Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, still…sorry.

Chapter 20- Nightmares

It was Kate's turn to watch Abby. Ziva had to leave to take over the rest of Tony's shift for the night. It was long past sunset, and Kate couldn't find anything to watch on TV. Abby tossed and turned on the couch, moaning and muttering in her sleep. She kept mentioning McGee and Victoria several times. Other than that, it was extremely quiet. Kate went to go get some coffee so she could last through the night. When she came back, Abby had started whimpering quietly.

"No, no, no!" she shrieked, kicking the blankets aside furiously. "Don't hurt them!" She squirmed around as if fighting something off. "Don't hurt him!" The difference in the statement was significant. Kate knew she meant McGee. Abby screamed and woke up at last.

"Don't hurt-oh," she faltered, looking around. "It was only a dream," She sighed in relief and sank back onto the pillows.

"What was your dream about?" Kate asked. "It sounded pretty intense," Abby looked down at her lap, not meeting her eyes.

"V-Victoria," she stuttered. "McGee told me all about her, how horrible she is…she tried to get him to do terrible things. And if he didn't she'd hurt me," She shuddered, but not from being cold this time.

"I do know about some of that," Kate said thoughtfully. "I've paid attention to what goes on around NCIS more than you think," Abby snuggled back onto the couch and pulled the blanket back over herself. In a moment, she was asleep. Kate watched her chest rise and fall, rise and fall. Every few minutes, she suddenly started coughing for a while before settling down again. Past the sheen of sweat on her forehead, she could see why McGee would love her. Why anyone would. How could anyone not? She may be overenthusiastic, overindulge in Caf-Pow, and hug everyone too hard, but her intentions were clear. She was very kind, very happy…very Abby. Kate's phone vibrated. McGee was calling. She answered it.

"Hello?" she whispered, trying not to wake Abby.

"How's Abby? I want to see her," he said.

"She's sleeping right now, but you can come by,"

"Is her fever going down?" McGee asked.

"I'll check in just a moment, McGee. I just hope she doesn't have another nightmare…"

"She had a nightmare?"

"Yes, it was about Victoria. Which is strange, because she's been out of action for the past month,"

"That is true. Must be part of the whole flu thing, weird dreams…"

"She kept saying 'Don't hurt them, don't hurt him' as if Victoria were trying to harm one of us,"

"Hmm…do you think any of this is important?" he asked, mostly to himself. Abby stirred in her sleep, mumbling McGee's name. She smiled slightly, as if something pleased her.

"I think it was just a dream. Don't over read into things, it could get you into trouble later on,"

"I'll be right over, Kate. I just need to make sure-oh, jeez, Ziva! Don't do that!" The phone disconnected and Kate continued her silent vigil over Abby. She continued to talk in her sleep, but didn't have any more nightmares until McGee arrived. As he walked in the door, she started to cry out.

"Timmy! Timmy, where are you? It's s-so dark! I can't see you! Tim…Tim…don't die! I can't lose you!" She opened her eyes and her glassy stare pierced right through McGee. But, wait, was she still asleep? Or did she wake up? McGee sat on the floor by her head.

"I'm here," he murmured, kissing her hair. "I'll never leave you, not ever," That seemed to satisfy her, and she drifted back to sleep.

"Her temperature went down to 102," Kate said. "I think she'll be fine tomorrow, but I don't think it'll be advisable for her to go back to work then," He stroked her hair, staring off into space. The night seemed to drag on and on and on. Kate checked the time. It wasn't even midnight. She sighed and called Ziva to see what was taking her so long to come back.

"Hello?" Her familiar Israeli accent was impossible to mistake.

"Ziv, what's taking you so long?" she complained. "Abby keeps having nightmares and it's driving me nuts,"

"Did you seriously call me Ziv?" she asked in disgust. "I'm seriously starting to mean too much to you guys,"

"Ziva! Focus here!" Kate demanded. "Abby, remember? McGee's here, by the way. He's kind of all over her, though…how does Gibbs allow him to break the rules like this?" The question was rhetorical, and Ziva was quiet for a minute.

"I'm leaving right now, just trying to get Gibbs off my hair," she muttered.

"Back," Kate corrected. "See you soon, Ziv," She hung up. Now she had something to wait for and Ziva had a new nickname. She smiled a little.

"Director…broke the rule…" Abby murmured, rubbing her eyes. McGee stiffened. Was she having another nightmare? "Rule twelve," Kate's eyes widened. Was Abby just speaking nonsense, or was this true?

"Remind me what rule twelve is," Kate said weakly, sitting back in the chair. "Didn't you two break that rule?" McGee nodded, and then frowned. Something wasn't right, she thought.

"The boss allowed an exception, probably because we're being mature about it," he observed. "But, he did tell me the rule was more for him than for us," Abby's breathing started to quicken, and her hands curled around her stomach. Kate ignored her for the moment, focusing on McGee.

"It's a good thing, otherwise he would've killed you," she joked. At this, Abby moaned in despair.

"Timmy…Timmy's dead," she muttered, sobbing uncontrollably. McGee glanced at her in alarm.

