It was the following Monday and the entire team had been working on a case for the past several days without much luck.

"Ziva!" Gibbs called as he stormed into the squadroom.

Ziva looked up from her computer. "Yes Gibbs?" She asked.

"I need you to help out Abby…" He started but Ziva was already protesting.

"Gibbs! She's insane! I can't stand another day down there!" Ziva wasn't one to complain, but she was sick of Abby's very un-Abby attitude lately.

"David, that was not a suggestion." Gibbs said glaring at her.

Tony looked up from his computer which he had been typing away at. "Hey! You probably wouldn't be a super happy camper either if you had a bun in the oven."

Ziva looked at him in wonder. "Abby's cooking?"

Jeremy who had been filing paperwork looked up at Ziva. "That's not what that…Oh never mind. I didn't know Abby was pregnant!"

"Abby's pregnant!" Ziva asked, shocked.

"Wait…" Tony looked in shock. "I thought everyone knew that…"

Gibbs looked around the squadroom at his agents. He already knew Abby would just about strangle Tony for telling Ziva…But he also had assumed everyone knew. "Tony… Campfire." He said heading to the space on the other side of the stairs.

"What were you…" Gibbs started.

"I know! I know! I screwed up. You don't have to tell me." Tony said, giving himself a lecture.

"Well, you do know you have to tell Abby…" Gibbs said, hoping he had already figured that out too.

"Yeah… I kind of figured as much…" Tony replied staring at his feet.

"Well… I'd go do that before she finds out…" Gibbs advised, causing Tony to rush to the elevator.

"Hey Abby." Tony said as he cautiously entered the lab.

"Tony!" Abby cried, a smile spreading across her face. "Why are you here?"

"Well…" Tony started, not sure how to explain his blunder.

"Spit it Tony." She said noting the resentfulness in his voice.

"Well… I accidentally told Ziva and Jeremy that… well…"

Abby looked as if she had just swallowed poison. "Tony you didn't!"

"I'm sorry! I thought they knew!" Tony explained. "I never would have said anything if I didn't think they knew!"

"It's okay Tony." Abby said giving him a hug. "I understand."

"You do?" He asked incredulously.

"Yeah. It was an accident. Now Palmer just has to know and I don't have to hide anything anymore.

"I have to know what?" Palmer asked loudly as he walked into the room carrying an evidence jar.

"That Abby's pregnant." Tony said without even thinking.

Abby threw her hands up in disbelief. "Really? Really Tony? Do you ever learn!"

Tony, suddenly realized his mistake pointed to the door. "I think I'm just gonna go…"

"Yeah." Abby said looking extremely irritated.

Palmer stood there, frozen, holding the evidence jar in one hand, the other pointing in the direction of Tony.

Abby cleared her throat. "Do you have something for me Palmer?" She asked impatiently.

"Wha… huh… You?" He said looking back and forth from the door to Abby.

"Yes Palmer… Now can I have the evidence jar?" Palmer, still in a daze handed the jar to Abby. "Thank you." She replied. "You can go now…" When he didn't move Abby gently pushed him out the door and into the elevator.

She sighed in relief as the doors slid shut. She turned to her lab and was shocked to see Ryan standing in the doorway. She closed her eyes and re-opened them, assuming it was a dream, but he was still there.

"Ryan?" She asked, still unsure of herself.

"Hey Abby." He said with a small smile.

"No offense…" She said, still in disbelief. "But what are you doing here?

"I was…just in the neighborhood." He said awkwardly.

"Ryan, you do know I got married right?" Abby asked with a smirk on her face.

"Oh yeah… I also know he died… Erm I mean…I brought you this." He said pulling out a Caf-Pow from behind his back.

Abby, still thinking about what he just said replied her new automatic response. "No thanks, I quit."

Ryan looked at her shocked. "You! Quit? You're kidding right?"

"No, I'm not kidding." She replied.

"Well…Uh… I was thinking you might want to talk…"

"About?" Abby interrupted.

"Well, you are single again…" Ryan started. "I still love you Abby."

Abby looked up willing for something to come and get him out of here. "No thanks Ryan."

"Come on! We could go out for drinks or something…" He suggested.

Abby finally snapped. "I can't! I'm pregnant!"

Ryan stepped back. "Oh." He said quietly.

"Yeah, nice seeing you Ryan. Please don't come back soon." She said as she pushed past him and into her lab, slamming the door behind her.

Abby sighed in relief. "Well that was awkward…" She thought aloud as she headed for the specimen jar Palmer had brought her. "Hmm… Bullet. 8mm… This shouldn't be too bad."

