When Gibbs pushed the door open to find Abby with a knife to her throat, he felt the same anguish he had felt fifteen years earlier. He tried to meet Abby's eyes, to reassure her that he would do whatever he had to, but her eyes weren't focused on him, they were staring off into the distance.

Gibbs finally found his voice and said "Let her go, don't make this worse for yourself…" when in reality he wanted to say let her go, don't make my life any worse.

"Abby be strong. You'll be ok."

---

This can't be happening, Abby tried to focus her mind. She kept hearing people saying things like "let her go" and "let's talk this over" and "don't do anything you'll regret" Yeah, a little late for that, guys. She tried to think of what she had learned from Ziva. Yeah, that's right. What would Ziva do? She's a strong woman, what would she do if she was in your place? Right, well, Ziva likely wouldn't be in this position. And if she was, she'd do some crazy ninja trick. Abby thought, wracking her brain for an answer. Her hands were on his arm holding the knife to her neck. She could feel the blade of the sharp knife against her skin. A quick flick of his wrist and he would slice right through my carotid artery. Three beats of my heart and there would be more blood outside my body than inside. Argh, why do I have to think about these things? Her first instinct was to let her team talk her through this; they would eventually talk him down wouldn't they?

The sharp edge of the knife reminded her that perhaps waiting for her team to figure it out might take too long. Think, think, think! Think like a ninja. Abby found that her grip was tight on his arm.

"… Abby…. Strong… Ok…" Gibbs voice floated to her ears.

I am strong, Abby consoled herself. Strong. I am strong. I'm strong. Wait a minute, I'm strong. Abby thought back to her three weeks of dancing and singing. It had felt like three weeks of ten-hour workouts.

Abby took a few slow breaths and tightened her fingers on Brent's arm. Her mouth was dry. She gave herself one last deep breath before jerking Brent's hand as far forward as she could, while at the same time bringing her heel down as hard as she could on the center of his foot. She heard the sound of the heel on her shoe cracking, the arm around her waist loosened and she was able wriggle free. As Brent doubled over in pain Abby brought her knee up to connect with his nose.

Gibbs yanked her away before the blood from his broken nose had a chance to drip. The rest of the agents moved in on Brent and had him in handcuffs on the ground within seconds.

Gibbs held Abby tightly to his chest and stroked her hair. Abby wrapped her arms around him and pressed her ear to his chest to listen to the sound of his heart beating. She heard him say something to her, but it didn't register in her brain. Out of the corner of her eye she watched Tony jerked Brent to his feet and take him to the police car that had pulled around into the ally.

"Abby" Jenny walked up and placed a hand on her back "We need you to see if you can pull any thing off the knife. Sam can't be reached. The rest of the evidence can be processed later, but we need to see if it's the same knife used in the murders."

"Jesus, Jen" Gibbs tightened his arms around Abby. "She just had that knife at her neck…"

"No, it's ok" she pushed out of Gibbs' embrace and forced a weak smile "I need to do this." Abby pressed her lips to his cheek before limping away on a broken heel, her hand at her neck. "I'm fine."

Gibbs started to follow, but Hollis' hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Let her do her work, Jethro."

---

In the lab Abby's first stop was her desk drawer. She pulled out a small tube of superglue and, while wearing gloves, applied a small amount to the broken heel of her show. Within five minutes she was able to walk carefully across her lab without it snapping again. Still in the satin green dress, she moved from machine to machine.

"Abigail, my dear, Jenny sent me down to take a look at your neck."

Abby turned and smiled at Ducky, but he could see the tears in her eyes.

"Oh Abigail, come here." Ducky opened his arms, and then wrapped them around her when she stepped into his hug. He held her tightly while she cried, rubbing a hand up and down her back. As her sobbing turned to a soft whimper, and then into a heavy sigh, he pulled away.

"Thanks, Ducky."

"Anytime, dear. Have a seat, let me take a look."Abby perched on the edge of her desk and tilted her head to the side. Ducky's fingers were warm and dulled the slight ache. "Looks to me, like just a small flesh wound. We can put a band-aid on if you like?"

"Nah, it's not bleeding."

"I agree. Like any other scratch, just be sure to keep it extra clean the next day or so. Let me know if it gets red around the edges and if it gets any more painful than it already it. As for the less favorable part, I'd like to give you a tetanus shot."

