A/N: See profile for full disclaimer.

Chapter 12

Two months after leaving the hospital, Tony returned to work, although it was desk duty only. He was going to speech therapy sessions once a week and his speech had improved tremendously. He still stuttered a bit, especially when he was tired. He had problems saying certain words but learned that signing or writing the word first seemed to 'unlock' his brain and allow him to say what he meant. He was much quieter, which was probably the hardest thing for the others to get used to. But a quiet Tony was much, much better than no Tony at all.

The other big difference was in the relationship (or lack thereof) between Tony and Abby. While Tony wasn't rude to Abby, he didn't go out of his way to spend time with her. He rarely went to her lab, going only when Gibbs sent him down to check on evidence. Others saw the true extent of the rift on Tony's first day back. Abby had run to give him one of her hugs and Gibbs had stepped in front of her, shaking his head and saying, "You know what we talked about, Abby. Did you think we weren't serious?" Abby backed off with a sad smile and a 'Welcome back, Tony' before leaving the bullpen.

Quiet Tony was also Tony without the masks. The frat boy was gone and replaced by a more professional agent. It wasn't a bad change – people were finally seeing the extremely capable agent that had been there all the time. The team was working together better than ever, the strengths of one balancing out the weaknesses of another. Director Vance was thrilled to have his MCRT in top form once again.

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Tony came into the bullpen with a huge smile and dropped a sheet of paper on Gibbs' desk. "The doc said I can go back to full duty! No more riding a desk for me!"

Gibbs frowned. "Is he sure? What if you get hit in the head again?"

"Then I get hit in the head. Stop being so overprotective. I am in no more danger than anyone else." Lowering his voice, Tony continued, "Let me do my job, Jethro."

Before Gibbs could say anything else, his phone rang. He finished the call and said the expected 'Grab your gear' and the team headed out, Tony once again at his boss's side.

A few hours later and the team was back in the bullpen. The case was ridiculously simple – a female petty office had been attacked while jogging. Unfortunately for her attacker, PO Thomas was quite skilled in the martial arts and proceeded to kick the guy's tail. Witnesses saw him limping away and got a description of his car along with the license plate. Armed with that information, they identified him as Norman Ferguson and got his address. He confessed and was already being booked. It was all over except for the paperwork.

"How much longer will you be here?" asked Tony as he placed the hard copy of his report on Gibbs' desk.

"Probably another hour or so," answered Gibbs. "Why?

"Thought I'd cook dinner. Anything in particular you want?"

"Surprise me."

"I don't think that's possible but I'll try. See you in a little while."

Tony grabbed his bag and headed for the elevator. He was trying to think about what they had in the refrigerator and decided that he needed to stop by the supermarket on the way home. Making a list in his head, he wasn't paying that much attention when the elevator stopped and someone got on. He did, however, become quite aware when that someone hit the emergency stop. Abby.

Tony sighed. "What do you want, Abby?"

"I want it back," she said softly. "I didn't realize what I had 'til it was gone and I want it back."

Tony looked at Abby, really looked at her. She was unnaturally quiet and she had dark circles under her eyes. He could feel himself slipping but he knew that he couldn't give in, not completely.

"I think that's what hurts the most," he said, his stutter again making itself known. "What we had was special to me. I never took it for granted. I still don't understand how you could think such awful things about me."

"I'm sorry, Tony. I'm really, really sorry. Please, can't we be friends again like before. I miss you." She hesitated. "Tim doesn't want to spend time with me anymore either. And Gibbs won't even look at me. I ruined everything."

Tony hadn't known that Tim had shut Abby out as well. And if Ziva, Ducky and Palmer had followed suit, then Abby was all alone. His heart softened a bit, but he still wasn't ready to go back to the way things were. "I don't know if I can ever go back to the way we were before, Abby. I can't open myself up to that again." He paused when he saw her eyes fill with tears. "But maybe we can try something new. It'll be different, maybe not as close, but we can still be friends."

Abby looked up with watery eyes. "I guess that's a start. Can I … can I hug you?"

Tony shook his head. "Not yet, Abby. Not yet but maybe soon. Okay? I just have to … have to…" he signed a few words "wrap my head around it. And I'll talk to McGee and Gibbs. They shouldn't shut you out just because the two of us have things we need to work out." He reached out and started the elevator again before continuing. "Now, I've got to go cook dinner. See you later, Abby."

The elevator doors opened and Tony stepped out, heading for his car. As Abby watched him walk away, a tear slid down her cheek. It wasn't what she wanted, but she would take what she could get. Different was okay, as long as it meant having Tony and the others part of her life again. For the first time in a long time, Abby believed that everything was going to be all right.

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When Gibbs walked in the front door he smiled, greeted with the aroma of homemade lasagna. He walked in the kitchen to see Tony putting together a salad, garlic bread on the stove ready to go in the oven as soon as the lasagna was done.

"Smells good," Gibbs said as he walked up behind Tony and pulled him into a hug.

"Should be ready in about half an hour," Tony said with a smile. "I got held up for a few minutes before I left work." He paused. "Abby cornered me in the elevator."

"What the hell did she want?" Gibbs asked angrily.

"Forgiveness. And I'm going to give it to her." Sensing that Gibbs was about to protest, Tony continued. "It's time, Jethro. She screwed up and she knows it. She's miserable because we've all pretty much shut her out. I know how that feels and I can't do that to her anymore."

"So you're just going to let her get by with what she did? Let things go back to the way they were?"

"I didn't say that. Things will never be the same. I'll never trust her like I did before. I told her that. But I also told her that we could maybe be friends again, just take it a step at a time. And if I can do that, then the rest of you ought to be able to. She hurt me. A lot. But I still miss her."

Gibbs pulled Tony into his arms and kissed him. "You are a good man, Tony DiNozzo, a much better man that I am. And as much as I don't like it, I'll try. Like you said, it won't be the same. We'll just have to start fresh. Maybe I'll take her a Caf-Pow in the morning."

Tony smiled. "Thank you. Tomorrow I'll talk to the others but what they do is up to them. I hope they can find a little bit of forgiveness too. Now, let me get back to dinner. I'm starving."

Gibbs laughed. "You're always starving!"

Finally it seemed that things were getting back to normal. They had gone through a trial and come back stronger on the other side. No, things wouldn't be the same but that was okay. Who knows? Maybe different would turn out to be even better.

END

A/N: I've written and rewritten this thing about a million times (okay 17 but it seemed like a million.) I played around with several different scenarios but I felt like this one was the most realistic – forgiveness but with reservations. When a relationship is broken, it never fits back together the same way. I wanted some resolution but I didn't want Abby to get off scot free.

Thank you for sticking with me through this thing. Now I have to finish "Eye of the Beholder." As soon as it's done I'll be posting the sequel to "The More Things Change."