Chapter 19: Realism

A/N I couldn't have you guys hanging in there for too long, could I?

I had to pause for a moment there, though, because my four-year-old nephew jumped in my lap and had to 'type a story too.' So after half an hour I had a whole page filled with: nkkjhnkmkkjlllkjkkkkkkk and he was totally happy… Until my little sister ran by, touched him and screamed: "tag! You're it!" So now I have two screaming kids around me. Oh, and I'm the "you touch her you're safe" spot now. Such a motivation. XD
Thnaks for all the kind reviews, I´m really happy! And everyone who complimented me on my English: it's all my beta, guys!
Dedication: Totally my cute little nephew and my little sister, who keep me from working way too often… and who can totally keep doing it. ;)
Beta: Tino-chan, who only laughed as I enthusiastically rambled on at 100 miles per hour about the Castle season finale and who deserves all of the credit in the world for it.

Preview:
Suddenly, the brown haired woman moved, freed herself and pointed her gun at Gibbs.
BAM.
Next was complete silence.

Xxxx

Gibbs was breathing heavily. Blood streamed through his fingers, staining the dusty floor.
The cold, dead eyes of Sarah watched him trying to bite through his pain, trying to ignore the bullet that had planted itself in his upper arm. But he'd been lucky. While his shot had hit the woman straight in the heart, hers had only hit his arm. Yes, he was bleeding, but he could still go on. He still had the keys. He took his cellphone out of his pocket, dialed Tony's number and let it ring for two times before hanging up. They would be here soon. He silently cursed his old bones as he managed to get up, lift himself off the floor. He wasn't giving up now. Not now he finally had the keys to her, his lab rat, his forensic scientist. His Abby. The door seemed so far away when he stumbled closer, the keys felt like led in his hands. The first one didn't fit. The second one didn't either. The third one fitted… but wouldn't turn. At the same time, Gibbs was trying not to think about what he'd do if she wouldn't be there… The fourth one fitted. And turned. For the eternity of one second, he was frozen with ecstasy, fear and adrenaline all at the same time. Then he pushed open the door.

And looked inside.

The room was very badly lit, dim light shone in through a small window. In the middle of the beam of light sat someone. A girl with dark brown hair and lively eyes stared at him, her eyes wide at the blood that was still rapidly dripping from the wound in his arm. He noticed how her hollow cheeks were covered with tears and took on step towards her. She flinched, crept back in the direction of the darkest corner of the room.
"Abby?" Gibbs called, unsure, trying to make his eyes get used to the darkness. He spotted a few figures, but he couldn't quite make out their features.
"Go away!" A voice yelled defiantly. A little boy rose up his feet, pulling his hands in his side. "Leave her alone!" the girl he saw before tugged on his shirt, trying to pull him back in the darkness. "No Jasmin!" He complained, trying to pull himself free. "I'm gonna protect her."
"Hey, listen," Gibbs said softly, soothing. "I'm not a bad guy." The two children stared at him. "I'm going to save you. My name is Jethro, Jethro Gibbs. Have you seen Abby?" The two children kept staring. "Are you alright?" he added, as the boy suddenly started to cry. He moved from the spot in the corner, and behind him, Gibbs clearly could make out someone laying on the floor… Someone with pitchblack hair…
"Abby," he whispered, running to her, falling on his knees. "Abby, no. No!" He shook her shoulders and turned her around so she was lying on her back. He saw the bruises on her pale face, the dried blood on her ripped clothes. She was not moving. No… No… This couldn't be… It wasn't true… He couldn't remember anything, couldn't move. He just stared down at her lifeless face. He didn't notice that he was crying until a tear fell down on her cheek, making it look like it was her tear, like she was still alive. But with this wounds, looking like this… It was impossible for her to be… Oh no, no, no.
Gibbs slowly, so slowly, put his finger on her cheekbone, moved up so that it was resting on the curve just under her chin. He was searching for a heartbeat, though he already knew it was in vain. Still, that little bit of hope, that part of him that denied, denied, wasn't going to believe she was gone. He wanted to believe that is was not too late. Ba-dump. Wait, did he just imagine… -Ba-dump. Ba-dump. It was so soft that he almost didn't feel it, but it was definitely there. A small but oh so real heartbeat.
Abby Scuito was alive.