"I guess I am a little over-due." Abby watched as Ducky pulled a syringe from his bag. He wiped her upper arm with an alcohol rub, and jabbed her as gently as possible.

"There you, right as rain."

"Thanks. I better get back to the tests. Thanks for checking up on me."

"You've got my number should you feel the need to talk."

"You're on speed dial, Ducky."

Ducky nodded his approval and left her to her work.

An hour later the results popped up on the screen, she clicked print and headed for the elevator.

---

Everyone else had gathered in the bull pen. They had put Brent in interrogation, giving him a box of Kleenex to wipe the blood from his nose. Gibbs had decided he wanted to know Abby's results before speaking to Brent. He also knew he needed the time to let his blood pressure lower. Tony, Ziva and McGee sat quietly at their desks. Jenny, Hollis and Fornell stood around silently as well.

Jenny was first to break the silence. "Up until the knife incident, I must say, the evening went better than I expected."

Everyone nodded.

"I wish I had been on the inside. I would've like to have seen it." Fornell answered.

"She was hot on stage, I mean, McGee do you not agree? She was smokin'" Tony's smile grew.

Slowly, conversation took off. Gibbs sat back and listened as they all commented on Abby's performance, her look and her dance moves. Hollis was the only other one not commenting. She was watching expression on Gibbs face.

"She's ok, you know. You don't have to worry anymore." Hollis' voice was soft and low so that only he could hear.

"She had a knife at her neck, she isn't ok."

"Jethro…"

Hollis was interrupted by the ding of the elevator arriving.

When the elevator doors open to the bullpen Abby rushed forward, her dress swishing around her knees, and put the paper down on Gibbs desk. "It was him. I swabbed the entire knife and found traces of three sets of DNA on the blade, Macy Barnes, as well as the other girl down where the blade attaches to the handle. He killed them with this knife."

Tony took a step forward "You said three?"

Abby turned to face Tony "Well yeah, mine."

"Yours?" Tony gripped her chin and tilted her head back to look at the small cut on her neck.

"Ouch Tony, no need to break my neck, it was a tiny poke. No more than if it had been a pin-prick."

Jenny tapped her hand on Gibbs desk and nodded her head towards interrogation "He's all yours."

---

When Gibbs finished in interrogation he wanted nothing more than to throw Brent against the wall and beat him into a pulp. Instead he went back to his desk and gathered his jacket and headed towards the elevator.

Once inside he pressed the button for the parking garage. He leaned back, resting his back against the back wall and closed his eyes while waiting for the doors to shut. Just as the doors were about to close, a slender hand reached in and stopped the doors from closing.

"Jethro."

"Hollis, I'm not in the mood to talk."

"Then don't, just listen." Hollis flipped the well-worn emergency switch.

"Hollis…"his voice warned.

"I know you care about Abby, but you've got to put an end to this school-girl crush she has on you. It's not good for her and it's not good for you. She's got you distracted and that distraction affects your work. She could've died tonight because you were distracted."

"Because I was distracted?"

"Yes, you have got to put some distance between the two of you. She won't be happy at first, but she'll get over it and move on."

"Stop right there. Leave her out of this."

"Leave her out of this? Jethro, she's the reason. She's the reason the reason for everything you do."

"The reason for this, us not working?"

"Jethro! Are you honestly trying to tell me that you'll throw what we have away because of her little crush, because you don't want to hurt her feelings? You've got to be kidding me."

Gibbs stepped forward and flipped the emergency switch, sending the elevator towards its destination and whispered "I'm sorry. I made a promise to keep her safe, and I wasn't able to do that tonight. If anything, you were the distraction."

The words were harsher than he meant, but he was tired. He was tired of pretending to feel something that he thought he should be feeling. He was also tired of pretending to not feel something when in fact he did.

---

Abby sat stretched across her sofa, the light of the TV dancing across her face as she flipped though a magazine. One of her hands lingered over the tiny spot where the knife had poked her. There had been a few drops of blood, but it hadn't been more than a tiny prick. She was exhausted from her night at the club, followed by the case. She had barely managed to pull on her pajamas, a black tank top and black boxer shorts with pink skeletons, and although her body was past exhaustion, her mind couldn't settle so wasn't ready to sleep yet. She startled as her cell phone started to buzz on the dining table, the vibrations moving the phone in a small circle. She looked longingly at her phone, but the dull ache in her legs and feet reminded her that she had no plans to move from her spot. After a short internal debate, her legs won and she turned her attention back to the magazine on her lap.

