"Put them together," Gibbs said as they walked towards interrogation.

"Together?" Tony questioned, "That's breaking one of your own rules, Boss."

"Yeah, I know that, DiNozzo."

Tony nodded, "Putting them together right away, Boss."

A couple of minutes later, Gina had been moved in with Brittany.

Gibbs, Tony, and Ziva entered the room together. Gibbs sat down right across from the two women, while Tony and Ziva sat on either side of the two-way mirror.

It was silent for a while... a long while. Gibbs would stare back and forth at the two women, then down at the files in front of him.

After about fifteen minutes, Gibbs took two pictures out of the file and laid them out for Brittany and Gina to see.

One was Abby, the other was Tim.

"You recognize those two?" Gibbs asked.

At first neither answered, so Gibbs asked again.

"I said, do you recognize those two?"

"It's Agent McGee and Abby Sciuto," Brittany replied.

Gibbs nodded, "Yes, it is."

"So what about them?" Gina asked.

"They were drugged, kidnapped, and thrown into the back of a semi. Left to die."

Gina sighed, "That's not our problem."

"Tony, is it their problem?" Gibbs asked calmly.

"Oh, you bet it is, Boss," He replied, leaning forward in his seat, "See, we've got you two, plus your friend Donna, on camera. We've got you renting the semi, then we've got the kidnapping. It's all there, for everyone to see."

Gina turned to Brittany, "They're lying."

"Are we lying, Ziva?" Tony asked.

She shook her head and crossed her legs, leaning back in her seat, "Nope. We do not lie to pieces of scum."

"I'm sorry," Brittany said quickly, not able to hold it in any longer.

"Be quiet, Brittany!"

"No! This was a stupid thing to do," She turned to Gibbs, tears starting to form in her eyes, "I didn't want to do it. Donna and Gina, they practically forced me-"

"We didn't force you to do anything!" Gins shot back, "You wanted to do it just as much as Donna and I did-"

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

Gibbs slammed his hands on the table, "Shut up!" He yelled, making them both jump and gasp.

"Look at their pictures!" He demanded, "Look at them!"

They complied, both looking down at the photos of Tim and Abby.

"Those are two of the nicest, hardest workers you will ever meet. They would do everything in their power to find whoever murdered your husbands," He pointed to Abby's picture, "She was found, barely breathing. She's recovered now, but she never leaves the hospital. You know why?" He didn't wait for an answer. He pointed to Tim's photo, "Because he's still in there. I had to preform CPR on him. He was in a coma, and on a ventilator for a week before finally waking up. We didn't think he was gonna make it-"

Brittany was crying hard now, "I'm sorry-"

"I said, shut up!" He held up the pictures, right in front of Brittany and Gina's faces, "When these two come back to work, you know what they're gonna do? They're not gonna want pity, or to be babied, or to start back slowly. No, they're going to start right back, working on finding your husbands murderer. And these two, they're so nice that they're going to be the ones to remind us that you two, and Donna, are victims as well. They'll be the ones to find the line where what you did makes some sort of sense. All while us three just wish you'd rot in hell!" Gibbs got up, as did Tony and Ziva, and they left out of the room.

After a week, Tim was released from the hospital. During his stay there, he and Abby didn't really have a chance to speak about what had happened while they were in the semi. Tim was usually surrounded by visitors, nurses, or doctors. And, after three days, Abby had to go back to work, although she came to the hospital right afterwards.

"I do not understand," Ziva began, "Why would a cat be in a bag in the first place? That seems very cruel."

Tony sighed, "Ziva, it's just a saying, okay?"

"But it makes no sense. How would letting a cat out of a bag be the same as disclosing a secret?"

"Just forget I said it, Ziva."

She sat up straight in her chair and began to type, "I will look it up."

"You do that. In the mean time I will get some real work done and- Probie!" Tony suddenly exclaimed as Tim walked off of the elevator and headed for the bullpen.

Tim smiled, "Hey, Tony."

Both Tony and Ziva stood up as Tim walked to his desk and sat his things down.

"What are you doing here, McGee?" Ziva asked with a smile on her face, "You are not supposed to be back for another week."

"I cannot stay at my apartment for a full week, doing nothing. I'll go insane. Besides, I feel fine, so I figured, why not?"

"Because Gibbs'll kill ya for not takin' the time off," Tony replied.

Ziva pushed passed Tony and gave Tim a hug, "Good to have you back."

"Thanks, Ziva."

Ziva headed back to her desk, and Tim sat down… but Tony lingered.

"Tony? Something wrong?"

Tony looked around to make sure Ziva was out of earshot, and Gibbs wasn't headed their way. He bent down so he was eye to eye with Tim, "If you ever tell anyone this, I'll kill you myself, but… I've missed you, McGoo. And, I'm glad you're not dead."

Tim smiled, "Thanks, Tony. I've missed you guys too."

Tony stood back up and patted Tim on the shoulder, then went back to his desk.

A few seconds later, Gibbs walked into the squadroom. At first he passed by Tim without making the connection that Tim wasn't supposed to be there. Then, right before sitting at his desk, he back tracked.

"McGee."

"Boss."

"Why are you here?"

"To work."

Gibbs looked at his watch, "You're a week early."

"I know, but I didn't want to sit around at home. I'd rather be here."

Gibbs eyed him for a moment, "Take a deep breath," He said.

"What?"

"You heard me. Deep breath."

That had been one of Tim's problems once he woke up. He could take regular breaths, but deep ones were difficult, and often ended in a coughing fit.

Tim sighed, then took a long, deep breath. No coughing. "Did I pass?"

Gibbs grunted and nodded once, then went back to his desk.

Tim decided to take that as a yes.

It was lunchtime and the bullpen was empty. Tony and Ziva had gone out to lunch with Ducky and Jimmy. And Gibbs had a meeting in MTAC with Vance.

Tim had been asked, by Tony, Ducky, Ziva, and Jimmy, all individually, if he'd like to join them for lunch. He declined each time, saying he needed to catch up on some work… he didn't.

Abby was down in her lab, which is where he was headed now. She had decided to skip lunch, like him, but her reason was the truth. She actually did have work to catch up on.

Tim watched her for a moment when he reached the lab door. She looked so busy… He could come back later, but he didn't want to. He needed to talk to her... and he needed to do it now.

He knocked on her already open door, then walked on in.

Abby turned towards him, and smiled, "Hey Timmy!" She said happily, then ran up to him and gave him a huge hug, "I heard you came back today, but I hadn't had a chance to come up and see for myself. Why are you back so soon?"

Tim happily returned the hug, "I just couldn't stay away," He replied, adding, 'from you,' in his mind.

She laughed, ending the hug so she could look at him, "Yeah, cause sitting at a desk with Tony and Ziva's bickering, plus Gibbs' head slaps, is so much better than a weeks vacation."

Tim laughed as well, "After being in a hospital for so long, I welcome all of that. I sorta missed it."

"You'll be regretting that decision by tomorrow," She replied jokingly, then she walked back to her computer.

He took a deep breath, something he no longer took for granted, "Abby?"

She turned back to him, "Yeah, Timmy?"

"We need to talk."

I'm horrible aren't I? So many of you have been waiting for this talk, and I cut it off! How dare I?

Anyway, if I'm not able to update tomorrow, Happy Easter! Have a great one :)

Let me know what you thought of chapter 15 (I can't believe I've written 15 chapters of this story!... I had no idea I had written 15 chapters lol).