I know I shocked you with the end of the last chapter. I hope you will continue with the last three chapters (this one included). But there will be no more riddles.

Enjoy the new chapter and thank you for your reviews :)

I don't own anything. The characters belong to CBS.

Chapter 16

"I don't accept this."

Gibbs put Abby's lifeless body back on the mattress and started with the resuscitation. Pride wanted to stop his friend by putting his hand on his shoulder, but the team leader from DC just slapped it away and continued.

"Gibbs, she is…"

"I have to try!"

"You don't know for how long her heart isn't beating anymore. We know that she wasn't moving for hours, and this bastard said it too. She is probably dead since…"

"I don't want to hear this!"

Sadly Pride left the container to give his friend some room. There was no way he could stop the stubborn man. He would accept her death but maybe, he needed to be alone to do so. Gibbs would soon realize that his attempts were useless.

Callen and Sam waited at the entrance with sad faces. They didn't know the woman very well, but they had liked her.

"This is not how we wanted this to end," Callen whispered.

"Gibbs doesn't want to accept her death yet. I'm afraid, we have to sedate him. Otherwise, he won't stop, and we won't get her out."

"We can't…"

Suddenly, they heard how someone took a loud gasp, followed by some coughs. Pride swirled around only to witness the impossible. Abby was breathing! She was alive!

"Abby! Abs, can you hear me?"

"Gibbs?"

Her voice sounded hoarse as if she hadn't used it for a very long time.

"I'm here. WHERE IS THE AMBULANCE?"

Callen gave the command onward to the rest of the agents. Pride ran to their car to grab a bottle of water. Abby was dehydrated and needed liquid. They needed to keep her awake until the ambulance would arrive. In disbelief, Pride went back to his friends and knelt beside the forensic scientist, who was wrapped in Gibbs' arms.

"Hey, kiddo. Do you want some water?"

"Pride? What are you doing here?"

"Are you kidding? My favorite girl was missing. I had to come to help my brother."

"Your favorite girl?" groaned Gibbs, but he didn't release Abby.

"Accept it, brother. I knew her first. And if I'm honest, I wish I could convince her to come back home."

"Keep dreaming."

Abby started to laugh, which ended in a terrible cough. Gibbs released her but kept holding her arm until she was good again. Pride opened the bottle and offered it to her. The forensic scientist smiled when she grabbed the bottle with shaking hands.

"Thank you."

"The ambulance is here."

Callen appeared behind the two older agents. Abby became big eyes when she saw the agent from Los Angeles.

"Callen? Who else did you bring to Washington?" she asked her boss.

"I needed help, so, I called the best I could find."

"Hello, Abby Sciuto. It's good to see that you're alive. Everyone was really worried."

"Thank you, for helping him, G. Callen."

"It's Grisha."

"You found out your surname?"

"It's a long story. Maybe, I tell you later about it."

"I would love to hear it."

"But not now," Gibbs said determined and stroke softly over her crazy hair "Can you walk?"

Abby took another sip, then she closed the bottle and gave it back to Pride.

"I don't know. Maybe you guys could…"

"I'll take her," Callen said.

He handed his weapon to Gibbs, who moved out of the way. Then he pulled the fragile woman in his arms and carried her outside to the waiting ambulance.

Pride watched his brother and Abby through the glass. The pale woman lied in one of the big hospital beds, while Gibbs was sitting in a chair next to her and held her hand. Both were asleep for almost an hour now. Dr. Nelson had suggested that Abby should stay at least a week, to make sure she would make a full recovery and Gibbs had agreed, immediately. There was no way he would allow the forensic scientist to leave earlier.

"How are they doing?"

Kensi stopped beside him and followed his gaze.

"Abby is under medication and Gibbs… well, he is extremely exhausted. He doesn't even care to interrogate this bastard, who is responsible for his pain."

"I think he is glad that he has his team back. I know how hard it can be if you have to imagine that you won't see your friends and family anymore. It can destroy you."

