Abby woke to the smell of a nice home-cooked breakfast. As her eyes fluttered open she noticed a covered tray on the long dresser along the wall. She lifted the lid to find sausage, hash browns and eggs. Her stomach growled in anticipation, and Abby devoured her breakfast quickly. She knew Jack would be in the store already so she went straight to the bathroom for a shower.

Jack looked up when heheard Abby as she entered the store. Already the heavy load she'd been carrying on her shoulders looked lighter. Some of the darkness that had started to form around her eyes had started to fade, and there was a little sparkle in her eye that had been missing. "Sleep well, dear?"

"Yes, thank you for breakfast." Abby peeked down the few isles checking for customers. "What can I do today?"

Jack smiled. "How about a walk through town so everyone knows that you're around, you know, spread the-" Jack stopped and smiled. "Nevermind."

"Abby? That you?" Dorothy pushed open the shop door and stopped in her tracks. "I heard about that awful crash you and Jethro were in. It's so good to see you on your feet!"

"The whole town will know within the hour." Jack whispered. Dorothy was as good as the town newspaper.

"I'm good Dorothy, thank you. It's good to see you too!"

"Jack! You never told me that this darlin' was headed back up? Where is that handsome son of yours…. Oh god, he isn't…?"

"He's fine, he's just… um… busy at work." Abby interrupted.

"Oh, how long you staying?"

"Dorothy, I got an order of that pie mix that you love." Jack didn't want to subject Abby to any more questioning than necessary.

"Ohhh!" Dorothy followed Jack down one of the isles, giving Abby time to busy herself with the pricing gun.

----

Gibbs was miserable as he sat at his desk. As both his team and Mann's filed in, he hardly looked up, let alone said anything.

Hollis was confused at his irritable behavior – almost to the point of point blank asking what was wrong. Instead she asked where Abby was and got her answer. She had to walk away before she smiled outright at hearing that Abby had left.

The day went by rather uneventfully. Gibbs had sent them out on another lead, but it had turned up cold, almost as if Nasser was always one step ahead of them. It did nothing but piss Gibbs off even more. What didn't help was Tony's pissy attitude. If Gibbs himself hadn't been ready to throw a fist through the wall, he'd have called Tony on his manner and set him straight.

"Hey McFail, you find anything for us yet?" Tony snapped as Conner walked by.

McGee turned to laugh, happy for once he wasn't the one with his name being butchered and joined in. "Come on, McLabreplacement, Tony asked you a question."

"It's McFayel, guys. Fay –el. And no, I can't get the mass spectrometer to work."

"Kiss it." Both Tony and McGee answered together. They both smiled at the look on Conner's face. "That's what Abby does, and then it works. You have to kiss it."

Conner glared at them as he scurried back towards the lab. He wasn't sure if they were joking or not, but Hollis was demanding results and he was more scared of her than anyone else, so if he had to kiss the damn machines, so be it.

Tony was stuck making phone calls all day. More than a few sightings of Nasser Sharif had come in overnight though a majority of calls had come from panicked people paranoid over their Middle Eastern neighbors. One of the sightings had led to a collection of fibers resembling fibers found in the car that hit Gibbs and Abby. If they were a match, it could give them something to go on.

Gibbs wasn't thrilled with the unhurried speed in which Conner worked. It would be a good 24 hours before they knew anything – just enough time for Nasser to jump ahead. Gibbs finally left before he hurt someone. He didn't need to add any more misery to his life in the form of a lawsuit, though he contemplated the brief satisfaction of releasing his pent up anger.

Gibbs sighed when he recognized Hollis coming down the basement steps. "What've you got?" It was his standard greeting these days.

"Just like old times." Hollis stepped down a step.

"Me finding you down with your boat." Down another step.

"So caught up in everything else but what is right in front of you." She stepped to the floor.

"What do you want, Hollis? I'm not in the mood, nor do I have the time to play games." Gibbs checked for splinters in the wood of his boat.

"You, Jethro. I want you."

Gibbs' eyes jumped to Hollis. He opened his mouth, but Hollis silenced him and stepped closer. "Come on, Jethro. You know you miss me… miss what I do to you. I understand, Abby must be fun, but that pre-pubescent Goth girl…"

Hollis heard the clink of the tool that had been in Gibbs' hand as it hit the floor moments before he roared. "Get out!"

"Jethro!" Hollis tried to reason.

"Get OUT!" Gibbs launched a sanding block and it crashed against the wall with force. "Don't ever come back to my home. Get out!"

Gibbs hands were shaking when he headed upstairs. He waited long enough to listen for the front door to open and then slam shut, and then the tell-tale sign of a car starting before picking up his phone.

---

Tony was just settling on to his couch with pizza and a movie when the phone rang. He'd been more than upset at the turn of events involving Abby and the boss, and even Ziva's suggestion of dinner and a movie at her place hadn't sounded appealing. He knew this was the danger of co-workers dating, they were all forced to choose sides, and it was 99.9% likely that people would choose Abby.

"Hello?" Tony sighed, his mouth full of pizza.

"DiNozzo? Pack a change of clothes and come pick me up."

Tony dropped the pizza and was on his feet in an instant. If this was a lead that could close the case, he was ready to go. "Where we headed, boss?"

"Stillwater."

Ok, so it wasn't going to solve the case, but it could solve some of the misery. "Oh thank god."

---

TBC…