Suddenly there was a bang coming from the direction of the door. "Honestly Tony!" She cried heading to open the door. "How many times do you have to do that before you start watching where… Oh hi Gibbs!"

"Door?" He asked, mind still spinning from hitting the door head first.

"Uh… Not important…" Abby replied.

"Uh huh…Abs did you go home last night?" He asked, returning to his original agenda.

"Well…I left the Navy Yard… And then I went somewhere that is not here…" She replied avoiding the real answer.

"Abs…" Gibbs was getting impatient.

"I went to Sarah's." Abby blurted out.

"Sarah? Like Mcgee's sister Sarah?" Abby nodded in response. "Why?" Gibbs asked.

"Because Gibbs. She's my sister… Well sister-in-law, and I wanted to see her." Abby replied.

"Did you tell her?" Gibbs asked.

"Tell her what?" Abby replied looking for clarification.

"Abby." Gibbs warned.

"No Gibbs. I didn't tell her anything. We just hung out. Nothing about the undercover thing, I promise."

"Abby. That's not what I meant. I was thinking more along the lines of your pregnancy." Gibbs said shaking his head.

"Oh. No…" Abby said looking ashamed. "I meant to… but…It wasn't the right time."

Gibbs gave her a look that clearly said, 'I have no idea what you mean by that, but I know you won't tell me, so I won't ask.' "If you say so."

Abby turned back to the bullet. "This bullet is really peculiar. It looks like it was shot at point-blank range, but it didn't do enough damage for that…"

"Well let me know when you've got it figured out Abs." Gibbs said giving her a little hug before heading to the closed door.

"Hey! Would you prop the door open?" Abby called after him. "Tony might break something." She said with a smile as Gibbs propped the door open.

Abby watched him leave, but noticed something sitting outside her door. The Caf-Pow Ryan had brought was sitting just outside the door with a sticky note attached. She read it aloud. "Abby- Just in case you change your mind here's my number. Ryan." She peeled the sticky note off the cup and tossed it into the trash.

Abby was about to throw the cup in after it when Ducky came in. "Abigail!" He scolded. "You know you can't have caffeine!"

Abby looked from him to the cup in her hand. "Oh. No Ducky! I wasn't going to… I was about to throw it away!"

Ducky looking skeptical, decided it was probably best to believe her. Abby tossed the cup in the trash. "What can I do for you?" Abby asked placing her hands on her hips.

"Actually, I had a question for you." Ducky said hesitantly.

"Shoot." Abby replied, heading back to her computer.

"I was wondering if you'd been to the doctor yet."

Abby turned and gave him a death stare. She was really starting to get sick of people making sure she was doing things. "No Ducky. I have not." Abby replied truthfully.

"Abigail, the first trimester is the most likely time for…" Ducky started to lecture.

"I haven't been yet, because I'm going on Wednesday." Abby interrupted.

"Oh." Ducky said, feeling a bit foolish. "Well… If you need anything Abigail, let me know."

"Actually…" Abby replied almost immediately. "I was wondering if you could explain something…"

"All right, I can do my best." Ducky replied honestly.

"For some reason meat is making me extremely nauseated. Is that normal?" Abby asked curious.

"Well… For some women it is. Particularly raw meats." Ducky replied. "However this is not my area of expertise so I don't know all that much."

"I know." Abby replied. "Thanks."

"Any time Abigail." He replied as he headed to the elevator.

Abby turned to her computer. "Now if I were a bullet casing… Where would I hide?"

Meanwhile in the bullpen Tony was pretending to work through his lunch break in an attempt to earn some sort of reward.

"Tony why aren't you at lunch?" Ziva asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." Tony retorted.

"I already ate." Ziva replied. "Now why are you still here?"

Tony looked around for signs of Gibbs. "I'm hoping to go a bit later so I can pick up something."

"Like what?" Ziva asked, only somewhat curious.

"Like Abby's mid-afternoon Girl Scout Cookie Blizzard." Tony replied grinning.

"Oooh. So you're trying to stay on Abby's good side are you?" Ziva asked, smirking.

"Why yes, yes I am." Tony replied turning back to his work.

"Jeremy?" Ziva asked.

"Yeah?" He replied not looking up from his computer.

"I'm supposed to go help out Abby in a few minutes, could you finish this phone trace up?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." He replied still not looking up.

Ziva looking at him in disbelief began again. "Tony, honestly, sometimes I think he's Mcgee…They're enough alike, I mean the only difference is you don't make fun…" Ziva stopped abruptly when she turned to see what Tony's eyes had locked on.

Abby was standing at the entrance to the squadroom, eyes filled with tears. "Ziva…" She said, choking on her tears.