"But luckily, they're not dead. This bastard lost, and I will make him pay for what he did. Gibbs may not be healthy enough to do it now, but I gladly take over for him on this part. Abby is a really good friend, and I don't like it when someone hurts my friends."

"So, you're coming back to Washington with us?"

"Yes, I leave Chris and Brody here to inform me if anything happens to them. Has someone informed the rest of Gibbs' team?"

"Sam was dialing when I left."

"Good, then let's roll. We should give them the rest they need."

Gibbs awoke from a new nightmare. The shadow man had finally shown his face and had revealed himself as Captain Watson, who… Slowly, his eyes focused on the person in front of him, who was lying in the hospital bed. Relieved Gibbs sighed when he recognized Abby. He had saved her. She was alive and she would… Again, he had to interrupt himself. Panicking he stood from the chair and pressed his fingers against her throat to find her pulse.

`Please be there. Please be there.´

"What are you doing?"

Abby's voice was just a sleepy murmur, but it was all Gibbs needed. This wasn't a dream. Abby was alive. Slowly, he sat back in the chair, but he didn't let go of her hand.

"I had to check."

"If I'm still breathing?"

"You don't know what it's like to have a person you care about lying dead in your arms. I'm afraid I have to tell you, this won't be the last time I checked on you."

Abby opened her beautiful green eyes and smiled at him.

"You saved me."

"Did you have doubts?"

Gibbs expected to hear a clear `No´, but she hesitated for almost three heartbeats.

"No."

"You're lying."

"I'm not. Can we talk about something else?"

But Gibbs wasn't the person you shake off by changing the subject. He moved closer to her.

"Abs, talk to me."

"When can I leave the hospital? I don't want to stay here for a week. I feel fine and…"

"That's not what I meant."

"How are Tony, McGee, and Bishop? How bad have they been hurt? I can't believe that…"

"Abby!"

The forensic scientist closed her mouth and her gaze went to their intertwined hands. She was clearly avoiding him. Sighing Gibbs grabbed her chin softly and forced her to look at him.

"Did you have doubts about me rescuing you?"

Again, there was this hesitation in her eyes, and he saw that she was close to crying.

"No," she whispered.

Gibbs chuckled quietly. His little girl was a terrible liar.

"I'm sorry that it took me so long. I would have saved you immediately, but I had to wait until he gave me the next riddle. There were three of them, which I had to solve to find one of you."

"Three riddles?"

"A crossword, a block of numbers and a riddle, which is called Sumaku or something like that."

"You mean Sudoku."

"Yeah, I think that's what Miss Blye called it."

"How did you solve them?"

"I didn't. I gave the young agents the opportunity to do something."

Abby giggled at his words. That was the Gibbs she knew. She couldn't imagine her silver fox working on a Sudoku riddle.

"Those poor agents. I believe they need two weeks of vacation after those days. Or a month."

"Do you want to tell me that I'm too hard on them?"

"I wouldn't dare."

Gibbs was relieved to hear her laughing again. He couldn't express how much he had missed it to hear her voice. How afraid he had been to never hear it again. But he had noticed how she tried to push him into another direction.

"Good, now let's get back to our earlier conversation."

"Gibbs…"

"I promised to keep you safe."

"It's like you said. It wasn't your fault."

"I failed you."

"No, you didn't."

"It will never happen again."

"Gibbs."

Softly Abby squeezed his hand and gave him a little smile. She didn't want to cry, but she felt how she was losing herself.

"I know that it wasn't your fault. None of us thought this would ever happen. And I would have never guessed that I would lose… that I would ever think…"

Tears started to build in her eyes again and this time, they were running down her cheeks. Gently Gibbs wiped off the salty drops.

"I'm sorry, Gibbs. I didn't want to have doubts, but then I ran out of air, and the time went by and I…"

Gibbs stood up and sat next to her on the bed, then he put his arm around her and pressed his lips on her hair. Abby started to sob. She laid her head on his chest and put her arm around his waist. She had missed his support, his strong arms and his reassuring words.

"You're safe, Abs. He will never hurt you ever again."

