Abby readied herself for the pain she knew she would feel. When nothing happened, Abby hesitated to open her eyes. Maybe this is how it happened. Maybe Vincent was right and it didn't hurt, that it happened so quickly I felt nothing. Maybe I'm already dead...

When she finally allowed her eyes to open she was shocked to see Gibbs kneeling beside Vincent, feeling for a pulse. Abby let out a small gasp and scrambled backwards until she felt the wall behind her. She let herself slide down to the floor in a heap.

A rush of people moved in at the sound of Gibbs' gunshot, with several FBI agents circling Vincent, and Donny rushing to give Fornell assistance. She let her eyes drift shut again, feeling dizzy. When she opened her eyes back up, everyone seemed to move in slow motion - the medics arrived, and Abby guessed that Vincent hadn't been killed when they started working on him. Next she watched as two medics tended to Fornell, eventually helping him from the room.

Abby sought Gibbs out as people cleared out of the room, eventually catching his gaze, just before he was led from the room by an FBI agent. Her heart sank. He knew she needed him, and he was leaving? A hand waved in front of her face, and Abby looked up to see Donny peering down at her. "You okay?"

Abby nodded. She wasn't okay, but she wasn't hurt either.

"Come on, why don't we get you out of here."

Abby shook her head. She wasn't ready to move yet. "Just… give me some space. Please."

"Alright, I'll be back in a few minutes."

She watched Donny walk away and then closed her eyes again, leaning her head back against the wall. There were still a few other FBI agents in the room, taking sketches and securing the gun that Vincent had dropped.

Abby heard as footsteps approached her, and assuming it was Donny returning as promised, she squeezed her eyes tighter, hoping he'd catch the message.

---

As soon as people rushed into the room after he pulled the trigger, Gibbs was ready to rush to Abby, sweep her into his arms and tell her that everything was okay. Before he could take a step toward her, though, one of the security guards grabbed hold of his arm and asked if he could answer a few questions. Security was well aware of the threat that Vincent posed, but the guard needed the basic information for the report.

Gibbs hesitated to step away, but saw Donny moving toward her, so he let the guard pull him aside. He gave a brief statement; he hadn't heard much, just rounded the corner in time to see Vincent raise his gun toward Abby and he fired, the bullet tearing through the man's back and likely lodging somewhere in his ribcage.

He gave his name and number to the FBI agent and showed his NCIS badge as well. When they were finished, he expected someone to be getting Abby's side of the story, but saw that she was sitting against the wall with her head leaning back and her eyes closed.

Nodding to Fornell, who was being helped from the room by two medics, Gibbs silently walked over to where Abby sat. He turned his back to the wall, and slowly lowered himself beside her, ignoring the protest of his knees. He felt her tense up beside him, so he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. "It's over," he murmured against her temple.

"You left me." With Gibbs beside her Abby finally felt safe, and the feeling of safety let her other emotions roll in. When she eventually spoke it was in a half sob. "You came in and saved the day like you always do, but then, when I needed you the most, you walked away. I need you."

"I shot someone, Abbs. I just had to answer a few questions."

"There were suddenly all these people, everything was so loud and chaotic and you were nowhere and…"

Gibbs pulled her tighter into his side and dropped a kiss to the top of her head. "I didn't leave. I wouldn't leave you. Ever."

"Oh God-" As the reality of the whole situation started to sink in, Abby started to panic, gasping for air and trembling under Gibbs' arm.

"Abby," Gibbs tried to soothe her. "Abbs, you need to calm down and breathe."

"I… I can't…" Abby grabbed at her tightening throat, the feeling that she couldn't breathe threatening to take over. "I can't breathe."

"You can. Look at me," Gibbs tilted her face so that she was forced to look at him. "Open your eyes and look at me." Gibbs waited until her eyes fluttered open to look at him. "I didn't leave you Abbs. I never left. I've been right here for you the whole time."

Abby's breathing started to slow and even out and her eyes welled up as she looked at Gibbs. Then, without warning, Abby moved to sit awkwardly in Gibbs' lap, wrapping her arms around him, and burying her face in his neck as she cried.

Gibbs held her tightly, rubbing her back slowly and letting her cry. He watched as FBI agents moved in front of them, working the scene, and starting to clean up. He was in no hurry to rush Abby through her tears, and he knew that there would likely be more in the coming hours and even days. It wasn't just tonight that she had to work through, but the past four weeks as well.

