A/N: Ok, I know the last chapter was sad. This one's a bit better, I promise! F.

Abby paced.

They'd landed back in Washington several hours ago, sharing a cab back to the Navy Yard from the airport. Abby had been thankful that she'd gotten a ride to the bar with Ziva after all; her hearse would surely have been impounded by now if she'd left it on the street. She'd gone home, wanting to do nothing more than have a hot shower and catch up on some sleep after a far from restful weekend.

But sleep had been elusive. She'd gotten up again, trying to occupy herself with a book, then a movie and finally her latest paper. Nothing had worked. So now she was bored, and restless. And lonely. The loneliness was new to her. She actually spent a fair amount of her life alone. She was used to it; preferred it, in some ways. She'd never considered that the lack of company was a bad thing. But after a weekend spent with Tim, suddenly her apartment seemed empty. She told herself that it was ridiculous to miss him after a bare 5 hours, but she did. Impulsively she put out her hand to pick up her cell and call him, and then hesitated. After he'd woken her on the plane, he'd been unfailingly polite, but cool somehow. There'd been a look in his eyes, compounded of reserve and regret. She thought she knew what that meant. He'd tried to tell her that sleeping together was a bad idea, but she'd refused to listen, and ended up seducing her own husband. The humour of the situation made her grin for a moment, but it quickly faded. Despite what she'd told Tim on the plane that morning, their relationship would change, had to change. And she was frankly terrified of what it was changing to.

...

McGee hurried along the corridor towards the Legal department, worried he was going to be late for his meeting with Abby and the lawyer. He'd passed her hearse in the parking lot, so he knew she'd made it in before him. She was waiting for him in the hallway. She looked tired and pale, he decided, suddenly glad he'd detoured by the machine and gotten her a Caf-Pow; She looked like she could use it. She turned and smiled at his approach; he couldn't tell whether it was at the sight of him or the Caf-Pow. It didn't really matter- she was smiling, so that was ok by him.

"Hey, Abs" he greeted her, holding out the ultra-caffeinated beverage.

"Morning, Timmy. Thanks."

"You ready to do this?" he asked. Seeing her nod in assent, he gestured for her to go before him.

Upon meeting Lang, McGee quickly understood why he'd been willing to meet them at such an early hour. In a way, the young lawyer reminded him of himself when he'd first met Gibbs and team. Young, green and naive, Lang was clearly intimidated by the Goth scientist. It probably didn't help that Abby in platform boots had a good six inches in height over Lang. He had to hide a grin at the frightened looks the lawyer kept giving her as he explained the procedure for getting an annulment from interstate.

"So-so provided you meet the qualifications, there shouldn't be any problem" Lang stammered. "What are the grounds?"

McGee cleared his throat. "Lack of consent- intoxication." He shot the lawyer a look, daring him to comment. Lang nodded, blurting out

"You aren't living together, are you?"

This time it was Abby's turn to glare at him. He flushed, muttering something about filing for legal separation.

"Ok. Ah, I should have the papers to you next week." He encountered another of Abby's stares. "Make that by the end of this week."

"Better." Abby commented, standing up and heading for the door. Innately polite, McGee thanked the hapless Lang before following her.

He joined her in the corridor, turning with her towards the squad room. "Well, that won't take as long as I thought" he told her. She made an affirmative noise. It struck him that she was unusually quiet. He wanted to question her about it, make sure she was ok, but then he caught sight of the time.

"Abs, I'm sorry, I gotta go. I'm gonna be late." He hesitated before asking "You want to get some lunch later?"

She smiled, and this time he was sure it wasn't because of Caf-Pow. "Sure. Now go, or Gibbs'll kill you."

He grinned in return, walking swiftly down the hall towards the squad room. As he got within earshot, he could hear his Boss' voice.

"Where is McGee?" Gibbs asked, looking around.

"Sorry I'm late Boss." McGee hurried into the bullpen. "We-I was up in the legal department-"

"I'll bet you were" Tony interjected.

McGee shot him a look, continuing "and it took longer than expected." He grabbed his gear as he spoke.

Gibbs' eyebrows rose as he caught sight of McGee's hand. "What is that on your finger, McGee?"

He could feel his face going pink. He'd forgotten he was still wearing his ring.

"Ah, it's a long story Boss"

Gibbs advanced toward him, his expression demanding an explanation.

"On Friday, a bunch of us went to this bar..."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"Short version, right Boss. Ok, we got a little drunk and ended up in Vegas. When we woke up, well..." he trailed off, knowing that Gibbs had drawn his own conclusions.

"Who is we?"

McGee shot Tony another look. He'd thought that Tony had told Gibbs as he'd threatened to do

"Um, Abby and I, Boss" he admitted, wincing.

"Abby? Our Abby?"

"Yeah."

"Fix it, McGee."

"Trying to, Boss."

Gibbs turned and headed for the elevator, his team following.

As McGee went to pass Tony, the senior agent pulled him up

"Why are you still wearing the ring, Probie?"

"Abby can't get hers off; she made me promise to wear it until she could" he admitted.

He missed the evil grin on DiNozzo's face as he stepped into the elevator.