Thirty minutes later she was startled again by a loud pounding on her door. Gibbs, she thought as she pulled herself to her feet and padded, barefoot to the door. Abby flipped the deadbolt and pulled the door open "Gibbs, what are you doing here?"

He hesitated for a moment taking in the sight in front of him. She had washed the make-up and bronzer off her face, her hair was still straight, and fell down past her shoulders. She looked vulnerable yet strangely relaxed in her pajamas "You didn't answer your phone. I wanted to make sure you were ok."

"Oh" Abby paused momentarily and thought back to when her phone had rung "I was there" she pointed to the sofa "and my phone is there." she took a step back and pointed to her dining table.

Gibbs didn't say anything; he just gave her a questioning look.

"Gibbs, I spent an hour jumping, jiving, gyrating, spinning, sauntering, and thrusting my hips across a stage in four inch heels, then I spent another hour pretending to be some attention-whore wannabe-pop-star to get Michaels attention, again, in four inch heels. Then I spent two hours doing what I do best in my lab. Have I mentioned that this was all while in four inch heels?"

Gibbs watched as she recalled the events of the night. He knew she was used to her platform boots, and he had assumed that wearing the heels that had been picked out at part of her 'costume' were no different. But what did he know. He was a man and had worn neither.

"So while I really wanted to get up and answer my phone, my legs decided otherwise."

Gibbs watched as she shivered slightly from the cool air as they stood in the doorway.

"But what can I do, for you Gibbs?"

"Abby, you shouldn't be alone. Not after everything that just happened" he reached out to touch the small point on her neck where the knife had pierced her skin. Abby flinched involuntarily. "Abby."

"He's behind bars, I'll be ok. I had my cry with Ducky, down in my lab."

"Abby." His voice was firm. "No. You're coming home with me. You'll sleep better, grab what you need."

"But what about-"

"What part of that sounded like a discussion?"

Abby opened her mouth to argue, but he was right, she would likely sleep better at his place. Abby stepped back from the door and Gibbs stepped inside as she went to grab a change of clothes for the following day. Before she left the living room, Abby picked up Bert and tossed him to Gibbs "Here, hold Bert. I don't want to forget him."

Gibbs smiled and gave Bert a squeeze.

Abby dug around in her closet for an outfit. It had been a long three weeks without her usual attire. Finally she settled on a short black skirt and a while long-sleeved shirt with a skull and crossbones. Under the image was the quote "I make my own poison". She shoved her clothes in a bag and returned to the living room. Pausing to smile, Abby looked at Gibbs. He stood with his back towards her, facing her bookcase. Bert was still tucked under his arm and he was looking at the framed photographs on the shelf. She couldn't quite see the photograph in his hand, but she recognized the frame. The photo was of the two of them on his last birthday, nearly a year ago. All day long he had shot down her offer of dinner, fully intending to spend the evening with his boat; sandpaper in one hand, bourbon in the other. Abby had taken matters into her own hands by convincing him to get in her car by saying the least he could do was let her take him for an afternoon coffee towards the end of the day. If had ad been suspicious, he hadn't shown it until she sped past his favorite coffee shop.

Abby had eventually confessed that she was taking him to the state fair to celebrate his birthday. She told him he would enjoy it, her voice was firm. Gibbs had let out and irritated sigh but kept his thoughts to himself.

When they had finally arrived Abby rushed him from booth to booth. It seemed as if Abby had ordered something to eat at every food-booth for them to try. After eating, Abby brought him to the farm animals and "ooh'ed" and "aww'd" over each one. From there she had challenged him to some games. He, of course, won at the shooting challenge and won a giant green frog that he then gave to Abby. The frog still sat in the corner of her bedroom. She finally won at a beanbag toss and received a small pink teddy bear. The bear sat on an open shelf in Gibbs basement. When Hollis had seen it she assumed it had been Kelly's.

Once the food in their stomach had settled, Abby had brought him towards the rides. He tried to resist, but the smile on his face gave him away. After several rounds on the spinning teacups Abby was finally ready to leave. The photo was taken in the car before they drove home. Abby had leaned over and pressed her cheek to his and held the camera out in front of them.

---

"Alright, Gibbs, I'm ready"

Gibbs set the photo down and took the bag from Abby's hands on his way towards the door. Abby followed and picked up a pair of boots before shutting and locking the door behind her. She tip-toed barefoot out to Gibbs car and got in.