Meanwhile, Pride and Callen sat in interrogation with the kidnapper, Mr. Watson.

"According to your file, you've been arrested ten years ago, but they released you after five because of good conduct," Callen read from the report "Since then, you work for the port of Baltimore. Is that right?"

"You can read. Congratulations."

"It was Agent Gibbs, who arrested you all those years ago. I assume this is the reason why you are so angry with him. But why did you kidnap his team?"

"Are you stupid? Even my blind daughter was able to see it. His team is his family. They mean everything to him. Their death would have destroyed him."

"How do you know about his feelings for his colleagues? I can't imagine he told you anything."

"He didn't have to. Since I'm out of prison, I followed him whenever I could. I saw how he was smiling and even laughing, especially when this Goth girl was around. It was obviously, how he felt about her and that he would protect her with his life. At this moment, I knew she had to die, so, I would get my revenge."

"So, the other three agents were just a distraction."

"Yes, and to waste time."

"Why did you wait five years?" asked Pride.

"I had to make plans. I needed the perfect plan to make Agent Gibbs suffer. I could've killed his team by drowning them or by setting them on fire. I could've done a lot of things, but I needed the perfect solution to get the most out of it. So, I finally decided that my new horrible job would give me an amazing opportunity to slowly kill the man by showing him the pain of his beloved family. And it worked."

"You don't care that you go back to prison."

"Of course, not. My only goal was to destroy Agent Gibbs. He took everything from me when he arrested me. I lost my sweet daughter, while he had everything. Now, he knows how it feels when you lose a daughter."

Angry Pride jumped out of his chair, but before he could strangle Mr. Watson, Callen stopped him by grabbing his arm. A big, satisfied smile lied on the face of the young agent.

"Haven't you told him, Agent Pride?"

"Told me what?"

"I wanted to hear his story first and now, I would like to strangle him."

"Told me what?" asked Watson and this time, anger was in his voice.

"It's such a shame. He plans five years on his revenge. Even risks to lose his job and to get back to prison, but in the end, it was all for nothing."

"What are you talking about? Everything went as planned! Sure, I wished every one of his agents would be dead, but knowing that Miss Sciuto died because he was too late, is more than enough for me!"

Callen chuckled, while he closed the file, then he stood up and went to the door.

"What is so damn funny?!"

"Do you want to tell him, Agent Pride?"

"Sure, the shocked look on his face will maybe make me feel a little bit better."

"THEN SAY IT, DAMN IT!"

Pride leaned over the table until his face was close to Mr. Watsons, whose skin had already a reddish color.

"Your plan failed. Miss Sciuto didn't die in the container. We were able to reanimate her. Have fun in jail."

The red color vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Instead, the man turned pale and his eyes widened in shock.

"You're lying," he whispered, "I saw it. She wasn't moving anymore or breathing."

The two agents closed the door behind the bastard with a satisfied smile. He would need some time to process the new information and to realize that he had thrown away his life a second time for nothing.

Of course, Abby didn't want to stay a week. After a day, she talked to Dr. Nelson and the nurses and when this didn't work, she started an escape attempt on day three. Gibbs stopped her before she could actually leave the building. He threatened her to cuff her to the bed, but Abby didn't care. She wanted out of the hospital. She wanted to see her friends and she wanted to go home.

On day four, Gibbs gave in. The silver fox insisted that she would visit a doctor in Washington every day and that she would end up in a hospital if she would show any signs of weakness. Furthermore, she would be on sick leave for the next weeks. This was the point, where Abby started to protest again. There was no way she would stay at home for WEEKS. Sadly, Gibbs was her ticket out of this nightmare, so, she agreed finally. But the forensic scientist insisted to drive to the Navy Yard after her release. She wanted to see her friends and to thank the agents, who helped to solve the case.

"What if they went home?"

Abby was a nervous wreck and if she hadn't had her arms around Gibbs' waist, she would have chewed on her fingernails. The former marine sighed heavily before he pressed his lips against her temple.

"Abs," he murmured, "I told you they are as stubborn as you are and they will be here. Besides, they know that you're coming and want to see you."