"Abby, I didn't mean…" Ziva tried to explain herself.

"No that's fine! I totally understand! Maybe Tim didn't mean much to you, but to me he was everything." Abby was shouting, and several doors opened upstairs, including the directors.

"Abby!" Ziva called as Abby turned to leave. When she didn't reply Ziva grabbed Abby's arm.

Abby turned and smacked Ziva. "Leave me alone." She said clearly before making her final exit.

Gibbs had walked in just in time to witness Abby's palm making contact with Ziva's cheek, and he wasn't looking to happy. "Ziva, Elevator… Now." He commanded.

Ziva reluctantly followed. Once the doors were slid shut and the emergency switch was flipped, Ziva began explaining. "I'm sorry, it was an accident…"

"What happened?" Gibbs asked, making things short.

"I was talking to Tony about how Jeremy and Tim weren't all that different. And Abby thought I meant it as if Jeremy could replace Tim… and…It didn't end well…" Ziva explained.

Gibbs took in a deep breath. "I'll go talk to her." Gibbs said, and he flicked the elevator back on.

After letting Ziva back out at the squadroom, he headed to Abby's lab. He looked in to see Abby typing furiously at her computer.

She hadn't heard Gibbs enter the room, so when he put a hand on her shoulder she jumped. "Gah! Gibbs!" Abby cried in frustration.

"What are you doing?" He asked looking at the screen.

"I'm finding an outlet for my anger…" Abby replied, looking back at her game of minesweeper.

"By clicking on little grey boxes?" Gibbs asked confused.

"No Gibbs! It's much more complicated than that. You have to avoid the mines…" She said, half focusing on explaining the game, other half focusing on the game.

"Somehow, I think it lacks the actual experience of almost dying." Gibbs muttered under his breath.

"Anyway. I have nothing for you, since you've given me nothing but the bullet." Abby said without much enthusiasm.

"Abby, I'm not here to see if you have anything. I'm here about your little show upstairs." Gibbs said gently.

"Oh." Abby replied quietly. "I'm sorry."

Gibbs looked at Abby's shaking figure and sighed. "Come here." He said holding out his arms.

Abby rushed into them. "I'm sorry Gibbs! I don't know why, but I can't control myself anymore!"

Gibbs chuckled. "I remember when Shannon was pregnant with Kelly, but before I knew, she threw a hot curling iron at me when I asked her if she was feeling well."

Abby giggled. "Well…It's a good thing I don't own a curling iron. But I still feel horrible…"

Gibbs looked down at Abby's face, she was definitely tired. "Abs why don't you go home?" He suggested.

"It's barely three o'clock Gibbs!" Abby replied in disbelief.

"Abby you need to rest." Gibbs replied.

"I know… But… I'm sort of dependent on Tony to get home…" Abby replied, avoiding Gibbs' gaze.

"You didn't drive yourself this morning?" Gibbs asked.

"No… I called Tony, I wasn't feeling well this morning, and didn't know how well I'd be able to drive." Abby replied, feeling like a little girl, explaining why she had done something wrong.

Gibbs sighed. "I'll get Tony to take you home." He said as he headed for the door.

"Wait! I need to go to Sarah's my car's there…" Abby called after him.

Gibbs shook his head as he got on the elevator. "DiNozzo!" He barked as soon as he had entered the squadroom.

"Yes Boss!" He replied standing up, for an unknown reason.

"Take Abby to Sarah's." He ordered.

"Okay?" Tony asked.

"Now… Go…" he directed pointing to the elevator.

"On it boss!" Tony replied grabbing his car keys.

"Hey Abby!" Tony greeted when he reached her lab.

"Tony." Abby greeted sternly.

"Uh… You ready?" Tony asked, when Abby returned to what she was doing at the computer.

"No." Abby replied, staring intently at the screen.

"What are you doing?" He asked, confused.

"Using minesweeper as an outlet for my anger." She replied.

"Uh huh…" Tony replied, not sure whether or not he wanted to know. "Why… exactly?"

"Because, I'm really irritated with you." Abby replied, voice unchanging.

"Uh…Why?" He asked, completely forgetting the morning's events.

"Because Anthony DiNozzo. Thanks to you Jimmy Palmer is now looking at me as if I should explode every time Ducky sends him up." Abby replied turning back to her computer.

"Oooh." Tony said in sudden realization. "I'm sorry Abby, I didn't mean to…"

"I know that Tony." Abby replied harshly.

Tony looked up, as if he expected there to be some sort of sign as to what he should do, however he wasn't given any information. "Erm… How about we go to Sarah's?" Tony suggested.

