle of the pavement willing it to be Abby before he answered it.

"Gibbs"

" Erm hi, is that Agent Gibbs?Of course it is you just said you name listen its Abby er, Susie from last night you know the girl that you erm well I was wondering if I could buy you lunch to say thanks although it is after 2 so you probably have already eaten so if you have it doesn't matter but I'm in-between classes so I have an hour to spare..."

"Abby! Yes I can meet you. Where?" Gibbs decided to keep his answers brief so as not to start her off on another no stop conversation. He didn't think he had ever heard someone talk so fast without taking a breath.

" There is a Starbucks off Union Square, are you near there?"

Gibbs entered the café 10 minutes later to find Abby sat in the corner, back to the wall and a newspaper laid out in front of her. She looked completely different to the night before, her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail, her face was devoid of make-up apart from the concealer covering her black eye, she wore baggy jeans that hung off her slight frame and a green zip-up. Without her glamour of the night before she looked like a normal college kid, young and poor.

Abby could feel his presents when he walked into the café but didn't look up until he sat down in front of her. Her eyes held mischief as she eyed the bags he was trying to hide under the table.

"Victoria Secrets Gibbs, you should have told me I could have got you a discount. They have some nice lacy numbers in there, I particularly like the one..."

"Abby" Gibbs growled out. There were somethings that he didn't want a mental picture of in his head, one being Abby in some lacy underwear, he would never sleep again.

Recognising that she should keep quiet Abby just smiled and slowly folded her newspaper away. It was only then that Gibbs noticed the bags under her eyes.

"Didn't sleep much then?" his head pointed towards her face.

"Nope, and then had to go to college this morning. But another 2 hours and then I can go home and sleep, caffeine is the only thing keeping me going at the moment."

As if to illustrate her point the waiter chose that moment to place two cups of coffee in front of them. As Abby stirred in a disgusting amount of sugar Gibbs eyed her.

"A bit strange eh? You didn't expect me to look like this? Well this is Abby, Jekyll to Susie's Hyde"

" What is it you are doing at college?"

"Forensic Science. I want to work with the FBI if I'm good enough, go into teaching when I've served my time."

"Is that why you escort then? To get through college. I'm not having ago but surely you can do it another way." Gibbs didn't want to chastise her but at the same time he want to know what would have caused her to go to such extremes.

"School is expensive especially someone who is doing my course. I had a falling out with my parents and didn't have enough time to get financial help. A friend of mine was doing it also and was making good money so I thought why not, not like I'm hurting anyone."

"What about hurting yourself. Are you telling me something like last night hasn't happened before?"

Abby looked away from him at these words. She rubbed her hands down her face before turning back to him.

" Things change and I need the money. I only have a year left of school and then I can get a good job and stop. Its not like I enjoy what I do Agent Gibbs but sometimes we all have to do things we don't like just to get by."