"I'm not stubborn."

"You should lie in a hospital or at least in a comfy bed. Instead, we are here because you want to greet everyone."

"I love our family. And it was really nice of Pride and his team, as well as Callen's team, to come over to help you. They didn't have to do this."

"Well, you can thank them in a minute. Just take it slow with your bear hugs. You still have to recover, and I don't want you to knock yourself out because you are overwhelmed by your feelings."

"So, I'm supposed to give them a Gibbs hug? Because this would be mean I wouldn't give a hug at all, and this is so not happening."

"I hug people."

"When?"

"I give you hugs."

"I'M the one, who gives you a hug most of the times. It's rare that it comes from you. And I can't remember the last time when I saw you giving hugs to other people."

Luckily for Gibbs, the elevator arrived, and the doors opened.

"Let's go."

Abby released her boss with a smile on her face and was ready to storm off. But Gibbs was still in reach to stop her. He wouldn't let her walk on her own.

"Recovery, remember?" whispered he before he pulled an arm around her waist and kept hold of her arm.

"This is annoying."

"I don't care."

"Kiddo!"

Pride was the first, who saw his two friends. Abby's eyes shone with true happiness when the older man pulled her carefully in his arms. Gibbs smiled. This was the reason, why he had given in to her request. He had to see the happiness back in her beautiful green eyes.

"It's good to see you, Pride."

"Abby!"

Tony, McGee, and Bishop were next in the line and gave their little sister a big group hug. Abby giggled happily, and Gibbs enjoyed the familiar sound. Pride stood next to him, while the little group split up, so, the black haired woman could move on to the rest, who was waiting in the office.

"She looks better."

"She still needs to recover."

"I'm sure you will take care of it."

"How did it end with…"

"It was too easy. He didn't even deny it. He told us everything about how he started to follow you, to how he invented his evil plan and finally went through with it. And he admitted that he wanted Abby to die. She was the real target, and the others were just a distraction. I have to say I was disappointed. I wanted to break him a few bones to get my answers."

"Good, means there is more for me."

"I don't know if Vance lets you get close to him. Don't you think he knows what you would do?"

"Who says that I ask him?"

"Because that is how this works, Special Agent Gibbs."

The older gentlemen turned to Vance, who was standing behind him. Apparently, he just arrived for work and heard every word of their conversation.

"Would you allow me to see Mr. Watson?"

"Of course, not. He wants you to suffer, Gibbs, which means, he will provoke you with every little detail about the abduction of your team. And this will end, by you beating the crap out of him."

"Which is exactly what he deserves," Pride murmured.

"And this is the reason, why none of you two will go and see him. Because you will both lose your badges, and I would like to prevent that."

Gibbs sighed, then he faced his little family again. Abby was hugging Kensi, while she was thanking everyone for their help.

"Gibbs?" asked Vance, "Gibbs, I mean it. Take Miss Sciuto, send your team home. You are all on sick leave for at least two weeks."

"You do realize that I'm not sick?"

"The last few days were stressful. You barely slept. Go home, take a rest. You all deserve it."

"I don't want to agree with him, brother, but he is right. You need sleep like no one else in this room. Take Abby with you. This way you can check on her and you can get the rest you need."

Gibbs opened his mouth to protest, but then he saw the worry in Pride's eyes. The silver fox hadn't looked in a mirror lately, but he could only assume that he didn't look good. Maybe, he should accept the offer and go home. The comfort of his couch was way better than the chair in the hospital.

"When do you leave?" asked Gibbs his friend.

"In a few hours. We finish the paperwork, then we grab our stuff and fly home. The bad guys don't sleep."

Gibbs pulled Pride in for a friendly hug.

"Thank you, for your help. I couldn't have done it without you."

"Always. I'm just one call away. Besides, I would do anything for the kid. Are you sure that you can't give her back to me?"

"Abby stays with me. You have to do better if you want her."

"Fine, get some rest, brother. I'm glad that we freed everyone."

"Me too."