On the fifteen minute drive back to his house, Gibbs thought of the right words to say. When he finally had come up with something he saw that her eyes were close and her head was resting against the seatbelt. He reached out and touched her neck lightly to feel her pulse, strong beneath his fingers.

Gibbs pulled into his driveway and pulled Abby's shoes and bag out from the backseat. He went up to his front door and set her stuff inside before returning to her side of the car. He eased the door open slowly to keep from waking her. After unbuckling the seatbelt, he gently lifted her off the seat, careful not to hit her head on the car frame and then used his foot to push the door shut. Inside he carried her upstairs to his guest room and somehow managed to pull the sheets back and settle her on the bed. Her eyes flicker open and it took a few moments for her to realize where she was.

"Gibbs… "

He paused in the doorway.

"I won't make a sound. Hollis won't even know I'm here."

"Abby, Hollis isn't…" he watched her eyes flutter and then close "here."

---

Abby was awake a few hours later and after pulling on the outfit she had picked out the night before, put her ear to the door to listen and see if anyone was awake. Hearing nothing she tip-toed downstairs to find her boots. After grabbing a banana off the kitchen counter, Abby let herself out the front door and walked the three blocks to the bus stop. Had she paid a bit more attention she would've noticed Hollis' car missing from the driveway.

When Gibbs woke, he was quick to pull on a t-shirt and then went to check on Abby. He wasn't surprised to see the door to the guest room open and peeked inside. When he didn't find Abby in the room he went down to the kitchen, and then basement. She was gone. He ran his fingers through his hair and headed back upstairs for a shower.

When he arrived at the NCIS headquarters his first stop was Abby's lab. He frowned when he found it empty. The lights were on, and her computers were on, she had to be around somewhere. He checked in autopsy with Ducky who confirmed that he had seen her, but had no idea where she was.

Upstairs in the bullpen McGee and Ziva sat at their desks, writing reports from the night before. Gibbs sat at his desk and pursed his lips when he saw a banana on his desk. A post-it note was stuck to it.

To replace the one I stole from your kitchen this morning :)

He shook his head and looked over to Tony's desk "Where's DiNozzo?"

"Uh, well… I don't really know." McGee shrugged his shoulders.

"I saw him with Abby earlier. Perhaps he is in her lab?" Ziva offered.

"The lab was empty."

"Oh" both McGee and Ziva answered together. They worked on in silence for ten minutes until the ding of the elevator caused them all to look up. Abby and Tony strode into the bullpen. Abby was carrying a large paper bag in one hand and a muffin in the other. Tony was carrying a drink holder with five cups of coffee in one hand and a Caf-Pow in the other.

"Wud doo ike a maafin?" Abby tried asking through her mouthful of chocolate muffin.

"What?" Gibbs stood to take the paper bag out of her hands. He peeked inside and laughed. "Enough muffins for all of DC in here, Abbs."

Abby finished chewing and swallowed "I know, chocolate, poppy seed, blueberry, apple-cinnamon… I got 'em all. Do you guys realize that I haven't had a carb in over three weeks! Look this skirt is hanging off my hip bones, it's disgusting. I like my curves, Gibbs. I feel like a little boy."

"Obviously not like probie as a little boy… Yeah, that's right. I saw a picture of you as little kid, McChubster."

Abby passed the coffee and muffins around, then sat on the corner of Ziva's desk and started on her second muffin. When she remembered her Caf-Pow she grabbed it and sat nursing it quietly as she listened to the agents discuss their reports. When she drained the last of her Caf-Pow she looked through the straw and frowned.

"Abby! You drank an entire Caf-Pow on the way back from the bakery and you just downed that one in less than seven minutes. You're crazy." Tony laughed as Abby tried for the last few drops in the cup.

"It's over Abbs, throw it away." Gibbs pointed at the garbage.

"But Gibbs…"

"Abby."

"I also haven't been able to have more than one Caf-Pow a day the last three weeks. I need to catch up."

"Please not at work." Tony sighed.

"Whatever." Abby squinted at him and hopped off Ziva's desk. She grabbed the fifth cup of coffee that Tony had carried in "I'll take my coffee and leave… you, you womanizer."

Ziva let out a laugh "She does have you nailed."

"Pegged."

"I do not see the difference."