"NOOOOOO!" she wailed, kicking aside the blanket again. "Not Kelly! NO!" Kate motioned for McGee to wake her up. He shook her gently, but she pushed him aside. "Gibbs! Gibbs! I need you! He's gone!" She started crying again. McGee lightly slapped her face, but she didn't wake.

"Abby?" he asked worriedly. "Can you hear me?"

"I-is that a ghost? Timmy? Are you back from the dead to comfort me?" At last he jammed his lips against hers in an attempt to wake her up.

"No-Gibbs-don't feel…" she sighed, quieting down at last. Her eyes fluttered open. For a moment, she was silent, looking around in confusion. She threw her arms around McGee and started sobbing. He didn't say anything, he just held her and let her cry. Ziva came in and halted at the scene before her.

"Sh…it's okay, Abs," he murmured. "It was just a dream,"

"N-No," she protested, choking on her sobs. "It felt too real! You were dead, and I lost Kelly, and I was all alone!" Ziva ventured further into the apartment and let the door close behind her.

"What else happened?" Kate asked gently. Abby shook her head, tears still running down her face. "Just tell me," She shook her head again, still clinging to McGee.

"What did I miss?" Ziva inquired, sitting on the floor next to Kate, who was now near the coffee table. Kate gave her a look.

"I saw everyone around me moving on as if he meant nothing, and Gibbs said he loved me. But-but I don't love him that way. It doesn't make any sense. I thought he wanted to be single, and alone,"

"Seriously, though," Ziva whispered. "Did anything else happen?" Kate shook her head, listening to Abby.

"It was just a dream," McGee repeated, pulling back from Abby. "Nothing at all to worry about. I will stay here, and Kate can go home, since it's almost two in the morning," She sighed, but had to agree with him. It was going to be a huge day of catch up for Abby when she got back. Kate quietly left the apartment. Ziva approached McGee, looking for a way to help. Abby finally had calmed down and was now relaxing on the couch. She seemed afraid to go back to sleep for fear she'd have another nightmare. Ziva took a wet cloth and laid it on her forehead to cool Abby down some. McGee headed into the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge. Ziva remained on the floor next to the couch, grateful that everything was settling down. She already had a tough enough day trying to work as quickly as Abby for hours at a time. But she just didn't have as much enthusiasm or energy, which increasingly frustrated her. How was Abby able to go for days without sleep and still able to bounce around as if she had just gotten ten hours of rest every night? Even with coffee Ziva was never so wild and enthusiastic. Maybe it was just wired in her personality to be calmer when it came to working, and more paranoid when someone seemed suspicious to her. Or maybe it came from working with the Mossad for so long. She sighed and looked up as McGee came back with a soda. Some things seemed too complicated to question. Perhaps they were the things that everyone mutually accepted. McGee motioned for her to follow him into the bedroom, and she quietly did so without asking questions. He closed the door and set his soda down on the dresser. Ziva sat on the double bed, briefly wondering where the coffin went, and discovered it sitting in the corner. McGee sat next to her. For a minute, he said nothing, just looked around a little and yawned a few times from exhaustion. Finally, he turned to her. The worry was plain in his eyes.

"If that's how she reacted in a dream where I'm dead…" he murmured, frowning in thought, "then what would she do if I died for real?"

"Don't worry about it," Ziva said lightly. "Abby's strong. I'm sure she'd manage without you. Not that you'd die anytime soon. I don't think she'd let you," At this, she chuckled, imagining the scenario. He nodded, going to get his soda.

"Timmy! I need a bucket!" Abby called out. He got up so fast that she barely saw the movement. McGee ran out into the living room. Ziva remained on the bed, relaxing a little. She checked the alarm clock. It was two-thirty. She closed her eyes, intending to take a nap. When she woke up, it was almost five. She felt wide awake. Ziva went out into the living room and saw McGee asleep on the couch, but no Abby. Where did she go? Ziva wandered around the house and found her in the kitchen, eating some chicken noodle soup.

"Good morning!" she said happily, setting down her spoon. "I thought that my stomach had finally settled down, so I decided to have something to eat. I hope my latest nightmares didn't bother you,"

"No, I was asleep," Ziva responded, sitting at the table. "You've been quite a handful to take care of…I'd hate to see what happens when you get a more serious illness," Abby looked slightly offended, but let it go.

"Well…" she said slowly, stirring her soup. "A couple times I pretended I was having a nightmare so McGee could hold me. I let him kiss me like that last night…that was pretty nice," She smiled, a faint pink blush showing in her cheeks. It took off some of her paleness by a notch.

"But you're such a bad liar," Ziva said, laughing a little. "How did you manage that?" Abby shrugged.

"I got creative," she replied, taking her soup to the sink. Ziva stood up.

"I should probably head to NCIS. Kate doesn't think you should come into work today, just to make sure everything's fine," She started for the door. McGee stirred in his sleep. She decided not to bother him. Gibbs would know he was worried about Abby and staying with her. It's part of his instinct. Abby shook her head and followed her.

"When he wakes up, I'm going in," she insisted. "You go on ahead and tell Gibbs I feel well enough to go back to work,"

A/N: Only a few chapters left to go on this story! Thank you to all who read and reviewed so far!