Once Abby had finally managed to collect herself, she pushed off of his lap and as gracefully as possible, moved to her feet. Gibbs stood as well, but made no move to leave, letting Abby collect her thoughts and straighten out her dress.

When Abby was ready she turned to Gibbs and let him pull her into another hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest, taking comfort in the strong heartbeat below her ear.

"Let me take you home, Abbs."

Abby pulled back enough so she could look up at him, her eyes wide with the fear of being alone. "No. I don't want to go home. Not yet. I don't want to be alo-"

"My home." He pulled her back against him, and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "We'll swing by Fornell's and get what you need for now."

"Okay." Abby sucked in one last deep breath, missing the scent of sawdust that normally accompanied Gibbs, and then pulled away. She let Gibbs direct her out of the room, with a hand on her lower back, to the parking garage to his car.

Gibbs helped her into the passenger seat of his car, and leaned across her to buckle her in. Shutting her door firmly, he moved around to the driver's side and got in. Starting the car, he shifted into drive and then let his hand drift down to cover hers, which rested in her lap.

The drive to Fornell's house was silent but not uncomfortable with both of them trying to process the evening's events.

Jack Moore had been left to guard the house and was surprised to see Abby return home with Gibbs rather than Fornell. "Is everything okay? Where is Tobias?"

Gibbs sent Abby upstairs to gather what she needed for the night and then pulled Jack into the kitchen to explain the events of the evening. Once Jack had been filled in, Gibbs pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the eight missed calls from DiNozzo. With Abby still upstairs, Gibbs called him back.

Boss!

"DiNozzo." Gibbs was calm but firm. He wasn't sure how Tony had already heard about the shooting, but he obviously had. "Abby is fine. A little shaken up, but she's fine. Fornell took a bullet in the arm, but he'll be fine too."

You sure she's okay? I need to talk to her. Vincent?

"She's fine. I'll have her call you in a bit. I put a round in Vincent; he was taken to the hospital as well. Don't know if he'll make it. She's fine DiNozzo." Gibbs hung up before Tony could protest. Just as he was sliding his phone back in his pocket, Gibbs heard Abby's footsteps down the stairs. She was still wearing her dress, but she had slipped his red sweatshirt over it and had a bag slung over her shoulder.

He walked over to where she stood at the base of the steps and adjusted the neck of the sweatshirt, then used it to hold her still as he kissed her forehead. "Ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Gibbs took her hand and led her back out to the car. "Once we get to my place you should probably call DiNozzo. I don't want him showing up and busting through the door in the middle of the night because he's worried." Gibbs caught the small smile that played on Abby's lips.

The drive from Fornell's house to Gibbs' was again silent. He wanted to ask what she was thinking, but he could tell that she was trying to work through things in her mind, so he let her think. When he turned onto his street, Gibbs let out an irritated sigh. Apparently DiNozzo had decided to bust through his door early. Tony, Ziva and McGee had all parked out front of his house, and the three agents were standing on his front porch.

"I think they were worried."

Gibbs pulled into his driveway and killed the engine before turning to look at Abby and offering a small smile. "Ya think?" He was slightly irritated at the crowd that had gathered at his place; he needed time alone with Abby. They had more than just Vincent to talk about, but at the same time he understood their concern. If he had been in their position, he would have done the same thing.

As Gibbs got out of the car he looked back at the unmistakable sound of Ducky's Morgan as it pulled up behind him. The three agents rushed down to Abby's side of the car, Tony pushing his way to the front to open the car door and pull Abby into a hug. "You're okay?"

"I'm okay." Abby returned the hug, glad to be surrounded by the people she trusted most. Gibbs followed Ducky up to the crowd and then led them all up to his front door and into his house. As his team piled in around his dining room table, Gibbs made a beeline for the coffee machine.

"Abigail, my dear." Ducky leaned across the table and covered her hands with his. His warm hands over hers and his comforting voice pushed Abby's emotions over the edge and her eyes welled up.

"Oh Abby." Tony scooted his chair closer to pull her into another hug. "I wish I could have been there for you."

"We all do, Abby." Ziva sat on Abby's other side and patted her arm affectionately. McGee, who was seated next to Ducky, leaned across to sweep his hand down her hair, offering support as well.

Gibbs leaned back against the kitchen counter, content that his entire team had Abby's back. He watched as they crowded around her, offering words of support and comfort. Abby looked up at him briefly, smiling through her tears, before returning her attention to the friends around her.

----

TBC

Is that a better end to a chapter for everyone?