"Of course you wouldn't."

---

Flittering around her lab, Abby felt safe. The comforting hum of her machines was soothing to her soul, and she tried to forget the feel of the knife pressed against her neck. Hearing the distinct click of heels on the laminate flooring Abby turned to see the director approaching.

"Hello Abby."

"Hi director, I'm just getting reacquainted with all my 'babies', you've got no idea how much I've missed them. I've had massive major mass spec. withdrawals."

The director smiled, "Abby, I just want you to know how thankful I am that you were willing to step up to the challenge to help in catching Brent Michaels. You have been invaluable to this agency."

"Gee, director, do I get a gold star?"

"Maybe."

"A Caf-Pow machine installed in my office? Right next to major mass spec.? Oh, my two favorite things in the world. Well, besides Bert. And my tattoos. And my friends. I think if it really came down to it, I'd likely pick Gibbs and Tony and… well, everyone here over Caf-Pows. I think."

"Why don't we see about that gold star first? And then we'll talk about a Caf-Pow machine."

"Really."

"Welcome back, Abby" The director turned to leave and saw Gibbs standing in the door frame. "Careful, she's a bit wired this morning."

"Jen, it's eight am and she's had two Caf-Pows in the last hour. Of course she wired."

"Jethro, was that a smart idea?"

Gibbs gave her an accusing look, "You think I gave them to her? You'll have to talk to DiNozzo about that. I try to space them out by at least three hours."

Jen nodded and gave Abby one last look before disappearing into the elevator.

"Gibbs, whatcha got for me?" Abby asked, mimicking the voice he used when he asked for results.

"Nothing."

"Oh. Well. Ok." Abby wrinkled her eyebrows and moved back to her mass spectrometer and whispered something softly.

"What'd you just say?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just re-establishing the order of favoritism. Major mass spec. is acting up a bit. He wasn't happy with Sam in the lab. He didn't get his morning loves."

"Morning loves? Never mind, I don't want to know. But just so we're clear, none of us were happy with Sam in the lab. We missed you."

"Aww… Way to make a girl feel special, Gibbs."

"Why did you sneak out this morning? I would've driven you to work."

"I didn't sneak."

Gibbs raised his eyebrows.

"Ok, I might have been a little extra quiet, but I didn't want Hollis to hear me. A little awkward, I think."

"Hollis wasn't over last night."

"Oh, I just assumed…"

"What have I told you about assumptions?"

"You haven't…"

"Abby."

"You may have, but I stopped memorizing the rules after number four, I like that one, you know the one about secrets?"

"I know the rules, Abbs."

"Yeah, anyway, I've pretty much made up my own rules from there on. Mostly they get made up as I go along, but a few standards stick out, like never let a friend practice their piercing skills on you, or always follow up massive sugar intake with steady flow of caffeine, it makes the drop a little easier."

"Any place I can read up on all your rules?"

"No Gibbs," Abby placed her hands on his shoulders and looked him square in the eyes "It's my job to teach them to you." She mocked. "Now, rule number seven. Never interrupt quality time with my babies. Leave."

---

Gibbs didn't see much of Abby for the remainder of the day. Her lab seemed to be full of people every time he went down for results or to bring a Caf-Pow. Nearly everyone in the department had been at the show the night before, and everyone had questions.

At the end of the day he went down to ask if she wanted to grab a bite to eat but the idea was quickly forgotten. Abby wasn't alone in her lab, Michelle from legal and Becky from accounting and some other woman he vaguely recognized were standing in a line waiting instruction from Abby. Abby was pulling at Ziva's arm, trying to convince her to join in the dance lesson.

"No Abby, I will watch."

"But Ziva." Abby gave Ziva one last pouty look and Ziva sighed. Abby's face lit up as Ziva went and stood next to Michelle. "Ok, on the first count you step forward, and move your arms like this… no, like this." Abby demonstrated the move. "No Michelle, you aren't pretending to – Gibbs!"

"I… this is not… I was just…" Ziva wasn't sure how to explain herself.

"You were just… dancing?" Gibbs forced a neutral face.

"Gibbs, you're just in time for a dance lesson. Line up with the others."

"Night Abbs." Gibbs turned and strode from the lab. Abby shrugged and turned back to the others "Ok, back to the beginning. Five, six, seven, eight and one…"

----------------

One more chapter to go… although, all these reviews keep sparking new ideas, so maybe two.