Abby looked down before turning. "Did Gibbs say you had to take me to Sarah's?" She asked hesitantly.

"Well… Not exactly…But your car's there…" Tony pointed out.

"I know… But I just don't feel up to…people… right now." Abby tried to explain.

"Abby. I'm not just going to abandon you. I have to take you somewhere, and I want you to have a for sure way to leave, just in case." Tony said, sounding more like a brother than a friend.

"Fine." Abby sneered to the floor.

Around twenty minutes later Tony was letting Abby out in front of Sarah's apartment building.

"You promise me you'll call if you need a ride tomorrow?" Tony questioned.

"Yes…" Abby sighed, grabbing her bag from the floor of the car.

"Good." Tony replied, feeling a bit over-protective, but he didn't care. Because he was already on the parental side he decided to go all the way. "You have fun now!" He called as he pulled away.

Abby stuck her tongue out. She knew it was childish, but somehow it made her feel better.

Suddenly Abby heard her name being shouted. "ABBY!" Sarah called.

"Sarah." Abby greeted with much less enthusiasm.

Sarah pulled Abby into a hug. "I took your advice and talked to Steven about it. He was totally cool with me going away for a bit. And that whole time I was freaking out about…Abby? Abby are you alright?"

Abby had started to sway a little bit, and she was visibly paling. "I need… I need to sit down…" Abby replied quietly.

Sarah slowly helped Abby to her apartment and sat her down on the couch. "Are you sure you're all right Abby?" Sarah asked, looking ready to run for help if necessary.

Abby nodded. "I'm sure." After a couple of minutes Abby spoke again. "Sarah I need to tell you something."

Sarah looked up, appearing extremely worried. "Abby, are you sick? You've been really, hinky, lately."

Abby smiled at the use of her favorite word. "Don't worry Sarah, I'm fine." Abby assured. "Sarah…I'm pregnant."

Sarah's eyes widened, then they squinted. "Am I happy or sad?" She asked with a slight smirk.

Abby sighed. "I don't know! I can't choose!"

"Well, I'm going to choose to be happy, because I'm getting a niece!" Sarah said with a grin.

"Or nephew." Abby pointed out.

"I'm voting for a niece." Sarah stated.

Abby shook her head. "It's not an election Sarah!"

"I know that… but I still want a niece…" Sarah replied, sticking to her vote.

Abby laughed, Sarah was like Tim in so many ways. She was smart, and had his ambition of writing, but most importantly, she was extremely sweet. "Thank you Sarah." Abby said pulling her into a hug.

"Abby, do you want to stay here?" Sarah asked suddenly, Abby's expression changed to one of confusion. She assumed the confusion was related to her plans of leaving for New York in a couple of weeks. "I can't leave anymore. The writing program, it has to wait. I'm not leaving you here alone."

"Sarah!" Abby protested. "You're not giving this up for me. Your brother…"

"My brother cared about you more than he ever cared about his writing. And I care about you way more than I care about my writing." Sarah stated simply. "Tim wouldn't leave you if he had a choice, and I won't leave you."

"Sarah." Abby was starting to get irritated. "Sarah, I don't need you here. I'll be just fine." With that statement, it was as if everything evil in the world just felt like making her look wrong. Suddenly the entire room swayed and Abby found herself running for the sink to vomit.

Once she was through Sarah handed her a glass of water along with a smirk. "You're fine huh?"

"Sarah." Abby said, taking another swig of water. "I'll have morning sickness whether you're here or not. You shouldn't give up your dreams for…"

"Abby! I'm staying whether you like it or not. Family first, always." She stated firmly.

Abby looked at Sarah. "It's pointless to keep arguing isn't it?"

"Pretty much." Sarah replied. "I'll set up my spare room for you, you're staying here. I'm not letting you stay alone." She said as she walked off in the direction of what would soon be Abby's room.

Abby sighed. I guess this is a good thing… She thought. No more going home to find an apartment filled with his things, without him…No more wishing the other half of our bed weren't empty. No more waking up in the morning to find myself completely alone...

She had soon convinced herself that staying with Sarah would indeed be a good thing.

"Well… I don't have all that much in the way of bedding, but I've got a pillow and some sheets on there. I'll go pick up a blanket…" Sarah was interrupted as Abby enveloped her in a hug.

"Thank you Sarah." Abby said quietly, tears streaming down her face.

"No problem Abby."

Author's Note: Yes, this is a bit of a filler chapter. But a necessary one for the next transition as there are several things from this chapter that will come up in the next few chapters, WHICH WILL BE REALLY GOOD! (Just in case you were wondering!) Review!