Xxxx

Clouds, drifting above a yellowish corn field, looking gold in the afternoon sun. Bees were flying up and down, occasionally landing on one of the rich, colorful flowers that bloomed everywhere. She was staring at the birds high up in the sky, laying on her back. The sky was so blue… Just like his eyes. His… Who's? She didn't remember... So odd. She lifted one arm so that she could look at it. Her favorite black skull bracelet looked nice on her porcelain skin. There was something wrong with this image, but she didn't understand why. She lifted her other arm, rubbed over the black nail polish on her nails with her thump. Everything was so peaceful, so good. So quiet.
Why was it so quiet?
She pushed herself up so that she was sitting and looked around. Golden stems waved up and down in the wind all around her. It was reaching just above her shoulders; She was sitting in a field on a small open space. It looked a bit like one of those fields that she loved to go to as a child, but how did she end up here? As she stood up, she could see that the field reached for as far as she could go. And what was she wearing? Her white lab coat… Just her white lab coat. Thanks god she could button it up, Abby thought relieved as she felt a blush creep down her face. And thank god, no one was here…
Wait. Where exactly was she? She felt all safe and comforted, but something huge was missing. Bert? She looked around and suddenly spotted the familiar grey stuffed animal on the edge of the open space. She picked it up immediately, sweeping off some dirt and pressing it to her chest.
"I don't know what this is, but I'm scared, Bert," she whispered to it while she took in the endless field, all around her.

So she was walking. She had been walking for ages now. Since she'd woken up, all she'd even done was walking. Constantly, stems were sweeping in her face, making it hard for her to see; blocking her movements. Why wasn't the corn just a little bit shorter? Suddenly, she noticed that the corn around her seemed shorter than before. She could walk way easier now. Strange.
Well, now it was easier to walk, but it wasn't all that great to walk on bear feat, too. She wasn't even surprised to find a pair of her favorite shoes on the ground when she took her next step. Somehow, this was becoming creepy.
"I want… a Caf-POW!" Abby said out loud, looking around expectantly. There. On the ground, a red-and-white cup stood between the corn like it had always been there.
This was not a coincidence anymore. Somehow, everything she wanted… came true? But that was impossible. The world didn't work that way. There wasn't any forensic evidence explaining this… Forensic evidence.
"I want my lab!" Abby said out loud. She didn't see anything, even after her next step. Just corn, corn and- wait. What was that? A couple of meters away, a brown, wooden door was standing in the middle of the field. Just a door. There was no building, nothing to hold the door op, just a door. Slowly, the goth girl approached, closing the distance until she was standing in front of the door. Her hand fit exactly around the handle as she opened the door.
And squealed in joy.
Her lab, all around her. Finally.
Finally. She ran to her babies, touching them all shortly, enjoying the feel of the cold metal under her fingers. Abby started up her computer, watching the digits slide over her screen. She was home.
But there was still something missing. A Caf-POW, and someone… Someone to bring it. Someone with pierching blue eyes and a crooked smile, that he seldom showed and only to her. Someone to give her a kiss on her cheek, someone to hug when she was feeling sad… Someone she loved. And now that she knew what she'd forgotten, she couldn't go one more second without him anymore.
"I want Gibbs to be here. Please, let Gibbs be here." Inevitable sobs starting to build up in her chests and she wrapped her arms around her stomach. Two different arms wrapped themselves around her, pressing her against a warm body.
"Open your eyes, Abbs," a familiar voice said, and suddenly she found that she'd closed them.
When she opened her eyes she was greeted by a sea of light.

The light was so bright that she closed her eyes almost immediately again. What was happening? Where was she now? She peered through her eyelids and noticed her pure white lab coat… Only it wasn't really a lab coat. It was a… a hospital suit?
She was in a hospital?
And then, the pain returned. Every part of her body felt like it was run over by a car. She groaned, put her hand to her head to hopefully stop it from spinning. That's when she noticed the silver hairs against her right hand. Gibbs was sleeping with his head on the side of her bed, his face buried in the bright white blanket. She slowly lifted her left hand –the one that hurt the least- and stroked over his hair, waking him up. His bright eyes greeted her and there she found exactly what she was looking for. Something she'd had been waiting to see for all those days in her prison –something she'd been waiting to see for her whole life.
And as he took her hands between his and carefully planted a kiss on them, she could see tears in the corner of his eyes. Similar tears threatened to fall down her own cheeks as she realized it.
She loved him.

And he loved her.

Xxxx

A/N So? So? Finally right? I'm feeling like that, too! I wanted to make it all complicated, from the point of view from Tony and the rest of the team (yeah, I kind of favor Tony. Maybe that's because he's so easy to figure out).

And next chapter will be last… I´m finally ending this story. Can you believe it? I can't! xD But I've already written it, so it will be up soon.